Finding a Career in Pro Sports
There are few jobs more appealing to high school and college athletes than becoming an executive for a professional sports organization. It's easy to see why. It’s a highly prestigious, highly visible job that comes with a lot of perks. Sitting in a luxury box watching your team compete is as close to being on the field as it gets. The pinnacle of this profession is the General Manager. No one in an organization has more responsibility, authority, and impact on the final product than the GM. Student-athletes naturally gravitate towards this position when considering what major, college, or career they want to pursue after their playing days are finished.
But what is the best path to follow to reach the front office, and eventually sit in the General Manager’s chair? This question is on the minds of a huge percentage of high school athletes when they start thinking about where they want to go to college and what major to choose when they get there.
After analyzing the journey of 92 current General Managers across the NFL, NBA, and MLB, an interesting pattern started to emerge.
Do you have to go to an elite college?
GMs come from colleges all over the spectrum. It is a commonly held belief that the path to the top is reserved for Ivy League graduates. In reality, less than half of GMs come from a school with a less than a 15% admission rate. Almost 40% come from a school with over 50% admission. So it matters less where a student attends and much more what a student does during their time in college.
What is the most common major?
Once again, while there is no set path, a pattern does emerge when examining the most popular majors among current general managers. 30% majored in economics or finance. This might seem strange for a career in sports, but the biggest trend of the past 30 years has been the integration of advanced statistics and mathematics into every facet of a sports organization. The ability to understand numbers and manipulate data is a vital asset to anyone with aspiring front-office ambitions.
How do I break into the business?
The hardest part of working in a high-demand industry like professional sports is getting that first big break. One of the most consistent patterns that emerged in the analysis of the career paths of current MLB, NFL, and NBA general managers was where they began their journey. Only a small handful started in the sports world in any sort of meaningful role. Those exceptions usually spent significant time as lawyers, agents, or corporate executives and then leveraged their connections to break into the top of an organization. But the vast majority of GMs started as unpaid interns, low-level scouts, or part-time operations assistants.
The overall conclusion of this analysis is that there is no magic path into one of these highly coveted positions. Each general manager took their own unique route, and they varied WILDLY from story to story. Many of them come through the worlds of scouting, operations, and player agencies. Brian O’Halloran of the Boston Red Sox was a Russian Studies major whose first job was with a Moscow logistics company before coming home to get an MBA and an internship with an MLB team. John Lynch of the San Francisco 49ers and Elton Brand of the Philadelphia 76ers were star players for over a decade which launched them directly into the highest levels of organizations.
But there is one key feature that the vast majority of these general managers share, and is absolutely crucial to their ability to navigate the current world of professional sports. There is a constant debate over what is driving decisions in organizations as math and analytics become more important parts of the games. Is it knowledge of the game, strategy, and the ability to relate to and understand players and coaches? Or is it the ability to manipulate statistics, understand data, spot emerging trends, and make cold calculating decisions based solely on numbers? The answer is BOTH.
So what should a high school student plan to do?
It is no longer adequate to be a “stats guy” or a “baseball guy.” To be a competitive candidate for front office jobs of the future, students are going to need to have knowledge and fluency in both worlds. For decades, general managers were former players and coaches who knew the game from personal experience on the field. The analytics revolution changed all that and there was an overcorrection in the opposite direction. “Quants” ruled the front offices at the beginning of this century after the Moneyball revolution. But, organizations gradually came to the realization that sports are not played on a spreadsheet, but by human beings who have emotions, make mistakes, drop into slumps, and have complicated relationships with their teammates and coaches. All things that can affect the product on the field. General managers of the future need to be able to straddle both worlds. Students should proceed with the idea of developing both skill sets. To become a general manager today, candidates must come out of college with a solid understanding of math, statistics, and data, as well as a deep connection to the game.
How does a student develop analytic skills and credibility?
