The Work in Sports Podcast - Insider Advice for Sports Careers

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkinSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast… Let’s see if I remember how to do this… it feels like I haven’t pushed out a new episode in a while, yes, I took a break, a little vacation, my first and only one of 2020. That means, I totally 100% disconnected...which means, there is a ton of work to do today. You ever notice that? Vacation is awesome, but the work just piles up, and then when you get back… it’s rough. Today so far, rough.  But enough about me -- who’s ready to start 2021?! I’m feeling pretty pumped, even if a bit overwhelmed right at this moment.  Let’s start this out right with our first stat line of 2021! This is important, this will give us baseline data for the year...so as we continue talking throughout the year we can observe the trends as they relate to right now at this moment. Kind of cool. Let’s get into it. For those of you new to the podcast, welcome! Every Monday I provide a snapshot of the data behind sports employment. We’re WorkInSports.com, the number one job board for the sports industry, and we’ve been doing this for 20 years, so we have tons of current data and historical trends.  So let’s get started… Datapoint #1: 15,473 active sports jobs right now on WorkInSports.com -- that number is down about 7% from our last stat line, and don’t worry that is to be expected. Between Christmas and New Year, employers aren’t really posting jobs, so it is no surprise that number is down a little.  The rebound, starts now. Data Point #2 - We’ve added 954 jobs in the last week -- that is WAY down, down 58% from the previous week...but again, I’ve already explained why. We need to go one step deeper… This brings us to data point #3… 954 jobs added last week, divided by 7 days would be an average of 136 jobs per day. BUT, let’s add some recency to the trend line. 278 jobs added today, and I’m recording this at around noon eastern time.  This is when things pick up, activity starts going through the roof, and it is the most important time for you to be on top of the job action.  OK, part 2 of the Stat Line -- for all you new listeners -- I also provide three cool jobs that are fresh on the job board, just to give you a little taste of what’s out there. I guess it is misleading to make this part of the stat line since it’s totally subjective, but this is where I want to put it, so I do. Job #1… Director of Fan Experience At Stanford University --  this position will oversee a team whose ultimate charge is to create a compelling in-venue experience for our student-athletes and fans alike. This team will design, program, and direct events that satisfy the evolving preferences of fans, create long-lasting memories, and persuade the community to continue to attend.  I find so many of the people I get to know in sports, love the live-action, the pace, the creativity, the engagement with fans -- this job is ideal if you have that spirit and experience.  And, if you have kids, maybe you get a discounted tuition to Stanford!  Talk about benefits.  Job #2...Marketing Associate at Burton Snowboards -- Ok, so this is a short term temporary remote role...which may not sound ideal, but hear me out. Burton is looking for an individual to assist us in keeping in touch with our community through social media. In this role, you will be primarily focused on social community coordination.

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast -- where we are celebrating our best sports industry interviews of 2020. I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about perspective. We all grow up in different conditions, different families, different stresses, and challenges...and it is this foundational time of our lives, our youth, that gives us our first dose of perspective.  Growing up in, I guess I would say, a lower-middle-class home in Massachusetts...pretty rural, parents divorced, predominantly white neighborhood, gives me a totally different experience than some rich kid in Beverly Hills, or some poor kid anywhere in America. Or some kid who grew up with abusive parents, or someone who was a victim of crime early in life.  We may see the same things through very different lenses because of our foundational perspectives. What we see and experience alters the way we move forward through life. But perspectives are a fluid thing, they change as we go through life and expose ourselves to different people, cultures and situations.  Living in a rough area of Atlanta for a few years changed the rural kid in me. I saw different things, and they challenged me to think differently. They challenged me to open my mind up to the struggle of others. To understand that not all kids played sports on the weekend and ate orange slices on the sidelines. That some kids struggled to get by, period.   Working with different types of people in a corporate culture like CNN exposed me to different faiths, backgrounds, upbringings, educations… and overall different perspectives.  