Chapter 17 Careers in Sport Management

17

Careers in Sport Management

chapter

Lori K. Miller and G. Clayton Stoldt

Goal of Sport Management Professions

To provide support services, facilities, and other amenities to make physical activity experiences—performance as well as spectatorship—as enjoyable as possible

Figure 17.1

The World of Sport Management

Sport managers are more involved in the activities and job responsibilities surrounding the actual event than they are in the sport or activity itself.

Figure 17.2

Growth in the Sport Industry

The sport industry has grown significantly in both variety and complexity since the 1800s. Improved technology, greater discretionary monies and time, flexible work assignments, changing demographics and psychographics, consumer needs and desires, and other societal influences have caused the sport industry to blossom.

Sport Management Settings

• Sport entertainment• Sport participation

– For-profit participation segment– Nonprofit participation segment

• Support services– Sporting goods– Sport services (e.g., insurance, licensing,

travel, etc.)

Up-Close Views of Professions in Sport Management

• Event management• Financial management• Human resource management• Risk management• Marketing management• Public relations management• Program management

– Scheduling– Facility and equipment maintenance

• Employment outlook• Education and qualifications

Marketing Management

• Research and development• Sport promotion• Sponsorship• Advertising• Merchandising• Distribution

Sport Management Education

• Students of sport management who are educated in the area of sport marketing often find that they have a great deal of appeal to employers in all sport industry segments. A background in sport marketing, coupled with related job experience, provides lateral as well as vertical career opportunities.

• The Journal of Sport Management contains content about current issues and trends in the sport management industry.

Education and Qualifications

• NASPE-NASSM competency standards– Bachelor’s degree– Master’s degree– Doctoral degree

• Internship and field experience• The North American Society for Sport

Management supports professionals working in the fields of sport, leisure, and recreation.

Table 17.1

Benefits to Management

Multifaceted individuals can make decisions that are in the best interest of the sport organization as a whole rather than decisions that benefit only particular business functions of the organization.

Advice for Sport Management Students

• Seek practical experience.

• Seek out mentors.• Gain communication

skills.• Develop problem-

solving skills.

• Generalize.• Develop a strong,

diverse knowledge base (be a lifelong learner).

• Build a network of sport management and physical activity professionals.

Some Additional Advice

• Class work – Kinesiology– Business

• Experience – Classroom– Real world (critical to preparation)

• Mentoring– University– Real world

Remember that the field of sport management is diverse, so be sure to account for this in your preparation.