How to Leverage Your Sports Talent to a Successful Business Career

In recent times, sports entertainment has become a big business with a number of opportunities to meet interesting (and famous) people. Sport is considered to be one of the most growing industries globally in terms of employment and revenue. Driven by the enormous consumer demand, the business of sports has now become a multi-billion dollar global industry.

The business associated with sport means different to different people. Since sport is part of a global industry, it usually tends to drive a great passion amongst the spectators and the players as well. However, a majority of the masses is not aware of how to go about starting a good career with a sports management degree. When it comes to building a career in sport, most of the aspirants think of becoming professional players. However, getting jobs in such a scenario can be frustratingly difficult. The good news is that one can opt for a number of paths when it comes to sports management. You may be a sportsman or may be passionate about sports, coaching, and business.

However, you might be unsure of how to set them as per priority. Sports management is an exciting field to work in because it has a wide range of career prospects. It is an industry with tremendous employment outlook and wherein the willingness to work hard will always lead to bigger and better opportunities. While one can have a number of options to start a career in sports, however getting a degree in sports management should always be a priority. Sport includes a variety of career profiles such as athletes, coaches, trainers, event managers, public relation officers, coordinator of sports organizations, marketing consultant, program and facility manager, professional sports promoter, sports equipment and product sales, sports event planner and sports sponsorship specialist. Whether a person’s dream job is coaching athletes or promoting some sporting events, understanding the business, legal and marketing aspects of sports management seems to be an invaluable approach.

In India, the commercial success of Indian Premier League (IPL) in cricket has led to a surplus of similar commercial formats in many other sports such as badminton, football and hockey. Its success has inspired the creation of national and state level leagues in other sports. Reasonable success of the Indian Badminton League (IBL) and the Hockey India League (HIL) depicts that people don’t only enjoy the same popularity as cricket. These leagues may therefore not only benefit from their respective sport monetarily but also boost their uptake in the country.

The growth and development of the Indian sports industry are creating opportunities for the management professionals in different sort of aspects. It is estimated to overtake IT and other industries before 2030 in every aspect.

The Master of Sports Management program has coordinated its curriculum with the needs of the sports industry with the areas of global sports, digital sports media and marketing and sports analytics. These areas complement a strong foundation of the core courses which equip graduates with the skills and training required to gain an advantage in the highly competitive sports job market and once hired it adds immediate value to sports industry employers. The curriculum and faculty will challenge you to have a better understanding of three key areas:

• The global sports landscape and the contrasts of the sports business models around the world.
• The many connection points between the digital world and the sports world and the potential impact of disruptive technologies

Are you concerned about entering the business world with your sports talent? Let’s face it. Our passions don’t always perfectly synchronize with our education or career path. But if you wanted to take your sports passion into the business world, use the strengths of your degree, experience, and background to secure and enjoy your place in sports business world.

– Team Leverage