I wonder, again this is where I probably spend an inordinate amount of time contemplating things like perspective, but I wonder, how much our perspectives alter our career choices, or who we are in the workplace.  Your perspective and the upbringing you endured, steers you.  I was asked recently how many people who work in sports, played sports in college or high school.  I have no data, other than the anecdotal story of my life working in sports for the last 20 some odd years… but I’d say around 15% played in college and 90% played at least in high school. It is that perspective that gave us love.  The competition, the teamwork, the grind, the community, the coachability -- you thrive on it all. If I hadn’t grown up playing every sport available… I probably wouldn’t have worked in this industry.   Sports gets into your bloodstream. Not just playing, but being around it. The smell of a gym makes me think back to my youthful perspective. Hearing a certain song on the radio, makes me think of the drive to a game, or post-championship celebration. It’s no wonder today’s guest circled back to sports. Tim Duncan was a division 1 basketball player at Memphis State, teammates with Penny Hardaway and a 2-time participant in the NCAA tournament. He was one of the elite competitors in the game, making it beyond those of us with only high school memories.  For those of you who are confused… Yes there are at least two people in the world named Tim Duncan who played high-level basketball...but this is not that Tim Duncan.  For our Tim Duncan, after graduating and starting a successful career in marketing, the sports world beckoned. And because his perspective was on the court, and in the stands and at the arena…  the jump back in was natural.

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkinSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast… Before we get into the stat line -- I want to whet your appetite for January podcasts. December continues to be the Best of 2020 -- this Wednesday, Tim Duncan Athletic Director for the University of New Orleans… a great guy and a great interview.  For January, I’ve lined up multiple talent acquisition executives, a co-founder of one of the biggest sports tech companies ever, a global partnership activation manager in the NBA, a manager of inside sales in the NBA who is hiring staff and gearing up... January will be huge. Also just a heads up - this Wednesday my good friend and former guest Chris Grosse, who is Associate Athletic Director for Marketing at Penn State has asked me to be part of a panel discussion on sports industry resume’s -- if you are interested in checking it out, connect with Chris on LinkedIn and he’ll share info with you. So with that in mind let’s get into the stat line... Alright, we’re taking a bit of a left turn with the stat line today, data as normal, but instead of highlighting three jobs, we’re doing to discuss a major news story that will change the future of the #sportsbiz.  First the data…. Three data points helping you understand what’s happening in sports employment right now... #1: 16,508 active sports jobs on WorkinSports.com the leading job board for the sports industry -- that is a decline of 1% from last week, a slight drop, but this is the time of year when orgs are gearing up for the new year, so no surprise here. #2 -- we added 1508 jobs in the last week, that’s a decline of 10% week over week.  #3 - which is still an average of 215 fresh new sports jobs every day of the week, which actually seems pretty good considering the time of year. Expect big bumps in January. Ok, as I mentioned, instead of giving you three jobs that caught my eye this week, I want to discuss a major change happening in the world of sports that will fundamentally change our business moving forward and that includes jobs and opportunity.  I try really hard not to speak to specific events, or newsy items because it makes the episode content dated and somewhat irrelevant in a month’s time… but this is important and represents a massive sea change in the industry. We’re talking about Names, Images, and Likeness legislation. Quick primer -- throughout my life and longer, student-athletes can’t make money off their name, image, and likenesses. They can’t hire agents and negotiate endorsement deals with sneaker, apparel, merchandise, video games or summer camps. They can’t do social media deals and rake in ad or sponsorship revenue. When it comes to athletes making money and leveraging their brand -- they can’t.   BUT - schools can absolutely use a student-athletes name, image, and likeness to make money. So the school’s profit, but the student-athletes don’t. Finally, this is changing.   Now, this get’s tricky, and there are details and nuances I am going to leave out for this discussion. If you want to learn more, I suggest you visit sportico.com and check out the great write-up from my legal go-to guy Michael McCann. We’re going to take a high-level stab at it, and really the point here isn’t just to keep you aware of changing t...

