How to Land Your Dream Job in the Sports Industry

This article is sponsored by EMLYON Business School.

The global sports industry is booming, valued at approximately €420 billion. It has experienced regular growth of 5% per year over the last 10 years, compared to an average growth of 2.5% worldwide GDP.  The top five global markets combine to represent some 67% of the sector’s worth: US €75 billion; China €24 billion; Japan €15 billion, Brazil €13 billion; and Germany €12 billion.

Interest in sports is at a high, partly as a result of recent major international sporting events. The London 2012 Olympics was the most watched television event in American history according to NBC, with more than 219 million viewers. Conversations about the 2014 Brazil World Cup generated 35 million tweets, the highest in history for any sporting event.

Growing global demand has led to an increasing demand for senior managers equipped with the right skills and experience to lead organizations to take advantage of this growth. So how can the MSc in Sports Industry Management from EMLYON help you to achieve your dream job in the global sports industry?

Network with international sports brands

Exposure to international sports brands and industry experts throughout the MSc in Sports Industry Management helps you to land high-profile positions with top international sports organizations. As a result of EMLYON’s collaboration with the Outdoor Sports Valley and top international sports companies, you have the opportunity to meet and network with over 200 member companies, including adidas, Arc’teryx, Atomic, CNPC Sports, Eider, Lafuma, Mavic, Millet, Odlo, Patagonia, Petzl, Salomon, Tecnica, The North Face, TSL Outdoor, Volcom, Vuarnet and Wilson.

Study in two locations at the heart of the sports sector

The EMLYON MSc in Sports Management is based in Annecy (the Alps), the heart of the sports industry in Europe – and this contributes to the wide range of opportunities to meet, learn from and intern with sports sector leaders. In addition, for one semester, students travel to study in Shanghai, China. This provides an international dimension, allowing students to get close-up insights into the specifics of doing business in Asia, a hugely important world region where the sports industry is flourishing.

Cover a broad range of sports industry topics

The broad range of courses taken throughout the program allows you to access a wide variety of positions within the sports industry, depending on your personal interests. You will study the fundamentals of management theory at EMLYON, followed by specialized sports and outdoor industry courses, such as Sports History, Consumer Behavior, Main Actors of the Industry, Sports Marketing, Sponsorship, Financial Analysis and Macro-Economics for Managers. During the semester in Shanghai, courses include Purchasing, Supply Chain Management, the Asian Business Environment and International Strategies of Firms.

This broad exposure has led to a variety of graduate roles within the sports sector, including Business Engineer, Store Manager, Department Manager, Company Co-founder, Web Marketer and Business Developer, with positions spanning France, Brazil, Switzerland, China, Ireland and the US.

Complete sports internships at top international brands

You are required to complete in-company projects and an internship lasting a minimum of four months as part of the program, in order to gain invaluable business experience, apply your learnings and get those all-important industry names on your CV. Examples of recent sports internships at leading sports brands have included:

• Global Buying and Visual Merchandising at Salomon
• Project Management at Puma
• HR and Recruitment at Nike
• Digital Marketing at Amer Sports
• Retail Supplier at Quechua

The Careers Service at EMLYON also provides numerous services to prepare students for sports internships, and for job-hunting in the sports industry. These include career workshops, personal coaching, online job and sports internship offers, corporate roundtables and recruiter visits, as well as conferences and visits to sports and outdoor industry organizations. 

Get inspired by Caio Franco’s success story!

Caio Franco, a graduate of the MSc in Sports Industry Management, is currently working as a Supply Chain Analyst and Buyer for Decathlon in São Paulo. As a pro networker, Caio got in touch with Decathlon whilst he was studying in France. “I decided to go and visit Quechua’s (one of Decathlon’s brands) office in Sallanches, a town located at the heart of The Alps in France  I got an interview with the brand manager for Brazil and he offered me to do a five-month internship at Quechua France before working for Decathlon in the Brazilian office, in São Paulo.”

He gives advice to future students of the MSc in Sports Industry Management on how to land those top sports internships: “Study well in advance which companies you would like to work for in the sports industry. This will be useful for your networking. Also, be open-minded as you will discover different cultures. Learn and be ready to change your mind. You will be able to make this experience your own.”

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