How to Break Into Sport Management

Sponsored by emlyon business school

While it’s true that the Olympic medal winners and elite sportswomen and men will always be the ones dominating the back pages of the newspapers, you don’t have to be a star athlete or coach to have a successful career in sport. This is an industry bursting with excellent jobs on the sidelines for new recruits who are passionate about sport and business in areas like branding, digital marketing, sales, public relations, to name but a few. You don’t even need to specialize in a particular sport to flourish professionally in the industry.

Of course, competition for entry level jobs can be fierce, but the industry’s not lacking in graduate vacancies for those of you looking to get their foot in the door. Here’s how you can get started in sport management.

It’s definitely a misconception that you don’t need to go to university to work in sport. Actually, a relevant qualification from a prestigious university will carry a lot of weight with brands and teams and help you gear up for industry challenges.

There are quite a few specialized master’s degrees out there which are specifically designed to help students kickstart a career in the industry. Recognised as a world leader in the field, the French business school emlyon business school runs a prestigious 16-month MSc in Sports Industry Management split across their Paris and Shanghai campuses, which covers the international sport market and gives students the specialist management skills they need to break into sport management. The MSc also includes field trips to London, Munich and the French Alps in the first few months of the program.