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp VP of Content and Engaged Learning with WorkInSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast… Let’s talk about retention.  In the business world -- retention is a big deal as it relates to customers and employees. Let’s take our business for a second, WorkinSports.com. We provide a premium service, we have over 17,000 active sports jobs and internships all in one place, we match your skills to job openings, we connect you with sports employers, we have career training -- we do all kind of cool things to help you develop in the industry. Once someone decides to be a member of our site, it makes sense for us to work to retain them, because it way way way easier to keep a current customer than create a new one from scratch. Businesses focus heavily on retention through elite customer service, increased value, exclusive offers, and more.  Now think about this concept in terms of a sports team… if you have a premium suite sold to a business in town… which do you think is more beneficial to the organization, getting this business that has already been committed to your experience and knows the process and value, to renew for another year. Or having to go on 20 sales trips to different businesses, make pitches, presentations and negotiate deals to get someone else in that spot? Retention matters.  But retention isn’t just for customers - it’s also for the employees.    There is nothing worse as a manager of people than having one of your best employees leave for another opportunity.   When I started at Fox Sports Northwest back in the day, I was coming cross country from Atlanta and inheriting a staff that the GM had told me during the interview process had very low morale.  Most didn’t feel good about working there.  When I came in I made it my mission to figure out why, figure out who could be the pillars of the staff, and figure out how to fix the overall problem. After identifying a complete stud in the building and elevating him to a higher role with more authority and leadership in the organization -- 6 months later he left. And it crushed me.  James Rafferty I’m still mad at you. His wife Melissa also worked for us on the assignment desk and was amazing, so this was a double gut punch as they both left and went to new jobs in Montana.  This is when it became very clear to me, that doing everything you can to keep your best people is an absolutely essential way to operate. You’ll never be at 100%, people leave for reasons you can’t control, James and Melissa left for Montana to go back home… I couldn’t control that. But you can sure as hell try.   So how do you influence retention? There are many ways really because everyone on your staff will have different triggers for what is important to them.   Culture. Do people enjoy working here? Do they like the environment, do they have a smile on their face at work? Accountability and process -- if you have an efficient system and hold people accountable for their performance, people are more likely to feel satisfied.  Training - teach them how to be a stellar performer, show them what you want, and set them up for success. Career Paths - let them see their future, what could be out there for them at your organization. These are all methods to retain staff,

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning for WorkInSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast… Before we get into the stat line and today’s question -- I have something I want to put into your brains that I’ve been thinking a lot about.  A few months back, I had on Josh Walker President of Sports Innovation Lab, and he discussed the fluid fan concept - that essentially sports has to go where the fans are and change the entire experience. It’s not just a buy ticket sit in seat world, it has to be fluid and follow the fans through social communities, immersive experience, and more. This is one of my favorite episodes, I loved talking to Josh. And, this past week, it really got me thinking about the future of sports and how everything will change. Not just because of COVID, this need to develop and change was emerging anyhow, COVID just sped everything up.  Look at the news from the world of entertainment this week -- Warner Brothers announces they will concurrently release all of their 2021 movies in the theater, and streaming on HBO Max. This will likely start a wave where you’ll see other studios align with other streaming services -- but let’s apply this to our world, sports. Just like the movie world uses the theater model, sports has a main outlet for its programming -- traditional network and cable TV channels. Sports leagues have long term deals with broadcast partners and it is a major source of their revenue.     But, we may start to see a similar model expand to sports -- taking live events and simulcasting them in multiple places - not just CBS and ESPN… but social channels and more. Look to these changes, see what opportunities they present, and how fan engagement changes.  Right now, I’m looking to the entertainment world and eSports to set the trends the sports industry will follow. eSports is better at capturing and engaging young viewers, and entertainment is incredible at finding revenue streams -- sports will follow these models, so keep an eye on those fields.  Ok - let’s get to the stat line… [music] Three data points that help inform us as to the strength of the sports industry as provided by WorkInSports.com the #1 job board for the sports industry.  Stat #1 -- 16,730 active sports jobs on WorkInSports.com -- this is pretty much flat from last week, but that’s a lot of jobs.  Stat #2 -- 1,666 new active sports jobs added in the past 7 days, which is a 35% increase from the previous week -- which isn’t all that surprising, a big uptick from Thanksgiving week when most employers aren’t posting jobs.  Stat #3 - that is an average of 238 fresh new active sports jobs added each day of the week --  which is pretty awesome.  Ok, let’s get to three fresh new jobs that sound awesome and are currently live on WorkInSports.com --  Job #1 -- Production Trainee for the NBA -- I love starting gigs like this. You guys know my affinity for big-name employers, when you get something like this on your resume it stands out for life. You learn the best practices of the industry and are ready to take on the world. This position is part of the NBA Emerging Media group which focuses on identifying, creating, distributing, and publishing content for the NBA's social and digital platforms and its many domestic and inte...

