Would you like to apply real-world skills, public relations, and brand development to market sporting events, teams, and products? Well, a career in sports marketing is all you need. What exactly is sports marketing? As the name implies, sports marketing deals exclusively with marketing sporting events, teams, products, and services.
It is normally focused on the fans, which in this case are the customers. Therefore, a sports marketer either promotes a physical product or a brand name. If you are a sports fanatic and a marketer, this is something worth trying. Our article will focus on how to start a career in sports marketing and some of the advantages that come with it. Kindly walk with us!
How to Start a Career in Sports Marketing
You can take up several jobs if you decide to start a career in sports marketing. However, you have to know where to start or end up with a shaky foundation. Here is something that should help you on your debut:
1. Weigh The Options You Have
Sports marketing is a large field with several jobs. Therefore, you must weigh all the available options and find one that will work for you. What are of sports are you passionate about? Do you want to be a team’s public relations specialist, sports agent, athletic director, or athletic business manager? The answer lies with you. Here are some of the common jobs in sports marketing that you can explore:
Sports Marketing Manager
Even though it may take you some time to rise ranks and become a sports marketing manager, it is a possible job that you can explore. These professionals are charged with planning promotional campaigns, negotiating contracts, offering marketing advice to clients, creating marketing plans in liaison with different departments, and estimating product demand and services.
Sportswriter
You can try sportswriting if you are creative enough. Your job will be to cover sporting events. By default, you must have good knowledge of your area of specialization and a good understanding of the relevant statistics. Most sportswriters work for newspapers, websites, radio stations, and other publications.
Market Researcher
As a sports marketing researcher, you will be required to gather relevant information that can be used to come up with successful marketing campaigns, be it for players or teams. These campaigns should reflect the current market trends. Some of the key identifiers for market researchers are ticket sales and past marketing performance.
Sports Promoter
You can also choose to be a sports promoter, mandated with publicizing sporting events and urging people to get tickets. You will be at the forefront of publicity initiatives, marketing campaigns, and event planning, especially where information sharing with the public is needed. Promoters also sell game tickets and advertise special appearances to the public, ensuring that many people attend these games.
Brand Manager
A sports brand manager is a public relations person who helps sports clients build a successful brand. Therefore, they are at the forefront of creating marketing strategies for different players, teams, venues, and merchandise. They also push for ticket purchase increments and increase merchandise sales for teams and players.
Sports Agent
A spirit agent is like a normal agent, just that they represent the athlete’s interests, mostly in different contract negotiations. Agents are also charged with handling financial planning, public relations, and sponsorships. These are but a few jobs that you can try in sports marketing. Make sure that you choose something you are passionate and knowledgeable about to enjoy this vast field. Also, it’s only after deciding on a given path that you will know how to move forward.
2. Educate Yourself
After deciding what career path to take, it is only right that you get the right education about it. Remember, most jobs in sports marketing require a Bachelor’s degree or relevant certification. For example, you may have difficulty landing a job as a sportswriter if you don’t have a journalism degree.
Some of the courses you should consider for a successful career are marketing and journalism. Most of the jobs we reviewed require either marketing or journalism knowledge and expertise. However, you can also choose other related degrees such as Sports Management which opens doors for lots of marketing opportunities in the sports world; business administration to help you work on your business skills or kinesiology, which focuses on sports medicine. We also advise you to look for a college that offers specialized sports marketing programs. All in all, ensure that you pursue proper education related to sports marketing. If you’ve pursued a different major, find a course that focuses on sales, economics, or business. If not, take classes in consumer behaviors, communication methods, technology, photography, arts, visual arts, or marketing. We’d like you to be an excellent sports marketer, which can only happen if you have the right education.
3. Work On Your Sports Marketing Skills
Even after pursuing proper education, you cannot thrive in sports marketing if you do not work on your skillset. Here are some of the must-have skills for a sports marketer:
Writing and Communication Skills
It is impossible to market a sport, product, or team if your communication is poor. You need to know how to grab an audience’s attention during marketing. You should also have proper writing skills to attend to tasks such as coming up with mail promotions and reporting performance metrics over a certain period. Working on your writing and communication skills will lead to consistent engagements with fans and viewers.
Proper communication and writing skills will help you to be objective and compelling in your presentations, keep your voice active in your writing, present accurate information from reliable sources which will help you establish your authority, come up with pieces that can be ready easily, proofread your work to eradicate grammar errors and use clear and evocative language.
Analytical Skills
You have to work on your analytical skills as a sports marketer since analytics greatly influence marketing. You should know how to gather detailed information, identify patterns and trends in consumer preferences and behavior, and track the reach of different advertising campaigns and patterns in ticket purchasing.
We also advise you to learn how to use different digital tools that will help you manage and manipulate complex data on consumer behaviors and patterns. Related skills include strategy and digital marketing.
Time Management Skills
You have to be an excellent time manager if you intend to thrive in this field. You will be tasked with several activities such as managing communications, supervising ad campaigns, relaying the news to individual athletes, etc. Sharpening your time management skills will help you stay on schedule at any particular time, keeping the team on track.
Here are a few tips that can help you sharpen your time management skills:
- Proper planning. Planning your days and specifying the hours spent on different tasks will help you stay on schedule. You will know how to divide your time evenly between managing social media, tracking ad campaigns, meeting with team members, and replying to emails
- Use of industry-standard software tools. You need to be proficient in software tools for efficient task completion.
- Setting priorities. Do not waste time on things that will not help you succeed in your marketing endeavors. You have to set your priorities right and know your limits.
- Teamwork- Know how to collaborate with others, delegate work properly, and always stay on schedule.
