The Best Things about Working in Sports

On Fridays in 2021, we are shifting the popular “Question of the Day” poll section at the bottom of our FOS AM newsletter into an open-ended question, and welcoming FOS subscribers to weigh in with their opinions, thoughts and predictions.

Each week, we will select a few standout responses and feature them in a post like this one. The responses below came from our April 9th question:

What’s the best thing about working in sports?

PLEASE NOTE: ALL RESPONSES BELOW ARE DIRECTLY FROM SUBSCRIBERS AND DO NOT REFLECT THE EDITORIAL OR CORPORATE OPINIONS OF FRONT OFFICE SPORTS.

The best thing about working in sports is the community of sports professionals who share a passion and, sometimes struggle, for this industry. It’s show business baby.

– Nate Masseau
Peak Sports Management

As an avid sports fan, the best thing about working is sports is being able to talk with people all day about something I love and am passionate about. I mean no disrespect, but how excited can someone be about selling rubber bands all day!!??

– Adam Waxman
Business Development, WSC Sports

The best thing about working in sports is the relationships – building relationships in order to do your job and allow athletes to achieve their greatest level of success. It may not always be a gold medal or a national championship, but seeing an athlete accomplish a team or personal goal can be just as satisfying. 

To be able to serve your team, coach, commissioner, athlete, or fan in the best way possible means so much. The relationships we build across our profession are undervalued and should not be taken for granted. Every single relationship is important in the success of your organization.

– Rob Carolla
Communications Strategist, Athletics Administrator, Event Operations, Past President, College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)

For me, at Hudl, it’s getting to interact every day with so many amazing coaches and athletes who love our brand and are leveraging data and video in ways that blow our minds. Some of the smartest people you’ll ever meet are high school football coaches — if you don’t believe me, look up Kevin Kelley’s speaking session at MIT Sloan from a few years ago. These people take pride in their role as guardians of the game’s future, and for many of them an important fabric of their communities. There’s an infinity pool of amazing stories to tell that, if written the right way with the right details, will inspire people for generations.

More on the storytelling aspect. The first thing you see when you enter the Fenway Park press box is the front page of the Boston Globe the day after Game 6 of the 1975 World Series, with Peter Gammons’ recap front and center. You can’t put a price on the historic value of the content you produce, knowing that years from now, an entirely new generation of sports fans might look to your account of an important event to understand what it was like to be in that moment.

– Brendan Hall
Content Producer, Hudl

CampusVR creates moving, 360-tours. We have produced tours for athletic programs at Duke, Texas Tech and UConn to name a few.  What I love the most about what I do and working in sports is the access to places no one else can see and interacting with legendary figures I have only seen on television.

– Manu Goffer
Chief Operating Officer, CampusVR

While there are many, getting the opportunity to take part in historic events and cheer not only for your employer, but the team you’ve always loved.

– Michael Freedman
Marketing Solutions for the Global Partnerships Team, Los Angeles Dodgers

I thoroughly enjoy serving the tax needs of professional athletes. Their competitive spirit and edginess is appealing to me. Plus, they have no issues with me showing up to meetings in ProSport CPA jerseys, instead of business attire!

– Dr. John Karaffa
President & Founder of ProSport CPA

I work in the sport industry as a professor of Sport Business at the University of Tennessee at Martin. The best part of my job is seeing young women and men grow into successful professionals. We are a campus that serves many first generation students, so they come to us a little timid, perhaps unaware of the opportunities available to them, and I honestly believe our program transforms them into better citizens, even if they don’t go to work in the sport industry. We are an experiential learning based program with our marquee opportunity being an annual trip to the Super Bowl to volunteer in many different roles. That event alone has transformed numerous lives and provides many students with the opportunity to add one of the strongest brands in the world, the NFL, to their resume. I can’t think of a more fulfilling job!

– Dexter J. Davis, Ed.D.
Associate Professor of Sport Business, Program Director, College of Business and Global Affairs, The University of Tennessee at Martin

Working with incredible people from diverse and varied backgrounds and sport’s increasing ability to lead (positive change) and inspire beyond the game.

– David Wright
Chief Commercial Officer, U.S. Soccer Federation

The best part about working in sports is marketing games that you already love watching! It makes the job 100% easier.

– Isaiah Nerez
Assistant Media Planner, FOX Sports at Mediahub

Besides witnessing the growth and development of my mentees it’s what ABC Sports got right years ago “The agony of defeat and the thrill of victory”! March Madness showed this in the women’s and men’s tournament. The best part about working in sports is marketing games that you already love watching! It makes the job 100% easier.

– Curtis E. Spence
Assistant Athletic Director, New York University

There is a defined result in sports. This result is made possible by a number of moving, certifiable factors. Everyone, big and small, from custodial services to accounting, has a role in attaining this result, as does partnering software. While there are transactional components to working in sports, at its core, everything goes back to result, which in turn will power the rest of the team making this a cyclical relationship. Working in sports, we can all rally around our efforts because at the end of the day we’re one team. 

– Alex Adkins
Customer Success Manager, Front Rush LLC