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast… There is a bit of an unfortunate truth in the sports industry… sometimes job titles can mean very different things to different people in different organizations. Take the term marketing for one. People tell me all the time, I want to work in sports marketing! And I say...OK, what specifically in marketing, because that is a very broad term. Marketing could be project managing billboards, or email outreach, tossing t-shirts on game night… or it could be google paid advertising, social media campaigns, sponsorships and activation.  So when you see a job listing for a Marketing Manager -- make sure you read the job description and tailor your resume and cover letter for that specific role and the demands of it. Another term that has a pretty wide berth is player development. Taken on its surface, you are in charge of developing the player. Makes sense right?  But there are really two different aspects of this -- on the field of play, and off the field of play.  You will see player development roles that involve assisting athletes, whether they be in college or in the pros, adjusting to their new life, getting settled, knowing their way around town, where to get food, how to get set up with a financial advisor.  These are vitally important roles that colleges and pro organizations take on to make sure they get the most out of their investment. If a player is worried about having a place to live or knowing what classes to take - they are more likely to be distracted and not perform at their best. But there is another type of player development, and that’s what we are going to focus on today.  That is the magic that happens in organizations between acquisition and true potential.  Let’s use baseball as an example.  Player gets drafted, they are 18 years old just graduated high school, and now they are in your system.  Unless their name is Mike Trout, it is a long way to a major league city.  Player development is everything that happens between acquisition and making the major leagues. * How to play* How to eat* How to train* How to mentally prepare* How to practice* How to identify and work on your weaknesses* How to understand game strategy and organizational philosophy These development plans are all customized for each individual in the organization. Having a plan, and executing it, is the best way to make your investment in a player reach its true potential. It’s a fascinating process, one that happens behind the scenes of sports organizations at all levels. Because success equates to value...and failure costs time, money, and effort.  Over the last 40 years, one of the most respected men in baseball team management and player development has been Dan Duquette, former GM of the Red Sox, Orioles, and Expos.  The list of players he has acquired and developed into major league talent is stunning. I won’t list them all here...it’s too long. Dan joined me earlier this year to talk about his career, becoming an executive, his decision-making process, trusting yourself and a breakdown of player development. During the month of December, we’ll be running back some of our most popular episodes from 2020, and we kick it off with 2-time MLB Executive of the Year...Dan Duquette

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast… Hope you all had a really great and safe Thanksgiving - I did. Just our family was here, we kept it safe, no entertaining which meant more pie for me. I was in full-fledged beast mode last week. I destroyed the meal.  A guy I knew in high school, kind of a meathead, would always say he was going to eat so much that he puked, and then eat some more. That doesn’t sound healthy to me, but it was a philosophy I kind of embraced this week, sans the puking part. I’m not down with that.  Christmas lights were hung this weekend, despite it being 60 degrees in Pennsylvania… which is really weird this time of year. But I’m on track, lots of black Friday and cyber Monday shopping, good times.  Alright enough blather from me, lets get to the stat line… Three data points to help you understand the health of the sports industry. #1 16,840 active jobs posted on the #1 job board for the sports industry -- WorkInSports.com -- you think that’s puffery? That I’m just boosting the name of the company I work for -- Ha! The truth is in the numbers --  Our closest competitors: one has 2,048 active jobs and the other has 922 jobs. We have 16,840. Where do you think you should spend your time? #2 1,082 jobs added last week. Now, that is a down week for us -- which stands to reason... It was thanksgiving. Who among us says, now is the right time to publish our job opening? #3 even with that, we still have an average of 155 fresh new sports jobs added each day.  