How to Work for a Professional Sports Franchise
Just like becoming a professional player is the ultimate goal for elite athletes, many people strive to work for professional teams in various capacities. In some ways, professional sports teams are just like any other business. They have executive leadership, sales and marketing teams, community and media relations departments, IT staffers and more. They also employ people connected to the sporting aspect of the business such as coaches, trainers, scouts and therapists. Outside of full-time positions, there are part-time game-day staffers such as parking lot attendants and ticket takers and many internships as well. Working in pro sports is highly competitive, so candidates best be prepared to work as hard as athletes to earn and keep their positions.
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Instructions
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Pursue an internship. For college students or those with limited experience, getting in as an intern is a great way to get a foot in the door and begin building contacts. Not many internships are paid, but whether you are pursuing a marketing career or looking to work in physical therapy, internship positions can be the starting point to a successful career in professional sports.
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Network extensively. By working as an intern, showing a willingness to volunteer to work on game days or outside events, and attending pro sports job fairs, you'll get to meet people who could be invaluable resources when you apply for jobs in the future.
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Send out lots of resumes and even request informational interviews. It is important to remember that there are a limited number of teams and jobs in each market. Even in a sports-crazed city such as Boston, there are only four first-tier pro teams, the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, and Patriots, with a handful of second-tier teams in sports such as soccer, lacrosse and tennis. Showing how determined you are to work in the industry, whether major or minor league and irrespective of the sport, will help separate you from the fans.
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Tips & Warnings
Join an online jobs notification board to stay on top of openings in the field and find ways to expand your education and experience. That means everything from going back to school to get your master's degree or working in a college, high school, amateur or youth sports setting.
Understand that working in sports isn't a typical 9-to-5 job, especially during the season. It takes a long time to work your way up to higher positions. Realize also that you may be required to uproot your life and move to land the right job. In addition, if you want to work on the team operations side, perhaps in coaching or scouting, you likely will need extensive experience with the game. That does not mean you must have played a pro sport yourself, but you must demonstrate a reasonably high level of knowledge and experience in the game.
References
- Photo Credit cleveland stadium image by Pix by Marti from Fotolia.com
