How to Get Into the Sports Industry

March 10, 2025

There is an incomparable excitement to watching your favorite sports team win a high-stakes game. It’s natural to want to help make these moments possible — and you don’t need to be a professional athlete to do so. With hard work, dedication, and passion, anyone can pursue a career in sport management. 

Building a career in this growing field has the potential to be lucrative, exciting, and fulfilling. The global sports market had an estimated total value of more than $450 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at a rate of about 6% through 2030. The broader entertainment and sports industry workforce continues to grow as well: the US Bureau of Labor Statistics expects above average job growth through 2032. 

The sports world offers a wealth of roles that cater to diverse interests, so be sure to explore all aspects of this industry before choosing your path. Depending on your background and career goals, a wide variety of opportunities may be available to you. Many people imagine being an athletic director or sport agent, but have you thought about becoming a game day coordinator, sport event manager, athlete development specialist, or contract analyst?

As you plan for the future, it’s also important to understand how to break into the field. In this article, we will discuss how to kick off your career and also highlight a few sub-areas of sport management for you to consider. 

Key Steps To Entering the Sport Industry

The one thing that sports professionals have in common is a love of the game. This enthusiasm is essential for advancing in a field that thrives on networking. Whether you work behind the scenes in operations or serve as the public face of an organization, speaking the language of sports will help you connect with colleagues, clients, and peers across the industry. 

With a passion for athletics, you’ve already laid the foundation for success. You should now develop a strategy to maximize your career prospects.

Expand Your Network

Despite its exponential growth, the sports industry remains a tight-knit community. Networking is vital, providing both professional support and access to new opportunities. 

Strong relationships can be key to securing the best job offers. In this field, hiring managers often place high value on the opinions of their personal network, making it essential to find mentors who can guide your career path and recommend you for jobs. Cultivating these relationships early on will yield benefits throughout your career.

“Network with people already in the industry to ask lots of questions to ensure you find the right role for you. The industry is growing and changing, and there are countless open positions. It’s necessary to find the right type of business and environment that compliments your interests and skill sets — not just the first open job.”

— Kim Bastable (M.S., USPTA, PTR), Director of Racquet Sports Specialization & Instructor

To help build industry connections, consider attending a conference. For instance, the National Sports Forum is attended by executives from nearly every league, team, and facility each year, making it an invaluable opportunity to network with professionals across the industry. These events can also familiarize you with different organizations, help you identify roles that align with your skills, and give you insight into how careers typically progress.

You should also network across your peer group and even with the people in your local recreational organizations. Remember: a network isn’t just who you know but also the people they know. For example, someone who works for a minor league baseball organization likely has contacts with numerous other athletic groups and facilities in town, and their boss may have connections all the way up to the major leagues.

Gain Real-World Experience in the Industry

To break into the sports industry, real-world experience is invaluable. Internships, entry-level work, and junior positions are crucial for anyone looking to get a foothold in the industry and build their professional network. These roles provide essential insight into how the industry currently functions and what it takes for an organization to succeed. 

Those entering the field without much experience should aim to secure an internship or other entry-level position. These initial opportunities will help you learn about the day-to-day operations of a team, make an impression, and determine which facet of sport management aligns with your interests. If it’s challenging to find a relevant position, don’t dismiss volunteer roles or jobs in areas like ticket sales. These positions still offer valuable opportunities to network and gain insight into how the sports world operates.

If you already have industry experience or are transitioning from another career, aim for a junior-level position in an area that serves your long-term goals. From there, focus on gaining relevant skills, building your network, and making moves that will help you get where you want to be in five years. Consult with peers and mentors to get a sense of how careers tend to progress in your organization — or with other employers — and check in with yourself often to ensure you’re making moves that will help get you where you want to be in five years.

Build Specialized Knowledge

No matter what career you pursue, working in sports requires a wealth of specialized knowledge, and it’s important to get up to speed. If you lack a formal grounding in sport management, make it a priority to enroll in an introductory class, webinar, or similar opportunity. Reading a recent edition of a textbook such as Contemporary Sport Management is another way to master basic principles.

On top of the fundamentals, you must also continuously expand and update your understanding of this ever-changing field. For instance, aspiring professionals should track industry news and emerging trends through outlets like Sports Business Journal and Forbes SportsMoney. Following sport management professionals on LinkedIn and similar platforms can also help you stay informed.

If you’re already well-versed in the field, consider enhancing your prospects by specializing in a niche like sport event management, athlete development, high performance coaching, sport analytics, or sport law. Once you’ve identified a specialty that interests you, determine what skills, courses, or certifications are needed to pursue a career in this area. 

For those ready to build advanced knowledge, a master’s in sport management might be a good fit. With an M.S. in Sport Management, you’ll gain administrative proficiency, leadership ability, and specialized skills that can benefit a wide variety of sport organizations around the globe. A degree with a focus on the sports industry provides you with the real-world knowledge to enter a diverse range of sport management careers. 

Subfields of Sport Management: What To Know

Not sure what area of sport management you want to dive into? Check out our career guide for an overview of different sport management jobs that you can pursue.