Ok -- three really cool jobs that stood out ot me this week Job #1 -- Director of Athletic Multimedia at Marist College in New York - I have to say, there is no better time to be a sports content creator. There are so many opportunities. In this role, you’ll develop and produce video content, digital media, and marketing elements for the athletic department. You’ll go to college games and create awesome content to share through digital channels. Awesome.  Need more proof on sports content jobs -- director of content for the premier lacrosse league, social media director for the drone racing league, director of creative strategy for NBC Sports, video content creator for pac12 network, director of social media for university of pittsburgh -- all these jobs posted in the last 12 hours.  Job #2 - Partnership Analytics Fellowship at NYCFC --  I had to look at this one because a fellowship sounds fancy and partnership analytics sounds interesting. The Partnerships Analytics Fellowship is a one-year position within the Business Intelligence group at NYCFC. The fellowship will focus on equipping the candidate with all the tools necessary to continue a career within multiple verticals of the sports industry such as Strategy & Analytics, Business Intelligence, and Sponsorship Sales and Service. Ding-Ding! The fellow will research and discover new prospects for the Partnership Sales Team to pursue by identifying and creating individual company profiles, performing category analysis, and tracking industry trends. I keep telling ya’ll business analytics is the wave you should be riding in sports.

Hey everybody - I’m Brian Clapp VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast. Show note -- as you likely suspected, there will not be a show on Wednesday. My game plan for this week is to work a full day today, half-day tomorrow, bake pies all day Wednesday, eat pies all day Thursday, and then sleep all day Friday.  For those of you wondering -- yes, I am the chef in our house - that is actually one of my other passions. I’m like an onion with multiple layers, in addition to sports fanaticism and podcast hosting, I am also an organic gardener who really really likes to cook.  So yes, lots of pies, lots of food, lots of cooking in the next few days… no new episode on Wednesday. Alright - let’s get to the stat line! Three data points to help you understand what’s happening in the sports industry, and three cool active jobs on our job board at WorkInSports.com. #1 -- 17,011 active jobs currently on WorkInSports.com - the leading job board for the sports industry. That’s down about 2% from last week, but that is a minor dip considering it’s the holiday season. Did I mention I’m making pies? #2 -- 1,526 new jobs added this week -- quick scan, seeing a lot of lifestyle brands that are hiring right now, Adidas, Nike, new balance, Skechers -- makes sense right? Big time of year for product companies. I think my favorite pie is Pecan Pie.  #3 -- An average of 218 jobs added to our site every damn day of the last week. I’ll also be making a classic pumpkin pie and a chai spiced apple pie with bourbon whipped cream. See if I can get the kids a little tipsy. I’m kidding!   Do you have a favorite pie? Before I get into my three favorite jobs of the week -- I just mentioned all the reasons a membership to WorkInSPorts.com makes sense -- 17000 jobs, over 200 added each day etc etc… let me add one more. Our Black Friday deal! You can get a three-week membership for just $5 -- that’s our best discount of the year. 83% off the regular cost. Head to https://www.workinsports.com/promo/blackfriday.asp Ok, three amazing, cool, incredible new sports internships for this week -- aha, you thought I was going to say jobs. No, this week, I’m going to focus on some internships because this is the time of year you should be prepping for your spring internships.  Internship #1 -  Amateur Scouting intern with the Tampa Bay Rays -- I get asked all the time, how do I become a scout, well, often a lot of scouts are retired players or former lower-level coaches. In lieu of that -- how about an internship in Amateur Scouting with one of the best in Major League Baseball the Rays? Yeah, I thought that might excite you. Internship #2 - TV Broadcast Intern for the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters -- which if you didn’t already know is a collegiate summer league baseball team. Again, I get asked a lot about how to get play-by-play broadcasting experience -- well, in this internship you’ll be the play-by-play voice for 36 home games on the Northwoods league TV network. That is the experience you need if you dream of working in play by play. And internship #3 -- I always talk about your high-/evel strategy for internships should be - complete at least two during your college career, hopefully, more, and make one at a big company with high name recognition, and one at a smaller company where you’ll be forced to do more. Well,