The best way is to major in something heavily math and analysis related. This will be absolutely crucial to your future opportunities. Examining the chart above, 30% of current general managers majored in economics or finance. Both of these fields have a huge math component and involve the interaction between statistics and real-world decision-making. Students who major in these fields will graduate with the ability to understand and manipulate large, complex data sets and utilize that knowledge to develop strategies for their organizations. This is crucial knowledge for the future of professional sports.
A second path is to find others interested in sports analytics and join or create a club. If the best way to learn is by doing, finding a group of peers with whom to dive deeply into the subject provides a community and resources to use as a launching pad into the business. These groups are often able to attract guest speakers to come and talk about their experiences as well. This can be an incredibly beneficial opportunity to meet current front office members and start to develop the analytics network.
How does a student develop knowledge of their sport?
Get as close to the game as possible. If a student wants to develop their knowledge of the sport and build a valuable, connected network, the most important thing to do is immediately get involved in the sport at their college. The best ways to do this are through the school’s athletics department and any professional teams in the surrounding area. Outside of Power-5 Conference (Pac-12, SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12) football, college sports are perpetually underfunded. Coaching staffs are stretched thin with the workload required to be successful in an incredibly competitive landscape. There are countless valuable contributions that undergraduates can make to a program to start building their knowledge of the game.
Look for the most basic entry point into the organization. At most places, that will be as an undergraduate student manager. Responsibilities for this role include equipment inventory, travel preparation, practice & game set-up, stat tracking, and putting out the myriad fires that pop up every day.
Goal #1: Prove what a competent, reliable, hard worker they have on staff, someone who will shoulder more responsibility in future years. Spend the year getting ingrained into the team culture. Attend every game and practice. Try to shoulder as much responsibility as possible, but don’t overload it and do a job poorly.
Goal #2: Identify areas of interest and need for the program. Do they need help planning their recruiting travel? Offer to help the recruiting coordinator figure out the logistics of their summer travel schedule. Do they have data that could be analyzed to provide valuable insights, but not enough time in the day or statistical expertise to get it done? Offer to create some reports that could be helpful for future decision-making. Do they need someone to coordinate information for professional scouts? Volunteer to be the point of contact for visiting scouts and start building relationships in those organizations.
In the following seasons, grow the role and execute on these areas of need. Create a reputation as someone who is incredibly reliable and valuable to the organization. The head coach of that college team could be the most valuable reference a future pro organization applicant could have. During the off-season, try to find professional or amateur organizations to work for in a paid or unpaid capacity. Some examples might be:
Cape Cod Summer Baseball League
Seasonal Jobs at MLB Spring Training
By the time the student graduates from college, they will have a long track record of success in an organization along with a high-profile and valuable recommendation from the head coach. They will have created opportunities to network with members of professional organizations like scouts and front office personnel. They will have a deeper understanding of what it takes to run an organization, how to navigate and find a niche inside a team, and they will be able to speak the language and specific jargon used in the sport, which is an underrated but incredibly valuable skill.
What sorts of colleges provide the best opportunities to succeed?
Not all colleges will provide equal access to these sorts of opportunities, but there are some features that can be searched for in the college selection process. The more of these that are available, the easier it will be to build up an impressive college resume:
#1 - A Profitable College Football Team: Even if the student isn’t interested in football, having a successful football team on campus that pulls in a solid TV rights deal will provide incredible resources throughout the athletics department. Being in a Power-5 athletics department with a football team is a completely different experience from a mid-major, small football school. Football pulls in resources for the entire department.
#2 - The Right Level of Success & Prestige: Becoming a student manager for the University of Alabama Football, University of Kentucky Basketball, or Vanderbilt Baseball is incredibly difficult, to say the least. There is competition for even unpaid laundry interns. There will be layers of coaches and managers between an undergraduate and the head coach. Nick Saban does not know the names of Alabama football undergraduate managers. The next tier of colleges down is the sweet spot. The second-level Power-5 athletics departments have the prestige and reputation to promote a student into a future career, but not enough resources that they don’t need tons of help. Middle-of-the-pack Power-5 programs will have ample opportunity for students without excessive competition for entry-level jobs or too much distance between the managers and head coaches.
