MMS714 Essay: Opportunities and Challenges in Sport Management

This essay delves into the multifaceted world of sports organization behavior, examining the crucial aspects of hiring practices within the sports management field. It emphasizes the importance of strategic marketing, human resource management, and the impact of various sports leagues on the industry's growth. The essay explores the responsibilities of sports organizations, highlighting the need for specialized experts in marketing, finance, and operations. It discusses the challenges faced by HR managers in recruiting and retaining qualified personnel, while also presenting the various job opportunities available in sports management, such as sports administrators, event organizers, and financial analysts. The essay also touches upon the significance of branding, merchandising, and the role of young professionals in the sports industry, emphasizing the need for sports organizations to adapt to market trends and leverage marketing intelligence to engage with their supporters effectively. Ultimately, the essay underscores the importance of creating a positive organizational environment and highlights the opportunities within sports management, including athletics administrators, professional sports organizers, and financial analysts. The essay uses references to support arguments.

Running head: SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS BEHAVIOR
Sport Organization Behavior
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS BEHAVIOR References and Bibliography
Sports management is regarded as one of the most important job roles in contemporary
society. Sports are very crucial aspect of the community, and it cannot be done correctly only by
players and coaches of the concerned game events. A sports organization needs many things
apart from playing games and winning them. The responsibilities of the sports organizations are
almost similar to those of the other organizations. Keeping this in mind, there is a huge of the
need for marketing work for success in sports (Hoye et al., 2018). This is why the most famous
sports organizations hire specialized experts to complete their responsibilities. Whenever a sports
organization is launched, it requires being popular. This work can be done only by the proper
analysis of the current market position and the expertise of the marketing experts. This is why
sports management has become one of the most popular courses in modern times. The strategic
marketing of sports organizations is indeed critical, and the hiring of the individuals has become
a very crucial factor for the scenario.
Due to this, human resource managers have a lot of responsibility in deciding the nature
of qualification it requires to be a successful sports manager. There are several responsibilities
that an expert in sports management should perform. These responsibilities should be performed
by the experts correctly, so those sports organizations could emerge as the most successful ones
(Hoye et al., 2018). In this essay, the aim would be a focus on the different opportunities of
hiring in sports management programs and sharing the responsibilities properly. Many
challenges are being faced by the HR managers in sports managers because of specific issues.
These factors will be focused on and highlighted in this essay, as well. The challenges should be
curbed down for an effective outcome for sports organizations.
Sports management has gained huge importance in many countries- both developing and
the developed. These countries like USA, China, India, United Kingdom, France, Germany and

2SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS BEHAVIOR References and Bibliography
others are progressing towards a bright future in the sports management so they want to
implement some strategies in their sports organizations so the perfect outcomes can be achieved.
The league-based competitions have been increasing all over the world in many sports events
like football, cricket, hockey, badminton and others (Masterman, 2014).
This is why the sports industry has been flourishing in a new way in the world. Multiple
sports leagues have opened up the door for the betterments in the sports industry. This is why
there is a huge need for the organizations to hire some experts of sports management to take care
of the issues that arise within. The sports organizations nowadays need some support from their
financial, marketing and operational facts. This is why the organizations have to recruit people
based on their qualification and experience in sports. The various sports organizations will need
to teach the skills among these people so they can get their desired outcomes through these
people. The opportunities are enormous, and people should count on these opportunities so they
can make the most of it.
Before going ahead with this topic, one must understand the importance of sports
management within the current society. According to the critics, sports management is generally
a branch of education in which the students are taught to understand and implement the business
dynamics for the betterment of sports industry (Masterman, 2014). Thus the sports managers are
regarded as the principal driving force to move ahead with this dynamic industry. The sports
organizations will have to work for further improvements so the sports managers must take up
the primary responsibilities in designing the ways in a productive manner.
There are several job opportunities in the sports management like the sports
administrators, event organizers, and information experts about the recruitment of the players,

3SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS BEHAVIOR References and Bibliography
sports economists and facility managers who are the backbones of the sports teams (Chadwick,
2014). Through these job posts, students can make very good careers. As most sports
tournaments and leagues are sponsored by professional brands, the rate of investment is also
going high in this discourse. Therefore, the employees will also be able to get a high amount of
salaries (Masterman, 2014).
So, employees as the sports managers should always begin with knowing about their
responsibilities and make proper contributions to the overall welfare of the teams. Critics are of
the opinion that the branding and merchandising of the firms is also a very crucial aspect, indeed.
Nowadays, popular sports teams all over the world have their products or merchandises. It is
similar to sports jerseys, armbands, scurf and other things (Marcus & Buhaş, 2014). Supporters
come to the stadium to watch the matches of their favorite sport teams and buy these products.
This is also a way of income for these clubs. These processes can only come true when sports
organizations can properly recruit their candidates.
Many critics think that the sport organizations should always give priority to the young
people to be recruited. It is because the young people are very enthusiastic and they have a great
knowledge of modern sporting activities than older people. Some degree programs should
always be initiated in the colleges so the students can take part in the amateur sports clubs at the
beginning (Marcus & Buhaş, 2014). The aim of these degree programs for students will aim at
the students of the school level, college level, professional level, state level and national level
sports organizations.
The sports organizations that participate in the school, college, state and national level
sports events are mostly the amateur ones. Still, these sports organizations need some positive

4SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS BEHAVIOR References and Bibliography
directions so they can improve their positions in this hard situation (Adair, 2014). There are
some basic requirements for sports organizations for the recruitment of young people. The sports
managers need to be very cautious about the trends of the game as well as the marketing
opportunities (Marcus & Buhaş, 2014). Many sports organizations in the world have been
immensely successful because of their supreme marketing quality to influence the supporters.
Some sports organizations can be named in this segment that has achieved high ratings in
their marketing capabilities for the popularization of their organization (Dowling, Edwards &
Washington, 2014). Some names among them are Los Angeles Lakers, Manchester United
Football Club, Real Madrid Football Club, Barcelona FC, Indian Premier League, English
Premier League and many others. All of these sports leagues and sports organizations have been
able to incorporate fierce marketing intelligence to grab the support of their communities. The
credit obviously goes to the sports analysts, event managers, marketing experts and people
handling their marketing campaigns (Gabriel & Alina, 2014).
These sports organizations and leagues pay high amount of money to their employees
who work very hard for spreading the names. Football clubs like Manchester United FC,
Barcelona FC and others are trendy in the African continent despite being based in Europe. It is
because of these people only that they have gone to such heights. Apart from the above
mentioned sports events, employees can also occupy posts like an athletic coach, financial
analysis, event management planner, business development coordinators, marketing consultants,
marketing coordinators, operations manager, contract negotiations manager, contract
administrators, specialists in athlete development and many others. Sports agents and public
relations managers are also needed in sports organizations so the operations can be run smoothly
(Pedersen & Thibault, 2014).

5SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS BEHAVIOR References and Bibliography
Students from numerous disciplines are always welcome in sports management
programs. Young people who are very enthusiastic and interested in recreational athletics can
become a part of the professional or collegiate recreational athletics (Gabriel & Alina, 2014).
They must be dynamic, and they should have a good idea about the importance of sports in the
lives of collegiate students. Critics have opined in this matter that the students should be able to
know the market of the professional sports organizations they are working for.
The HR managers in sports management can analyze the necessary qualifications and job
responsibilities (Pedersen & Thibault, 2014). The financial experts or analysts in sport
management will have to look into the contract negotiations of the players, and they should
manage the fast valuation as well. They will be able to make negotiations on the player and
vendor contracts. In the case of the sports managers, the marketers are responsible not only for
selling a product, but they also have the responsibilities to increase the attendance rate in the
stadium during matches. The ticket sale is one of the most significant resources for the overall
income of the organizations.
Until this factor increases, it will be tough for the organization to increase its revenues.
This is where the marketing experts in the sport organizations should create influence through
social media and contribute to more ticket sales. This is how the sports organization will be able
to increase the revenues. As the critics have suggested, these steps are very crucial for the overall
success of the sports organizations in particular (Schwarz, Hall & Shibli, 2015). The specialized
skills will be helpful for individuals to succeed in their quest to be successful sports managers.
The proper marketing work by the experts will surely grow the bond between the home
teams and their local supporters. Successful activists in sports management can organize some

6SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS BEHAVIOR References and Bibliography
special events during the off-season times that will be helpful for the supporters to interact with
the players (Dowling, Edwards & Washington, 2014). This way, the players will also understand
that they are valued and they will put in their best efforts in this situation. Thus the supporters
will be pleased as well as the club will also gain from these events.
In case of the success of sports organizations, sports managers should ensure that the
organizational environment is not at all that kind of typical corporate environment. So, the
people associated with the process can feel homely and feel highly valued there (Schwarz, Hall
& Shibli, 2015). The opportunities in sports management will be described in this section in
various ways. The athletics administrators are considered as the primary decision making
persons in sports organizations. They analyze the entire scenario and decide on the ordering of
the equipment and the hiring and firing of the low ranked employees (Houlihan & Malcolm,
2015). Thus they have a lot of power in deciding the future of professional sports organizations.
The professional sports organizers are liable for making the situation great for the sports
organization. Their decision will have a high impact on the overall branding of the organization
(Chelladurai, 2014). They have the unlimited liability of making promotions for the team. These
promotions can be made both online and offline. They should be able to use the assets and
resources for the team that should be highly beneficial. This is how the organization will
progress through the active participation of these sports management officials.
They should have an affinity of communicating with the common public and supporters
over both the traditional and digital media platforms (Schulenkorf, 2017) The guest relations
managers in the sports management play the responsibility of ensuring the best quality and

7SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS BEHAVIOR References and Bibliography
positive experiences with the venues of the home teams. They can also articulate the policies of
the organizations and check whether everyone is going by the plans.
There are some other posts through which various job opportunities have been opened in
case of the sport management programs (Chelladurai, 2014). The financial and contract analysts
have a vital role to play in case of the success of sports organizations. Various sports teams and
professional franchisees target to be profitable ones and it can only be perfect when their club or
team has made huge profits. They have to see through various important things like the available
funds of the club, expenditures, costs, revenues and capital of the clubs. This is how the financial
experts or analysts will look into these important matters for the overall development of the
sports organization (Chelladurai & Kerwin, 2018).
The salaries of the players and agreements with the vendors will also have to be taken
care of by the financial analysts. The professional clubs or teams have tie-ups with several big
brands or sponsors. The top players of these sponsors also work as the brand ambassadors of
these clubs. The corporate partnership managers will look after all these things and see if new
opportunities can be discovered. New agreements can also be developed through the supervision
of these corporate relationship managers (Chelladurai & Kerwin, 2018). The broadcasting rights
of the matches that clubs play are also controlled by the corporate relationship managers.
It is very clear from the above descriptions that the career opportunities for the
professional and collegiate sports management have widened in recent times. The sports
statisticians will also be able to discuss the significant developments in the sports careers of the
athletes. Their major statistics should be analyzed, and the sports statisticians do this. The critics
have opined that this job of explaining the sports data will be one of the most crucial things for

8SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS BEHAVIOR References and Bibliography
the success of the sporting teams. These statisticians are also called scorers as they keep track of
all the records being scored. This has to be done based on very minute details of the sports events
(Taylor, Doherty & McGraw, 2015). Thus the players can know about the developments of the
particular sports events that they participate in. Therefore, these opportunities have been quite
encouraging for the newcomers in sports management (Schulenkorf, 2017).
A player should have an idea about the records that have been done in his or her sports
event. This is mainly important in case of the individual sports events like tennis, track and field
games and such others. Sports agents also have a very significant role to play in this scenario.
When famous players get good offers from big clubs, their agents do the negotiation terms. One
example that can be given here is that of the football agent Mino Raiola. He has worked as the
sports agent for many big and successful players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Marco
Verratti, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and many others. These sports agents do the negotiation terms for
the players when they have to change their clubs (Sherry, Schulenkorf & Chalip, 2015).
Now, it is highly relevant to discuss about the challenges that are being faced by the
sports organizations. It must be mentioned in this discourse that the hiring in sports management
is done by HR managers but the collegiate level sports management does not have wide financial
resources full of sponsors and brand ambassadors (Taylor, Doherty & McGraw, 2015). Although
careers in sports management have high promises with a bright future, these have some negative
consequences as well. These career challenges will have to be discussed in this section.
Firstly, it will be very problematic for the young students to land up with a great job in
the sports management unless he has a very good internship and able to make a huge impression
on the club or team he serves (Misener & Darcy, 2014). They should have very close

9SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS BEHAVIOR References and Bibliography
connections with the sports industry if he wants to have a very successful career in the sports
management. The potential futures of the employees will depend on the ways they have
impacted on the overall success of the sports organization (Filo, Lock & Karg, 2015).
The professionals in sports management will have to be away from home most times
during his working life. It is because they have to travel with the team and be active 24*7 to be a
part of the success story of the organization. In case of all sports management jobs, post holders
like marketing executives, administrators, sports agents and scouts will have to spend lots of time
with their teams (Misener & Darcy, 2014). The sports management professionals should also be
active when they are on work and their communication level should be very high. This
communication is not only their social media communication via Facebook, Twitter or other
platforms. Their communication level should be so strong that their faces will be known to every
place wherever they go (Newman, 2014).
The competition in the sports industry is immense in current times. It can be felt in the
various domestic and international leagues as clubs face huge competition to win the leagues.
This level of competition is both on the field and off the area as well. The clubs should create a
proper and robust team to be in the line for winning the leagues. The responsibility of creating a
good team through player negotiations, scouting and giving salaries to the players on time
depends on the sport management professionals (Newman, 2014). Therefore, it is considered as a
very crucial part of the success of the sport management officials. Any professional not being
able to communicate with players or supporters properly or negotiating with other clubs are not
regarded as fit persons for this job role. Therefore, it is a challenging job role, and HR managers
should be very cautious in this while hiring the sports management professionals (Sherry,
Schulenkorf & Chalip, 2015).

10SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS BEHAVIOR References and Bibliography
In the concluding section, it should be said that the sports management is a very
complicated and challenging profession to pursue. However, it is a great career option for the
young students, and many of them are pursuing it as well. There is a massive opportunity in front
of the youth since the sports market is expanding, and it is full of competition nowadays. Several
new job opportunities are being created in sports management. These job roles have different
liabilities and responsibilities. The sports management professionals will have to handle these
responsibilities properly for the overall welfare of the sports organizations they are working for.
These job roles are full of any challenges and complications as well. As these professionals have
to spend most of their times outside their town and travel worldwide, it is tough to spend time
with their families. Also, it is difficult for women to step into this career. However, numerous
people have stepped into this profession and sports are becoming more enjoyable because of
them only.

11SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS BEHAVIOR References and Bibliography
References and Bibliography
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