Throughout Europe and the entire world, there are few entertainment options that draw the devotion of the public in the same way as sports clubs and leagues. Basketball, football, and hockey draw in millions of fans per year throughout the world and bring in billions of pounds to leagues and clubs. In this way, the sports industry is one of the most successful in the world and is growing constantly. Few fans consider the vast numbers of professionals that work for clubs, leagues, advertisers, and communities in order to make sporting events possible.

The most obvious avenues for professional growth in sports are in sports training and team management. Graduates with a medical background and some experience in playing sports are always sought after as team trainers. Other graduates who have coaching or management experience, along with an applicable degree, often make their way in club management or executive positions within a sports league. With the logistical and financial issues that face a league on a daily basis, exceptional professionals are needed to handle every minute detail.

A thriving area of the sports industry is in advertising, marketing, and sponsor relations. This is perhaps the largest area of growth for jobs in sports, as bigger sponsors and larger contracts are becoming commonplace in the sports world. Advertisers and marketing professionals help get the word out in the community about their team, including creative marketing on the street and the use of the Internet. Sponsor relations professionals help bridge the gap between corporate sponsors and a sports club’s advertising department, mediating issues and providing feedback about promotional ideas.

While young professionals may want to realize their sports dreams through the aforementioned jobs, it can be tough to land that dream job. Young professionals may try to break into sports as a team trainer for a small football club, but realize that the upward mobility in their league is limited. Other professionals may work for a major hockey franchise but feel that they get lost in the shuffle. In order to help find the right balance, sports professionals should work with a recruiting agency. Many recruiting agencies offer exclusive connections to leagues, clubs, and advertisers involved in a variety of sports. As well, agencies can help young professionals develop motivational skills to help them succeed in their job. Young professionals should join with a quality recruiting agency in order to find that winning job.

Talisman Jobs specialise in aerospace jobs, rails jobs and public sector jobs in the UK and Europe. The company is also a search and selection agency providing professional recruitment services to a wide range of clients.

By Richard Taylor Edwards
sports marketing, sports industry, job, professional career

Technorati Tags: sports marketing, sports industry, job, professional career

Sports Marketing refers to the specific application of marketing principles and processes to sport products (e.g., teams, leagues, events, etc.) and the marketing of non-sports products (e.g., cigarettes, beer, long-distance phone service, etc.) through associations with sport.

The first sports management firms, which managed endorsement deals and contract negotiations for professional coaches and athletes, began forming in the 1960s and early 1970s with Mark McCormack’s International Management Group (IMG), Bob Woolf (Woolf Associates), and Donald Dell’s ProServ.

World Class Events out of Sweden operates the World’s Strongest Man Super Series which is a new, unorthodox and effective form of sports marketing.

Similarly, the first full-service sports marketing and sponsorship agencies were founded in the mid-1970s with Millsport LLC (now part of The Marketing Arm) and ProServ, which had expanded beyond athlete management into event production and sponsorship negotiations.

The explosive growth of sports marketing came with the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, when corporate sponsors used the Games as a platform to market their brands. Coca-Cola, for example, spent nearly $30 million in support of its official sponsorship of the Games.

As CEO and chief organizer of the 1984 Olympics, Peter Ueberroth, a former senior executive with Trans International Airline and Transportation Consultants International, is credited with demonstrating the power of sports marketing. After the Olympics, Ueberroth served as commissioner of Major League Baseball (1984-89). Today, he serves as Chairman of the Board for the United States Olympic Committee.

According to the Sports Business Journal, an industry trade publication, today, sports marketing is a US$250-billion industry and includes sports-related advertising and venue signage, athlete endorsements, facility construction, sporting goods and licensed merchandise, event management and marketing services, sponsorship and ticket sales, media broadcast rights, and multimedia — including sports-related websites, magazines, books, and video games.

New content distribution channels like the Web, email, voice messaging, streaming video and mobile are creating many new opportunities and challenges for sports marketers.

A rising player in the sports marketing industry is rEvolution, a Chicago-based sports marketing and media agency who in 2005 announced a strategic partnership with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to offer unique hospitality to the semi-final and final games of the 2006 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. This marked the first time in the event’s history the NCAA offered “The Tournament Club,” a unique and convenient hospitality venue adjacent to the RCA Dome

From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org

Sport management is a field of education and vocation concerning the business aspect of sport. Some examples of sport managers include the front office system in professional sports, college sports managers, recreational sport managers, sports marketing, event management, facility management, and sports information.

Technorati Tags: sports management, sport business, sports, agency