Hey everybody, I'm Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast Back in the early 2000s, which seems like yesterday, but in our fast-moving world was actually, like, 100 years ago,  I was the executive producer for a TV show featuring NFL MVP Shaun Alexander.  Shaun is an incredible dude, and I loved working with him, but that’s not why I brought this up. I bring this up just to show how much things have changed in the last 15 years. Back then, athletes had very few channels to share their personal stories, their point of view, their personality or perspective. Just a few of the top stars would have their own TV show, like Shaun, others may have weekly segments on sports radio, or maybe work with a local sports reporter for a newspaper feature. Most everything from a personal branding perspective worked through the media.   And then it all changed. Social media played a huge role – players could now voice their own stories, share their own vision, create their own videos – and have a channel to distribute them.  But even more than social media as a tool – there was also a shift in attitude, utilization of the leverage players have, of the demand THEY create. Many in the media call this the player entitlement era, where they now call the shots. The athletes make the demands and they have shifted the leverage of every negotiation. I find that term kind of insulting, player entitlement. The word entitlement gives it a negative connotation, like how dare they express themselves or want for themselves, or demand for themselves.  Entitlement to me has a connotation of being something that isn’t deserved, like a child acting like they should get the toy because they want it. It is their prerogative.  In the instance of elite athletes, they are the product, they are the brand, they have every right in the world to express themselves, brand themselves, leverage themselves, for their betterment. And they are doing exactly that.  Sites like the Players Tribune give all players a voice to share the world through their eyes. More and more athletes are creating videos, negotiating deals, creating documentaries and building a huge personal brand – even college student-athletes will soon begin to profit off of their names, images, and likeness.  Alas, the players don’t all go it alone. They often look for trusted advisors, creative visionaries who can enhance their portfolio and build their reach beyond what they imagined was possible. One such visionary is today’s guest – Rashida Gayle, founder of Twenty Six marketing agency, a boutique full-service marketing agency servicing best in class talent [in sports and entertainment]. They maximize brand opportunities through smart marketing initiatives. Rashida works with stars, like MLS MVP Josef Martinez, NFL Running back Devonta Freeman, N’Keal Harry of the New England Patriots, Justice Hill and Miles Boykin of the Baltimore Ravens, and many others. Time to find out how she got where she is today, and where she sees the world of marketing heading — here’s Rashida Gayle.  A quick caveat, when we first recorded this interview, Rashida was the Director of Talent Marketing at GSE Worldwide – she’s only recently starte...

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, Vp of Content and Engaged Learning for WorkinSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast… Quick note before we jump into todays episode -- i get a lot of questions about starting and growing a podcast, questions I love to answer because this is a really fun part of my work life. I don’t answer those questions here, because it doesn’t really fit… but i do have a piece of advice today… Have you heard of Zombie Skittles? Yeah, they are skittles with halloween themed flavors -- pretty tasty -- but the trick is, hidden amongst the joyful little sweet oval candies are scattered some that look like regular flavors but are actually “dead zombie” flavor.  