#3 - Access to Professional Organizations: This usually means the big cities. Undergraduate internships with NBA/MLB/NFL organizations are the best way to get a foot in the door. 40% of current general managers across the three major sports started their first job with a pro organization as an intern. It’s a huge advantage to start that process while still in college. It can save years of grinding through those jobs after graduation when factors like rent and food become all-to-real. Access to these teams during college provides a massive leg up and is mostly based on location. It’s hard to intern for a pro team if a student is going to school in Tuscaloosa. Attending college in a city with pro sports is crucial.
#4 - MINIMIZE STUDENT LOAN DEBT!!!: The first job in a professional organization will most likely be unpaid (or very close to unpaid), and also be located in a major city where the cost of living is relatively high. Low-level employees in these major sports franchises work incredibly long hours for very little money as they try to prove their worth. They pack tightly into shared apartments in order to defray costs. Living in Los Angeles or New York on $20,000/year is incredibly difficult, and the last thing that a young worker wants in that situation is to have to pay back student loans instead of buying food. Students who leave college without debt have a massive advantage because they have the freedom to take those low-level internship jobs and scrape by on next-to-nothing salaries. Meanwhile, their counterparts with loans are forced to give up on their dreams and take a more practical job with a steady paycheck.
Ten Examples of schools that fit these criteria:
Arizona State University:
Located in Phoenix, AZ
Power 5 Football Athletics Department
Relatively successful athletic history, but not in the top tier
MLB/NBA/NFL/NHL Teams, Major PGA Golf Tournament, & 15 MLB Spring Training stadiums looking for seasonal workers every spring.
University of Miami:
Located in Miami, FL
Power 5 Football Athletics Department
Relatively successful athletic history, but not in the top tier
MLB/NBA/NFL/NHL Teams. Close to other spring training locations, but not right there.
University of Colorado - Boulder:
Located 40 minutes from Denver, CO
Power 5 Football Athletics Department
Relatively successful athletic history, but not in the top tier
MLB/NBA/NFL/NHL Teams
Boston College:
Located in the outskirts of Boston, MA
Power 5 Football Athletics Department
Relatively successful athletic history, but not in the top tier
Small school with less competition between students for positions
MLB/NBA/NFL/NHL Teams, Boston Marathon, & Annual Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.
University of Washington:
Located in Seattle, WA
Power 5 Football Athletics Department
Relatively successful athletic history, but not in the top tier
MLB/NBA/NFL/NHL Teams
Texas Christian University
Located outside Dallas, TX
Power 5 Football Athletics Department
Relatively successful athletic history, but not in the top tier
Small school with less competition between students for positions
MLB/NBA/NFL/NHL Teams, Major PGA Tournaments
University of Pittsburgh
Located in Pittsburgh, PA
Power 5 Football Athletics Department
Relatively successful athletic history, but not in the top tier
MLB/NFL/NHL Teams
Vanderbilt University
Located in Nashville, TN
Power 5 Football Athletics Department
Relatively successful athletic history, but not in the top tier
Small school with less competition between students for positions
NFL/NHL Teams, Major PGA Tournaments
University of Minnesota
Located in Minneapolis, MN
Power 5 Football Athletics Department
Relatively successful athletic history, but not in the top tier
Small school with less competition between students for positions
NFL/MLB/NBA/NHL Teams
University of Maryland
Located 30-min from Washington DC & 45-min from Baltimore, MD
Power 5 Football Athletics Department
Relatively successful athletic history, but not in the top tier
Small school with less competition between students for positions
Washington DC: MLB/NFL/NHL/NBA Teams
Baltimore MD: MLB/NFL/NHL/NBA Teams
