Getting a sports management internship is a great way to break into the industry if you’re just starting out. Along with providing you with relevant work experience, it can help you make the kinds of contacts you need to get a sports management job in the future. All you have to do is work hard and make the right impression.
If you’re interested in pursuing a career in sports management, check out these unique sports management internships to help you get a foot in the door – and have a blast doing it.
Related Jobs
- Graduate Assistant, Fitness Center/Game Management - Volunteer Coach, Field Hockey
Collegiate Sports Administration - Northeast Region
Unique Sports Management Internships
1. Marketing Internships
Sometimes people pursue internships because they already know they want to work in a given industry. However, others might use internships to help them better determine whether a particular line of work is right for them.
That’s what makes a sports marketing internship a unique sports management internship. While some sports management internships, such as those that involve working with coaches or working in the athletics department of a university, only prepare you for sports management jobs, a marketing internship is more flexible. It can give you a taste of both the sports industry and marketing in general.
For instance, maybe when your internship is complete, you’ll realize you’re not as interested in the sports industry as you thought you were. However, your experience has confirmed you’d still like to work as a marketer in another capacity.
This type of experience is also a unique sports management internship in that opportunities are relatively abundant. Numerous sports organizations (as well as individual teams), ranging from the NBA to the NFL, sometimes offer marketing internships. Thus, your chances of finding the right program are reasonably high.
2. Youth Sports Internships
It’s worth noting that not all sports management jobs involve working for major sports organizations or universities. For example, i9 Sports currently offers an internship that involves, according to the company’s own description, “helping kids succeed in life through sports.”
That’s just one example of a smaller operation offering a unique sports management internship you might not have known about. It also highlights the fact that sports management jobs can be gratifying. If you’d prefer a career that allows you to work with young people, demonstrating to them how sports can help them achieve their own goals, consider looking into similar internships at youth sports organizations and leagues in your area.
Related Jobs
- Community Marketing Manager
Administration/Management - West Region
3. Facilities Management & Event Coordinator Internships
Some sports management jobs don’t necessarily require you to work solely on sports industry-related tasks and projects all of the time. For example, major sports games and matches can only take place if venues are prepared to facilitate them. Therefore, facilities management and event coordinator professionals play a significant role in the sports industry. They make sure these complicated events run smoothly by ensuring the facilities are safe, coordinating with food vendors, keeping the facilities clean, ensuring they’re suited to accommodate all guests, and much more.
That said, sometimes sports stadiums and arenas play host to other types of events, such as concerts and similar performances. The same people involved in managing the facilities and coordinating sports events are often involved in planning for these events as well.
That’s what qualifies a sports management internship as being unique. Although the primary focus of your duties will likely be related to sports, you might also get opportunities to learn about preparing for the types of non-sports events these venues sometimes host. That might be appealing if you’d like a sports management job and you also would ideally prefer a role that’s somewhat more flexible.
Keep in mind that you’ll probably need to live near the venue you’re interning at, so you might not have many options to choose from if you’re interested in this particular type of sports management internship. Still, it’s worth considering if becoming an events coordinator or facilities management professional is your chosen career goal.
Also, keep in mind that there are additional steps you can take to make yourself a more attractive candidate to potential employers in the future. For instance, along with completing a sports management internship, you might also want to enroll in a sports management certificate program. Like these unique sports management internships, a sports management certificate program will give you the training and experience necessary to make it in this industry. These programs are also available online, which can make them a more convenient option if you don’t have the freedom to become an intern right now.