My 12 year old son, has a jar of these on the kitchen counter with a sign above it that says “zombie skittles” try if you dare.  My big recommendation for all of you interested in podcasting -- don’t tempt fate with a zombie skittle right before recording. I literally have the taste of teenage body odor mixed with rotting flesh and skunks ass swirling around my mouth right now, and apparently water doesn’t help.  This is awful. I may need to wash the flavor away with a reese’s peanut butter cup -- or I may have to resist that urge so I don’t put on the COVID 300. So far I am weigh neutral during quarantine which I’m pretty happy about. Ok, enough delay, lets get to the stat line Three data points to help you understand the state of the sports industry and three fresh jobs that are super cool as determined by me. #1 -- currently on WorkInSports.com the leading job board for the sports industry - we have 17,367 active sports jobs -- quick side not on that, big shout out to Shelbei Reicks who runs the blog Her Shot at the Top and shared on twitter this past week comparing the various spots job boards -- I’ll summarize for you, we have 15,000 more active sports jobs than our nearest competitor.  #2 - in the last week we added 1,807 new sports jobs an increase of 1% which is essentially flat. #3: Which is an average of 258 new jobs added each day of the last week. Not bad.  As i told you all last week, expect numbers to decline slightly as we approach the holidays, don’t panic, this is normal seasonality.  Ok, three fresh cool jobs this week…Oh and before i get into that, special thanks to Ed Olson and his class at Arizona State, who welcomed me into their sports marketing classroom last week -- we talked resumes, interviewing, gaining the right skills -- great class, super fun. In about an hour I’ll be speaking in Eric Esterline’s class at the University of Florida -- which is always a good time too. Sun Devils and Gators not a bad week. Three cool jobs --  Sports Betting Senior Content Coordinator at NBC Sports -- look, I don’t know sports betting AT ALL. I’m that guy that hears the Vikings are -175  for tonight’s game and thinks, that sounds bad, only later to have a friend say, no they are favored to win.  Anyway, my point is that I won’t be competing with you for this job -- AND that sports betting is a growth sector of the sports industry. There are great opportunities here, even if I am a dolt.  Business Strategy Internship for Austin FC -- ok, now this is cool, Austin FC joins MLS officially in 2021, and as I’ve said many times on this here podcast, sports is just a huge business… AND… jobs in business strategy, business analytics, revenue optimization etc etc are on the rise.

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast. In January of 2020, which feels like 10 years ago, I had a plan to double up our podcast episodes for the month.  January is a big month for WorkInSports.com - so many people coming to our site looking for a new opportunity to gain sports employment and follow their dreams. January is a month so many of us say -- I’m going for it! I want to lose weight, I want a new career, I want to make more time for myself... it is the month of affirmations.  The thought was, let’s capitalize on that attention -- let’s get everyone feeling motivated and ready to conquer the sports world with a double dose of top podcast guests.  So I built a target list and started aggressively reaching out to guests I thought wouldbe great to kick off the year.  My first goal was to book Hannah Huesman, someone I had really grown to admire in the world of sports mental performance training.  Hannah is so motivating -- she posts 1-minute clips on her social media channels every Monday called Mental Sweat Monday, where she gives her listeners actionable tips to improve their mental performance, AND she works for the Philadelphia Phillies traveling to all of their minor league teams and helping their players become their best.   Perfect guest.  She said yes almost immediately. We conducted the interview...and I was so so so excited. Hannah is awesome. She explained how she got into sports mental performance, so it’s interesting from a career standpoint, but she also shared her background as a student-athlete, and gave incredible tips on how we can all improve. I mean come on?! Last week was stressful. Between the election and increasing casualties and sickness from the global pandemic we are still facing, this felt like the right time to bring back some positivity.  Hannah has a plan, listen in.