Creativity
You cannot market a product, team, or sport if you are not creative. It would be best if you came up with engaging ads and pieces that will capture the audience’s attention and win their hearts. A creative marketer will positively contribute to brand visibility and get people talking. Nurturing your creativity will help you develop great solutions to some of the challenges you may face as you market. It also comes in handy when adapting to the sporting industry’s challenges.
One of the best ways of sharpening your creative skills is constantly challenging yourself by finishing solutions to different challenges. Professional development will also come in handy on such occasions. Other skills include flexibility, teamwork, organization, and project management. All in all, ensure that you continue working on your skill sets to succeed in this field.
4. Apply
Once you have the right education and confidence in your skillset, it is time to look for a job. Remember, even though there are several opportunities in sports marketing, you have to be eager to get them. With a good resume and proper education, you can be employed in the following places:
Teams
As a marketer, your main work in the team setting will be popularized by coming up with insightful pieces, reporting on its activities, or engaging with the fans. You will also have to work closely with the team’s stakeholders on several projects.
Sports Venues
Sports venues are business entities. They mainly make money from ticket purchases and therefore need someone to create a buzz about the upcoming games they intend to host. You may be tasked with popularizing the sports venue through campaigns or creating awareness of upcoming matches. If you are lucky enough, you may get a chance to work with renowned leagues as a sportswriter, marketing manager, and many more. Just make sure that you apply in an area that reflects your education and passion. As a marketer, you need to enjoy what you do.
5. Apply for Internships
Even though we have advised you to apply, you should remember that it may take some time before you land a job. Also, you may not get the ‘perfect’ job you want. You will learn a lot from sports marketing internships. You will increase your chances of landing a good job, but you will also sharpen your marketing skills and gain quality experience.
You can also update your resume after or during your internship and increase your chances of landing a job as it makes you outstanding. Here are some of the reasons why you need a good internship:
Learning Experience
As an intern, you are not yet a full employee and therefore have time to learn from industry professionals. A good firm, team or workplace will guide you every step, allowing you to sharpen your skill set. Make sure that you are focused, dedicated, and open to learning when you land an internship.
Financial Compensation
Even though you will not get the same payment as someone on a full-time contract, you will still receive a small stipend that can help you push through as you work towards greener pastures. You will be learning more about sports marketing and sharpening your skill set while you get paid. What more do you need?
Networking Opportunities
You can take advantage of your internship position to build excellent professional networks to help you secure a job once your internship is over. You will meet several industry professionals during the internship program, either directly or indirectly, through your supervisor or bosses. Use this opportunity to create industry links.
Easier Transition
You learn more about the sporting industry during an internship program, giving you an easy time while transitioning to a full-fledged job instead of someone without any internship experience. It also gives you a chance to create worthy professional networks, meaning that you will have someone to when you encounter a challenge.
Carer Path Exploration
Lastly, you will get a first-hand experience of your chosen path. You can then explore some of your career path’s technicalities, advantages, and intricacies. Therefore, taking up internship positions first before transitioning into a career is a good idea. Now that you know how to start a career in sports marketing, it is time to look at some advantages.
Advantages Of A Career In Sports Marketing
It Gives You A Chance To Earn From Your Passion
Most people who pursue sports marketing are usually passionate about sports. For example, you cannot succeed as a sportswriter if you are not an enthusiast. This career gives you a chance to earn money from your favorite sports instead of constantly committing your time and finances to your favorite team without any financial gain in return.
You will get a chance to support and work for an industry that has been a big part of your childhood, teenagehood, and even adult life. You will probably end up having a fulfilling career.
There Are Several Jobs To Choose From
As we mentioned, sports marketing is a wide field that encompasses lots of jobs. You can choose to be a brand Manager, sportswriter, broadcaster, editor, and any other occupation that makes a certain sport, team.or.sporting product more popular.
All you need to do is find a profession within sports marketing that appeals to you, seek proper education on it, build your skill set, and be good to go. Also, since most of these professions require similar skills and areas of study, you can easily change your career trajectory but still within the porta industry. Who wouldn’t want that?
You, Will, Get A Chance To Work With Pro Athletes
Imagine being in the same room and even talking to your favorite athlete? That’s just how a career in sports marketing is. You can choose to be an agent or a brand manager, jobs that will bring you closer to some of the athletes you only see on your screen. The same applies to jobs that involve handling contract negotiations and team logistics.
You May Get A Chance To Travel
Can you imagine traveling with your sports team to a different continent and covering all your expenses? Sports marketing is all about creating brand presence and awareness, meaning that you will most likely join your sports team on international or local expeditions.
However, remember that your travel frequency will depend on your position and employee. As a sports agent, you will definitely have to travel with your signed player from place to place during contract negotiation. If you love traveling, settle for a job that will ensure that you are always on the road.
It Ensures The Continued Growth Of The Sporting Industry
Sports marketing draws people’s attention to sporting events and activities, directly influencing growth. It sheds light on promising players and teams, keeping people glued to them and different stakeholders willing to take their chances. Therefore, take great pride in your career in sports marketing, as your contributions are definitely being felt.
FAQS
1. What Are Some Of The Jobs I Can Find In Sports Marketing?
You can choose to become a sportswriter, broadcaster, marketing assistant, marketing researcher, public relationship manager, brand manager, advertising manager, etc.
2. What Are Some Of The Skills Needed In Sports Marketing?
You need good writing and communication skills, analytical skills, organizational skills, and time management skills.
3. Will I Be Traveling A Lot?
Traveling depends on your position and employer.
4. Where Will I Work As A Sports Marketer?
You can work in sports venues, teams, stadiums, and publishing companies.
5. Can I Change Professions?
Yes. Provided that you have the right education and skills.
Conclusion
With the right steps and skill set, it is easy to start a career in sports marketing. Most people earn well from their passion for sports, and with the right dedication, you can be one of them.