Athlete Development

Professionals in athlete development help players balance the physical stresses of their sport with leading a productive life off the field. Early in a player’s career, these specialists focus on nurturing the physical skills, professionalism, and practical knowledge that elite athletes need to thrive. In later career stages, they may help players navigate professional transitions and life changes. 

Nationwide, athlete development specialists earn a median salary of over $81,000. To succeed in this role — or in related positions such as director of player engagement, director of student-athlete development, and athletic director — you must possess a deep understanding of athletes’ physical and psychological needs. You will also need strong skills in leadership, communication, and media and financial literacy.

To enhance your marketability and ensure you have sufficient expertise, consider getting certified in athlete development. Some graduate programs are specifically designed to meet certification requirements for the Professional Association of Athlete Development Specialists (PAADS).

“To teach, coaches need to be certified professionals. The main thing is to get educated about coaching. It’s vastly different to play a sport and coach a sport, so those wanting to coach must learn how to develop, motivate and educate players.”

— Kim Bastable (M.S., USPTA, PTR), Director of Racquet Sports Specialization & Instructor

Sport Event Management

The field of sport event management is dynamic and multifaceted. Sport event managers and event coordinators act as liaisons between a variety of stakeholders — including teams, facility management staff, and fans — to ensure that everything goes as planned. Their responsibilities may include defining schedules and timelines, providing hospitality to clients, recruiting volunteers, identifying venue options, managing parking, and more. 

According to Payscale, these coordinators earn an average salary of more than $49,000. Notably, sport event management offers a lot of upward mobility: individuals who manage top-tier professional championships often start by coordinating local recreational events. In addition to climbing the ladder organically, you can also start a career in sport event management through continuing education. For example, you may consider a certificate program in sport event management. A certificate or course series in these areas can teach you valuable skills and help you stand out to employers.

Sport Marketing

As a sport marketer, your job is to build buzz and manage sponsorships so that a team can reach new audiences and increase ticket sales. To accomplish this goal, sport marketing specialists craft powerful branding messages across both digital and traditional media platforms, earning an average salary of $63,000. 

A portfolio of successful work is the top selling point in this field, so consider enrolling in a graduate degree program that offers a certificate in social media. A credential like this can give you hands-on experience in developing, managing, and assessing creative content across major social media platforms. 

Athlete Representation

For professional athletes, few career relationships are as important as the one they share with their sports agent. From contract negotiation to mentoring clients through major decisions, an effective sports agent can have an immeasurable impact on an athlete’s career.

This career path requires a great deal of familiarity with contract law and the nuances of its application in the sports environment, so you might want to pursue a legal education with a focus on sport law or a master’s in sport management with a specialization in sport law. After you complete your graduate degree, you’ll be prepared to pursue the necessary certifications and training needed to be a practicing sports agent. 

With sports agents earning an average salary of $98,010, investing in your education can pay dividends for your financial future.

Advance Your Career in Sport Management

Sport management offers opportunities in countless aspects of the industry, including facility management, media and communications, college athletic administration, sales, marketing, and even data analytics. 

As you plan for a career in this dynamic field, here’s a summary of our top tips:

• Cultivate Passion: Your love for sports is your foundation. Use it to connect with colleagues and clients across the industry.
• Expand Your Network: Attend conferences, seek out mentors, and engage with peers to build the relationships that will connect you to opportunities.
• Gain Real-World Experience: Dive into hands-on work to gain the practical insights you’ll need to excel in the sports industry.
• Build Specialized Knowledge: Continuously update your knowledge of industry trends and consider deepening expertise in a niche area.

Finally, as you work toward your dream job, set clear long-term goals. Where do you want to be in six months? What about next year, or three years down the line? Assess your progress on a regular basis and course-correct if necessary. Committing to a game plan will help you stay on track in this fast-paced field. 

A career in the sports industry offers many rewards, from high compensation to the satisfaction of contributing to game day excitement. As the global sports market expands and opportunities grow, this is an ideal time to enter the field. With a well-defined career plan and strong work ethic, you’ll be poised to find your niche in sport management. 

Start Changing the Game With UF’s Online M.S. in Sport Management

The online Master of Science in Sport Management from University of Florida equips students to take on complex financial and administrative challenges in the world of sport. The comprehensive sport management curriculum can help you develop your skills as a multi-talented professional who is ready to break into this field.

UF is a sports powerhouse whose top-tier faculty have firsthand insight into every facet of the industry. UF’s large alumni population and student support services also offer highly valuable networking and professional development opportunities. With options like the Gator-to-Gator alumni social network and specialized career coaching with internationally recognized industry professionals, a UF graduate will start their sport career on the right foot.

Through core courses that include Sport Marketing and Management and Leadership in Sport and electives such as Sport Sponsorship and Athlete Development, you will gain in-depth knowledge of the business of sport. You will also have the opportunity to pursue a graduate certificate in Sport Event Management or in a specialization in the area of Athlete Development, High Performance Coaching, Sport Law, or Director of Racquet Sports.

Learn more by downloading a brochure, or start your application today.