Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the Ivy Sports Symposium at the Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia. The Ivy Sports Symposium is one of the global sports industry’s premier conferences that sets the standard among college-based sports business events. It is widely considered the best and most comprehensive one-day event. The Symposium has gained industry-wide recognition since its inception by featuring more than 180 unique speakers from around the world representing all facets of the sports business. There were a number of great sports job tips to take away from the conference.1. Social Media in Sports
The #1 thing that I took away from the symposium was how important it is to possess social media skills. Sports are moving to the social media realm at an incredibly fast pace. Many current industry executives are lagging on social media trends and since younger professionals are more versed, they are being hired to help their company’s social media presence. This skill was emphasized as a potential differentiator to break into the sports industry or creative a competitive advantage in your current job.
2. Sports Job Tips on a Global Scale
Another aspect that was greatly emphasized throughout the entire conference was that sports are becoming an increasingly global enterprise. In the United States, we often think that there are only four major sports that matter to fans and consumers. This is simply not the case. We often fail to recognize sports that are dominant in the international sector such as Futbol, Cricket, Formula 1 racing and Rugby just to name a few. There is enormous potential for brands and executives alike to capitalize on this relatively untapped market.
Kevin McNulty, CMO of Momentum Worldwide, emphasized that agencies are starting to expand their offices overseas and offered the following tips for people to land a sports job internationally:
- Learn another language: When looking to enter into the sports industry, think about working abroad as there are countless opportunities. By being fluent in a foreign language, it sets you apart from the other applicants in a big way.
- Be Fluent in Portuguese: Rio De Janiero, Brazil is the host of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and Summer Olympics in 2016. Many agencies and companies are starting to set-up offices there to prepare for these huge events. Portuguese speakers are in high demand and McNulty said this is a huge advantage for applicants if they possess this skill.
- Dual Citizenship: It’s extremely expensive for companies to hire foreigners to work in their overseas offices as it is costly to pay for work Visas, find them housing, transfer funds, etc. If you have the opportunity to have dual citizenship in any country, it makes you more attractive for companies to hire you for their international operations.
Sports Job Tips – Advice For Students
Here are some other sports job tips from top executives in the sports industry:
“As long as you are willing to work very hard, you have a bright future. Be relentless in your pursuits. Perseverance counts and education isn’t everything rather experience is.” – Todd Goldstein, President, AEG
“Do every role as well as you possibly can to distinguish yourself from your peers” – Chris Lencheski, President, Front Row Marketing
“When interning, any question that you have, ask it. It shows that you are eager to learn about the industry and shows initiative. You need a lot of luck, need to add value to the company and you should be specialized” – John Brody, Principal of Sales, Wasserman Media Group
Sports Job Tips – Interview
Here’s a video interview conducted by Russell Scibetti from The Business Of Sports with Scott Minto (Director – SDSU Sports MBA Program) . There are a number of great sports job tips to take away from this video including why it is important for sports business students to attend sports conferences to expand their network.
Did anyone else attend the 2011 Ivy Sports Symposium? Were there any key take aways that have helped in your sports job search? What was your overall experience at the 2011 Ivy Sports Symposium or any other sports networking conference? Would you recommend going in the future?
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Thanks for the helpful summary Holly! I will be attending this year’s event at Columbia. I look forward to meeting you and hearing all the great insight from the speakers.
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