Sports have always been a part of my life and more accurately part of who I am. My happiness and free time were centered around participating in games, events and practice. My sport of choice since I was 8 years old has been soccer, and I have continued this passion into my college years here at Guilford where I play.
That love for sports extends off the field, too. I have always been certain I wanted a career in sports, and going into my freshman year of college last fall, I was thrilled to select sports management as my major, planning to keep sports in my life forever.
Not anymore.
I made the decision to switch majors but not because I did not enjoy sports management classes. I took Introduction to Sports Management and Sports and Facility Management this fall and loved both classes. Despite loving my classes, I decided to switch majors to business because I was met with a choice of loving my classes or having job stability after undergraduate.
During my first semester, I took away many interesting things about the field of sports management, but one thing pushed me away: In the sports management major, the pathway to a job is primarily about who you know and what experience or internships you have.
As a full-time student and an athlete, finding time during college to stand out in a popular industry would be extremely challenging and draining. The sports management major had 16,971 degrees awarded in 2020-2021 — a 4.4% increase from the year prior — according to College Factual, and this number continues to grow as this major continues to expand.
Business on the other hand offers flexibility in careers as well as stability. Yes, internships are still important for business; however, it is also easier to find jobs post-college without extensive experience. Business also does not eliminate the option of still pursuing a career around sports.
There are many successful people in the sports industry who graduated with a degree in business or other majors. Adam Silver the NBA Commissioner graduated from college with a political science and law degree. Peter Ueberroth, former MLB Commissioner, graduated with a degree in business from San Jose State.
If you are considering a career in sports, I strongly recommend not taking sports management. Business is what I believe fits my goals best as I plan to pursue a career in human resources; however, accounting and writing majors also would allow for job possibilities in sports. Any major sports organization deals with finances so there is also opportunity for financial analysts and advisors.
Communications is another major part of the sports industry. There are jobs in public relations and media relations. Sponsorships and brand building are also major components of the sports industry so there are job opportunities in digital marketing and design. These were just a few of many jobs in the sports industry that do not require a degree in sports management and may be easier to get with a different major.
There are a few exceptions to this and a few careers that would likely require a degree in sports management specifically. The two that are talked about the most in the courses I took are facility managers and athletic directors. Facilities managers have a unique job so gaining knowledge about the details of the job and gaining experience is difficult without pursuing a degree in sports management. Athletic directors can occasionally have a different major such as business or communications however commonly they have a sports management degree. In these instances, it is logical to study sports management, as long as you understand you need plenty of internships and other experiences to find employment.
If you boil down why sports management might not be the major it is talked up to be it is because of oversaturation. The sports management major is wildly popular currently and the sports industry is relatively small. If you only have a degree in sports management you likely will not stick out to employers. Experience and internships are going to be the only way to secure a job, and for me personally, that is why I chose to leave that field.
