Sports Career Options: Finding Your Sports Industry Fit

Summary

Brian Clapp explains that “working in sports” describes an industry, not a specific job. Many roles—such as finance, HR, sales, marketing, and operations—also exist in other sectors, while coaching, scouting, and player development are more sport-specific. The challenge is to identify the work that fits your interests, strengths, and preferred work environment.

Rather than relying on being a sports fan, taking classes at random, or expecting internships and coursework alone to lead to a job, Clapp recommends researching real entry-level roles and the skills employers request.

Actionable Career-Discovery Playbook

• Search broadly for entry-level job titles. On a sports job board, try terms such as coordinator, specialist, associate, and assistant instead of starting with a single job function. These searches can reveal opportunities across teams, agencies, nonprofits, media companies, and college athletic departments.
• Read job descriptions to explore your fit. Notice which responsibilities appeal to you. An interest in game-night work may point toward operations; enjoying relationship-building may point toward sales; and liking creative campaign work may point toward marketing.
• Choose a discipline to investigate further. Once an area seems promising, search for more roles in that field rather than making a career decision based on one posting.
• Analyze 10 job postings in the discipline you choose. Compare their descriptions and record the skills employers request.
• Build a skills-gap spreadsheet. List the skills found across the postings, then rate your comfort level with each on a simple scale, such as 1–10. Use the results to identify gaps and plan how to develop those skills.
• Use employer requirements as a practical curriculum. Clapp describes job descriptions as an “open book test”: they show what the market is seeking, so candidates can prepare before applying.

Metrics and Examples

• WorkInSports’ job board showed 22,967 active jobs at the time of the video, compared with about 7,000 around the start of the coronavirus disruption.
• Searching for “coordinator” narrowed the listings to 1,126 jobs.
• WorkInSports said it worked with 8,000 employers.
• In the marketing example, comparing 10 entry-level postings could reveal roughly 15–20 in-demand skills, including Photoshop, CRM knowledge, and email marketing.

Examples and Takeaways

• Career fit is personal. Clapp’s own path began with studies in biology and chemistry and an interest in physical therapy. His mother pointed out that he watched and read sports voluntarily, prompting him to explore sports media and storytelling.
• Partnership activation can change how you watch games. Clapp references Allison Bickford, director of corporate partnership activation with the Seattle Kraken, who described paying attention to corporate partners and rink-side signage while watching games.
• Unfamiliar job titles can reveal options. Clapp also references Chelsea Zahn, a partnership activation coordinator with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who said she had not known the role existed when she was in college.
• Be intentional. Research roles, assess your interests, map the skills employers request, and build those skills before entering the job market. Coursework and internships may help, but candidates should also investigate what organizations need.

Presenters and Sources

• Brian Clapp — Host of the Work in Sports podcast and presenter of the video.
• Allison Bickford — Referenced as a guest on the Work in Sports podcast.
• Chelsea Zahn — Referenced as a guest on the Work in Sports podcast.