The types of jobs available with an MBA in Sports Management aren’t just limited to the world of sports. There are many exciting jobs in sports management related to business, marketing and administration.

Brand Ambassadors

Retail brand ambassadors are the faces of the major sports brands, such as Nike, Adidas, Reebok and Gatorade. Brand ambassadors apply their retail and visual merchandising experience and knowledge to impact consumers and the media. Brand ambassadors supervise retail brand associates and coordinate public marketing events. They are tasked with promoting apparel, footwear and accessory products to increase sales and consumer brand awareness and engagement.

Brand ambassadors often visit retailers to visually inspect product placements to ensure that they are appealing and in harmony with official marketing campaign goals and guidelines. That is, they must ensure that consumers properly experience the brand through ensuring that visual presentations meet internal standards and that brand integrity is maintained. They build store relationships with retail staff and managers by passionately promoting the brand and associated values.

Event Management

Major sporting events need booking supervisors, event coordinators and concessions managers to direct various operations. For instance, the latter includes concessions operation duties, such as the preparation and service of food and refreshments, and administrative duties, such as pricing, entertainment booking, costing menu items, renting equipment and general clerical duties. Those who manage sports events have supervisory duties, such as directing, hiring and firing employees.

On the other hand, stadium managers must have a master’s degree in sports management, because they oversee daily operations, including finances, maintenance and business administration. In order to ensure a steady stream of income, stadium managers direct advertising and marketing efforts to arrange concerts and special events. Stadium events involve tens of thousands of customers and major athletic teams, so stadium managers must have impeccable organizational skills. Most stadium managers belong to the Stadium Managers Association (SMA).

Sports License Managers

Sports license managers use their sports knowledge and contract negotiation experiences to acquire licenses with popular players and celebrities. This involves branding and merchandising sports equipment, clothing and accessories. Sports license managers leverage negotiation talents and interpersonal skills to quickly establish and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with teams, players, major leagues and independent agents.

Some sports license managers solicit and acquire autographs, celebrity worn memorabilia and equipment used in games. This means they must manage simultaneous acquisitions of hundreds of athlete autographs and memorabilia. Together with marketing and product development teams, they create strategic goals and player lists. This involves setting specific budget limitations for individual rookie, current and retired athletes. They track and coordinate athlete autographs to meet product deadlines.

Regional Brand Manager

Regional brand managers assist with recruiting and orientating popular personalities and athletes to best represent the brand. They coach and train field agents through communicating guidelines and expectations in order to successfully achieve goals. They oversee the daily execution of brand projects, marketing campaigns and advertising promotions through various media platforms.

Regional brand managers visit store and event locations to provide continuous support and expertise through providing tools and feedback. They build comprehensive progress reports that highlight how their regional program impacts the national market. Brand managers are entrepreneurs who identify, engage and encourage local events that promote brand awareness while positively impacting the community.

Related Resource: Supply Chain Management

The types of jobs available with an MBA in Sports Management require highly effective communication, problem solving and administrative skills.