Sports Marketing Jobs & Careers

Sports marketing utilizes sports to promote and sell products and services. Professional, collegiate and other alternative sports organizations utilize sports to market a team and gain credibility with their fanbase. For example, billboard ads, TV commercials, and celebrity endorsements are all forms of sports marketing.

For most marketing, advertising, and promotion management positions, you need to have a bachelor’s degree. Work experience in sales, promotions, marketing, and advertising is also a big plus. You also need to have excellent interpersonal skills and embrace creativity in your work life too. To help prepare for the intricacies of the job, you should learn how to write reports, analyze data, and make presentations.

Remember, marketing is marketing regardless of the industry. Your education, training, and experience outside of the sports industry translate to your next job within the sports industry. The fundamentals will always remain the same. In our ten years of working with hiring managers from sports organizations from around the country, we have rarely seen a listing requiring sports industry experience. Time and time again, sports employers want a competitive personality who can take their skills and apply them to the sports industry. Your background is not nearly as important as your desire to work hard and succeed.

Generally, marketing, promotions, and advertising managers must work closely with financial staff members and art directors to come up with effective marketing campaigns. You must be able to work well with others and communicate your ideas effectively and efficiently.

In many cases, you’ll be working under pressure, and your schedule will be tight. You might also have to travel a lot to meet media representatives or clients.

A sports marketing salary will depend on several factors, such as geographical location, experience, training, and education. Salaries can range from $40,000 to $200,000 depending on these factors. A field that was once overlooked, sports marketing could continue to increase in popularity with the rise of online marketing and advertising in the past decade.

The following is a general framework of what is expected on a day-to-day basis:

Sports Marketing

• Ensure the development, implementation, and reconciliation of comprehensive sports marketing programs
• Ensure the development, maintenance, and coordination of advertising/sponsorship opportunities
• Develop, direct, coordinate and review the strategic plan for providing sports marketing services
• Liaise with promoters/Show Organizers to market the arena/venue
• Explore non-traditional marketing opportunities
• Negotiate and maintain promotional partnerships with corporate partners
• Manage day-to-day promotions and event activities
• Plan meetings to negotiate and research advertising mediums
• Coordinate team efforts with other departments to implement sports marketing ideas/tasks
• Oversee grassroots program and collateral created
• Create marketing plans for events
• Work directly with other departments to implement campaigns
• Promote HYD culture and principles within department and facility
• Perform all other duties as required

Sales and Signage

• Assist the GM in securing advertising deals and oversee implementation
• Media Buying
• Negotiate advertising and media-related sponsorship agreements
• Negotiate deals and contracts successfully
• Establish and maintain positive, cooperative working relationships with contacts and media reps
• Plan and negotiate all paid TV, radio, print and outdoor advertising for various marketing campaigns
• Solicit third party Sponsorship/Vendor programs to generate revenue for events

Public Relations

• Plan, organize, lead and control public relations efforts
• Manage public relations
• Develop, edit and issue press releases
• Develop, edit and issue event-related press releases
• Establish and maintain positive, cooperative working relationships with contacts and media reps
• Create, prepare and implement advertising and promotional plans for planned events
• Communicate daily with media partners, promoters and entertainment agencies to maintain cooperative, positive relationships
• Maintain and monitor a solid media relations program, including the creation of media releases and the coordination of interviews and media requests for information on the event, facility or staff

Creative

• Develop collateral, including fliers, newsletters, posters, postcards, email blasts, sales brochures, sales video, television, print and radio advertisements, marketing kits, building information guides, signs, banners, coupons, and direct mail pieces.

Website

• Oversee and update the organization’s websites.

From advertising agencies to public relations firms, numerous companies are looking for new talent, making the types of sports careers available to you nearly limitless. And, if you’ve pursued a degree in marketing or sports marketing, your chances of landing one of these sports marketing jobs skyrockets.

So, what types of careers in sports marketing can you get with a degree in this field?

Advertising

While some companies use outside agencies for advertising purposes, many hire advertising personnel to handle advertising campaigns. Working in an advertising department, you may be assigned jobs that include media ad buys, graphic design, and copywriting. Other sports marketing job opportunities that are often available include targeted/themed promotional campaigns, product-specific advertising, social media campaigns, and radio and television ads.

Event Management

Primarily, your job in event management will be to execute events flawlessly, including the organization of sponsors, audio and video production, promotional campaigns, and ticket sales. There are numerous roles in for a sports marketing career, including Director of Operations and various assistants and support staff.

Marketing Research

Organizations generally hire personnel for marketing research to get insights about the target audience and marketplace. You’ll have to learn about participants, fans, and the team’s competitors. Researchers in a sports marketing job might also provide consumer satisfaction and economic impact surveys among key data that promotes the business of sports.

Merchandising

In the merchandising sector, you could either be in store management or you can purchase products for an organization too. You might also be employed in a larger store and specialize in merchandise related to sports for that location, like a national retailer. Large organizations such as a professional team or colleges and universities often have opportunities to handle their sports merchandise.

Public Relations

A job in public relations (PR) involves writing press releases and dealing with both local and national media, acting as a representative of the sports team. A public relations position promotes and supports a positive media presence for the organization, sports team members, and the league.

Restaurants and Hospitality

In many cases, businesses utilize sporting events for entertaining clients or to provide perks for employees. In the hospitality and restaurant industry, you’ll need to market the opportunities to businesses, offering diverse packages depending on the need. Each client can have different preferences, so you often must customize proposals in food and beverage alternatives and facility selections.

Sales

As a sales representative, you maintain a good relationship with fans as well as small businesses and larger organizations that buy group tickets and season tickets. People in sales might also sell sponsorship opportunities, and this often includes a more complex approach with a strategy for the proposal. Additional responsibilities in this sports marketing career also include approaching advertisers that might want to advertise during radio or televised broadcast, at the sporting venue itself, or in a printed program.

Sports Agents

The primary job of a sports agent is to represent the team or individual personality. This career in sports management is highly sought after and is usually very competitive. In some cases, agents might also work with trademarks and licensing images for organizations, teams, and athletes.

In the competitive field of sports marketing, you can’t risk lacking a single necessary skill. This is especially true when it comes to communication skills. Even someone with the right experience could lose out on a sports marketing job.

So, what are the must-have skills for the aspiring sports marketer?

Active Listening

Listening is vital to strategizing with clients as well as taking direction from leadership. Luckily, this is a skill you can practice in your everyday life.

Interpersonal

Interpersonal skills tie every other communication skill together. To grow your job in sports marketing, you’ll need to build connections and network with people you’ve never met. Understand how to interact with different groups of people, such as sales reps, clients, and journalists.

Non-verbal

If used correctly, non-verbal communicant can help emphasize your messaging. Pay close attention to eye contact, hand gestures, posture, and other kinds of body language.

Public Speaking

In sports marketing, you’ll need to present important information to clients, reporters, and colleagues. Therefore, you need to be comfortable in front of people.

Writing

You need to know how to express yourself and define value in the written word. However, as a marketer, you’ll be doing a lot of writing for clients, so this skill is vitally important for the sports marketing job search.