It’s What You Know and Who You Know: Why Education Matters if You Want to Work in Sports
I encounter far too many college students who go through school clinging to two misguided principles:
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”
“C’s get degrees.”
Concerning the first, I would like to see this adage changed to “It’s what you know and who you know,” because promoting the idea that networking and relationships far outweigh knowledge and ability encourages some students to take their studies less seriously, which may set them up for disappointment down the road.
Similarly, comforting oneself through school with the thought that “C’s get degrees” can also lead to disappointment. A “C” average may allow a student to squeak by with a degree, but it does not guarantee a job, especially a desirable job. And a “C” average will keep students out of any respectable graduate school, which may become a priority later on when young professionals seek to advance in their careers.
Corey Breton, Executive VP of Sales at the Los Angeles Football Club MLS expansion team and former VP of Sales with the Minnesota Timberwolves, once told my students during a presentation that he considered grade point average to be indicative of work ethic, and anyone with a GPA below 3.0 was unlikely to get a job on his sales staff. I agree with Corey and expand below on three reasons why sport management students need to emphasize their academics while also building a professional network.
1. Academics develop skills that help you succeed in the sport industry
Most careers in the sport industry require a combination of the following fundamental skills and habits:
Written and oral communication
Analytical and critical thinking applied to problem solving and strategic planning
Public speaking
Ability to work effectively in team settings
Attention to detail
Work ethic
College is a time to develop and refine all of these areas. Group projects; speeches; research papers; absorbing, interpreting, and applying information – most college courses consist of a variety of challenges that sharpen the skills you need to succeed and move up in the sport industry. Students who consistently apply their full energy and abilities to their coursework set themselves up to shine on the job. A network of relationships might help an individual get an internship or job, but the abilities that are displayed once there will determine how long that individual will last and how far they will move up.
2. Graduate school
As indicated above, a low GPA will prevent a student from getting into graduate school. Unfortunately, most students seeking sport industry careers do not realize that graduate school might be important to them until they are a few years into college, or even after graduation; by that time, their GPA may be beyond repair. Maintaining at least a 3.0 GPA will help students keep their graduate school options open.
I did not consider applying to law school until my junior year of college when I interned with the Chicago Cubs. During that year, the Cubs general counsel became a mentor to me, and his advice helped convince me to attend law school. Fortunately, I had a solid GPA that, together with my entrance exam scores, helped me earn acceptance to the University of Minnesota Law School, which was my first choice. Once in law school, I was able to perform well thanks to my academic preparation.
3. More available career options
You may love your job at 25 or 30, but you may want to pursue a different path in the future. Statistics show the average person will change jobs from 10 to 15 times in their career. A strong educational foundation can help you pivot in your career as your interests and goals evolve.
My career is a good example of this, as I have made a couple of dramatic transitions along the way. At 31-years old and after six years in the New York Yankees front office, I wanted to transition to a sport industry position that would provide a better work-life balance than baseball operations could ever offer. That decision led me to the NCAA staff. Without my academic preparation, particularly my legal education, I would not have been able to transition so easily to college athletics at a time when I was ready for a change. Nine years later, when I became interested in a University of Iowa faculty position in sport management, I once again needed a high level of academic achievement to make another significant career transition. A failure to prepare myself academically in my early years would have kept me from pursuing some life-changing career opportunities that became important to me as my interests and priorities changed over time.
Final thoughts
For sport industry professionals reading this who have ever told students, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”: I have seen on campus how some students take that advice as an excuse to ignore their intellectual development. That ends up hurting students later on when they have relationships that might help them get in the door for an entry-level position but they lack an adequate professional skillset to do anything beyond entry-level work once they get there or to branch out when their interests take them in different directions several years into their careers.
I wholeheartedly support advising students to build a strong network that can help open doors for them, but please also encourage students to get everything they can out of their academic experience. A solid balance between academic preparation, internship experiences, and networking is the best combination for today’s students to prepare for fulfilling careers in an industry where the only thing that is certain is that they will change jobs multiple times. Let’s start spreading a new motto to those we mentor: “It’s WHAT you know AND who you know.”