It's been some time that I have been doing research on how to get my foot into this exciting field of sports business. Always have been an avid sports follower from football (yeah soccer! ) to ice hockey, NBA to NFL, Olympics to any other sport out there. Maybe economic downturn could be the opportunity to take a stab at making a profession out of this undying passion of mine.
The more i am delving into the business of sports and trying to figure out what I can do to get into this market, the more I am finding some crazy opportunities. Team sponsorships by corporations is a big industry where companies want to make their brand stronger and target a particular people to market their products. Players are getting endorsed for crazy amounts of money (i.e Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant etc.) and they are working with marketing agencies that help them boost their image and make the look cool to their fans. It's definitely an interesting and exciting industry and i came to realize that the industry is being mildly affected by the global recession. One British marketer backs this theory with some surveys on season ticket holders asking them how would they react to next seasons games, and majority of the response is that they will keep their season tickets. The underlying message is that people need something to forget about the bad economy and even for 2-3 hours to get excited about something that they have passion for.
Being semi recession-proof is not the main reason i want to get into the sports biz but it definitely helps to know people's behavior and why they do the things that they do. I still think there is a missing piece in the puzzle for me. That is the connections, networking and bit of management skills to run a successful company. I found a great educational program at IE Madrid where they offer an online masters program in Sports Management. Its a 13 months commitment and they have an amazing online platform that uses anything from video conferencing to live discussions and different time zones is certainly not an issue. They have been running this online program successfully and their student body is anywhere from U.S to China covering all the continents in between. Financially committing somewhere near $30,000 is not a bad investment considering the networking opportunities that they provide, which are quite amazing. Columbia University have a similar part time program where they have night school cost $55K for 2.5 years. Univ of SF pretty much the same. Anyways, with the realization of the missing pieces in the puzzle, i push myself to close the gap and learn as much as possible.
The ideal situation will be continuing the current job and get a green card with the firm and after the completion of the masters degree start working at a team or a global organization for couple of years before I start my own company. The true dream come true moment will be if I work for FIFA, the governing body of Football, being in charge of stadium preparation committee for the most watched sport event of the world, World Cup! I always dreamt of this when I was in my teens. Working for or helping Galatasaray or San Jose Sharks will always be a possibility for me and will commit to it at any age and in any circumstances.
Let's see what the future brings in these tough economic days but i believe people become more innovative and creative when they are facing difficult times. Mostly they see it as an opportunity to excel as they may suffer through the challenging days. They push their limits. I think this is the time we really need to push ourselves to turn the tide around. In the end, we wanted a close, globalized world thanks to the innovations in technology. Now it is up to us to overcome the difficulty of a global recession.
I think this is our only chance to drop all of our egos, our greed, let go of all the wars and requests for more land, and dreams of getting more powerful, and try to figure out how we, as 6.5 Billion living creatures, all get along. I don't think global warming is a joke. I think God is giving us one last chance to come together as all members of the world and learn from our mistakes. Whether we do or not, time will tell...
Don't lose your determination in anything that you have a passion for... Anything that you truly believe in... even though everything from people to statistics tell you that it is impossible to make it happen.
Until next time... Keep dreaming!!
