Sports marketers are key to the organisational success of both professional teams and amateur sports clubs.
Their duties include managing sponsor relationships, building up fan bases, creating promotional strategies, handling market research, and assisting with media relations.
However, not all sports marketers are coaches or general managers or even in-house marketing specialists.
Some sports marketers may simply be club members, volunteers at a school team programme who have learned to connect with their target audience through social media platforms like Facebook.
Regardless of where they’re located on the spectrum of an organisation’s employee hierarchy, those who love their job often find that it’s just as emotional as it is lucrative.
sports marketing jobs are both prestigious and well-paid. Some of the best jobs related to sports marketing are :
1. Former Pro Athlete :
Many professional sports organisations can be found in big cities, where job opportunities are plentiful. For example, the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL) are based in New Jersey’s largest city.
The capacity at their stadium is also one of the league’s highest – MetLife Stadium, formerly Giants Stadium, has a seating capacity of over 78,000.
The same organization also sponsors a hockey team, the New York Islanders.
The Denver Broncos of the NFL may be based in Colorado’s largest city but their official training facility is located about 20 miles away in Englewood, Colorado.
The facility includes two practice fields and space for the team to work out indoors as well as out.
The Seattle native who serves as the university’s athletic department’s senior associate athletic director for external relations, 12-year NFL veteran Chris Carlisle has maintained a career in sports marketing. Carlisle, who has worked with the NFL, NCAA and US Olympic Committee (USOC) is often sought-after by football playing high schoolers.
He teaches life lessons on how to become a successful college or professional athlete. His advice includes understanding the importance of education for athletes hoping to play on professional teams after graduation.
2. Sport Management Consultants :
Sport management consultants are employed by sport marketing companies or sport teams. They are hired to handle matters related to strategy-making for sponsorships, help manage public relations with fans, develop new revenue streams and increase fan interaction.
They also conduct market research to provide insight into the sport industry’s direction. Consultants may also research data about potential clients in order to advise the team on which clients to approach for sponsorship deals.
Employment opportunities with organisations that market their sponsorships through sport management consultants is expected to rise by 32 percent in 9 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) figures from May 2012.
In order to become a sport management consultant, a team may have to have played on a professional level in the sport they wish to work in.
In addition, they must have extensive experience within their field and be able to work independently.
The BLS says that job growth will be driven by an increase in the number of events held requiring consulting services.
Markets with high levels of sports participation or viewership will also drive employment opportunities. These markets include Chicago, Miami and New York City, according to the BLS’s figures from May 2012.
3. Sportswriter/Sports Reporter :
Sports reporters collect sports-related news for publication in newspapers or magazines. For example, they may be hired to write about the latest news concerning the professional teams of an individual city, such as trades and player contracts.
They may also work for a sports website such as ESPN.com. Sports reporters may also cover big sporting events such as the Super Bowl, World Series and FA Cup FA Cup
Employment opportunities for sports reporters were expected to rise by 2 percent between 2010 and 2020.
In addition, employment prospects were expected to be better in large cities, according to a BLS report from May 2012.
The bureau said that employment levels would increase in markets with more people playing on professional teams or attending college sports events on a regular basis.
For example, employment levels in sports reporters were expected to rise by 5 percent in Chicago, 7 percent in Miami and 8 percent in New York.
4. Sports Marketers :
A marketing manager’s responsibility is to develop and implement a marketing strategy for an organisation with a team of employees and employees working with partners who represent sponsors of the team.
Their duties may include building the profile of customers and customers’ interests which will increase sales or profits for the team or organisation.
5. Recreation/sports Assistant/Manager
Recreation supervisors are responsible for organizing recreational activities such as children’s games, adult sports leagues and adult sports leagues such as softball senior softball senior league aged 55+.
It is a job requirement for recreation supervisors to have a passion for sports and a talent for motivating people.
