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Behind-the-Scenes Jobs in Sports

The action on the field turns us into sports junkies, but what goes on behind the scenes turns games into big business. By getting better acquainted with some of the jobs off the field, you can turn the skills you acquired in school or in another industry -- and your passion for the game -- into a career in sports.

  1. College Sports Information

    • Not so long ago, writing skill was at the top of the list of qualifications for a job in a college sports information office. Now, technical expertise is more important, according to Kenny Mossman, Senior Associate Athletic Director/Communications at the University of Oklahoma. Mossman says at least 50 percent of his staff's work is web-based -- including Facebook and Twitter -- so he looks for people who already know various web-related desktop publishing and statistical software. Instead of supplying information to news outlets, as his staff did almost exclusively 10 years ago, Mossman says his office now is its own news outlet, posting video, audio and text on various platforms. It might not be enough to be a stats junkie. Mossman, at least, does not employ anyone as a statistical specialist, so writing skill still matters. Professional sports teams and leagues also have information/communications departments. So do the National Governing Bodies for the multitude of Olympic sports.

    Scheduling Coordinator

    • Let's start out with this basic premise about Nancy Wiser, a scheduling coordinator at ESPN: She's really well-organized. She has to be. Wiser's job is to put together the schedule for the technical people -- camera operators, audio operators, technical directors and such -- for the live shows and events on the "Worldwide Leader In Sports." Bryan Burns, ESPN's Vice President for Strategic Business Planning and Development, calls it "MOPPing," which is "managing other people's people." Wiser, like ESPN's other scheduling coordinators, is not the technical employees' boss, but she schedules their shows, their travel, their training, their work hours and their vacations. She needs to know which ones like soccer but hate basketball, or who is allergic to chlorine, which eliminates swimming. She also needs to understand the technical demands of the various shows in order to know which jobs are needed for a program she is working on. But it all gets back to organization: The best coordinator even knows when a particular audio operator's kid has a gymnastics meet, so she can skip that operator for the 6 p.m. "Sports Center" but plug her in for the 11 p.m. edition instead. Similar jobs include traveling secretaries for professional baseball teams

    Ticket Sales

    • The St. Louis Rams have 18 jobs specifically devoted to ticket sales, and then it's divided into season ticket sales, group sales, suite sales and club seat sales. Plus, there are seven more jobs designed to provide "service" to ticket holders. To land one of these sales jobs, being a fan is not enough -- sales experience is crucial, and you must be confident in your ability to make cold-call sales. But in the Rams' job qualifications list for these jobs, there is an important attribute listed: "Enthusiasm for sports." Heck, you get to take clients to games. Major-league franchises in all sports, major colleges and minor-league teams also have ticket sales departments where similar jobs might be available.

    Sponsorship Sales

    • The newspaper's slogan was "We've Got You Covered." A sponsorship sales person for the city's baseball team sold the newspaper on the idea of putting its slogan on the dugout roofs. Perfect. But this wasn't a major-league team. This was a Class AA minor-league baseball team, which illustrates that you don't need to live in a major-league market to get involved in sports marketing. Creativity and a knack for helping companies leverage their brands -- coupled with a strong sports knowledge -- can make you succeed in sponsorship sales at many different levels. Pro and college sports -- as well as the broadcast outlets for various teams -- are looking for creative ways to bring in sponsors. Who was the genius who thought to get a law firm to sponsor the legal disclaimer for play-by-play broadcasts? Sales for game-day promotions for college and professional sports team also need qualified professionals.

    Welder/Fabricator

    • Long before Danica Patrick climbs in her race car, it must be put together. And even though "stock" is part of NASCAR's title, there's nothing stock about any race car or truck. About 95 percent of a race car is hand-welded, and fabricating specialists attach the sheet metal to the chassis by hand. Welding and sheet-metal fabrication takes about 950 hours for each vehicle in a NASCAR race. Robots fill many assembly-line jobs, but understanding the demands of racing -- and a particular race course -- help a skilled technician perfectly convert an engineer's dream into racing equipment. Similar jobs include machinist and die-cut operator.

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