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast… Hey everybody -- it was a stressful week last week, so I completely understand if you didn’t yet listen to our Wednesday podcast with Joan Lynch from WorkingNation -- but you have to go back and listen to it.  We are highly focused on the future of employment, the trends, the ideas, the analysis -- Joan is incredible, she was a VP and Executive producer at ESPN, instrumental in the 30 for 30 series and over the last few years has been more focused on the data and content behind employment.  She is awesome. Make sure you listen.  Alright -- before our question this week on phone interviews, let’s get into the stat line… Three data points helping you understand the health of today’s sports employment market #1 Total number of sports jobs on WorkInSports.com the leading job board for the sports industry since 1999…. 17,285. Now, this number has been flat since right around the 12th of October -- meaning we’ve been hovering around 17,100-17,400 active jobs for the last month. #2 We added 1,792 new jobs during the past week.. Again, week over week flat. And #3 -- that is an average of 256 new sports jobs added to our job board every day of the week. Before you let this worry you, the fact numbers are flat, that growth has stopped and we aren’t picking up new jobs, this is all very easily explained by seasonality. In fact, I will warn you, these numbers will likely decrease for the coming weeks, only to rebound in January.  Think about it logically -- do you want to be hiring someone new at your organization as you approach thanksgiving break, holiday distractions et all? It’s hard enough to integrate new staff remotely, now do it during the holidays. The bottom line, don’t panic over the active job number. Keep up your job-seeking activities and be prepared for all that might come your way. Ok, three cool jobs I found this week. Shout out to the University of Missouri Saint Louis students I spoke with last week -- I heard from their professor, Dr. Karen Boleska, that they really like this segment, and I hope you do too… Job #1 -- Social and Community Manager for St Louis FC - if you didn’t know, St Louis FC will be the 28th team added to MLS and is majority female-owned, and female-led. Pretty cool. Now, why do I love this job -- first off, the idea of being the one to set and develop the social media and community strategy for a new team and organization, is so, so, so intriguing. Secondarily -- their job description, and I’ll link to it in the show notes, is a perfect example of why I tell you all to make a list of the skills that are in demand, see how you stack up, and then adjust your decision. So, if you are one of the UMSL students I spoke to last week -- take a look at this job, understand what skills they are demanding and make a plan for yourself to acquire these skills.That’s how you stay market relevant. Job #2 -   Video Coordinator - Milwaukee Herd the g-league team for the Milwaukee Bucks -- look, I love game video. My wife jokes that she could sit in a room analyzing spreadsheets all day long, and I say, I could do the same with game film. If you are into coaching or scouting, OR even the other direction, content,

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast… One thing I’ve noticed throughout my career managing people and working through varying situations is that there are two main ways people respond and react to change.  There is a massive group of people who get angry at change, blame it, get frustrated, refuse to adapt because they like the way things have been.   There is another group who owns the change. They adapt, innovate, adjust their strategies and approaches, and fit in with the change rather than expecting the world to come to them. They recognize, change is inevitable.  In 2020 - change isn’t just inevitable, it’s an in your face, punch you in the gut, steal your lunch, and laugh at you while it walks into your future.  It’s trite to say, this year has been a roller coaster - it’s been a roller coaster in a tornado, hit by a tsunami and shot into space. BUT, people, businesses, organizations, groups, non-profits -- have adapted. Not all, but many. They’ve taken personal responsibility for their growth. They have not only recognized change is here, they have accepted it, adjusted to it, looked for opportunities, and re-branded themselves.  Change is good. It may not feel it at the moment, but looking back through history it is sometimes the worst events that spark the biggest sea change toward our future.  I’ll give you one example,  In 1965, at the height of the modern civil rights movement, activists in Alabama organized a march for voting rights, from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery, the state capital.  A march. Not an armed protest, not a riot, a march for voting rights.  Around 600 people assembled at a downtown church in Selma Alabama, knelt briefly in prayer and began walking silently, two-by-two through the city streets. They crossed the Edmund Pettis Bridge and were forcefully pushed back by police. Beaten, trampled, attacked - for marching.  You’ve likely heard of this event, but at some point you should watch it.  I did, again recently with my kids, and they were horrified.  BUT, and here is the key. Think about this…  What if police hadn’t attacked? What if there wasn’t a video? What if there wasn’t outrage? What if  the 600 people just peacefully matched to Montgomery?  Would we be talking about it today? Would we be considering the civil rights movement and its importance to our history as we do today? Would John Lewis be as impactful a character in US History as he has been? Rest his soul. I don’t know… maybe not.  Just to be clear I am not justifying what happened that day, I am not declaring it a good thing -- just pointing out, that we don’t often see the end result in the moment, because the future is unclear and we don’t allow ourselves to comprehend anything but where we are right now in the moment.  Bringing it back to today, it is hard to see how 2020 will be a positive -- but what if you learn a new skill that is more applicable to the new workforce? What if you meet people you otherwise wouldn’t have reached out to? You learn social media advertising, or photoshop, or salesforce, or data analytics, or eSports.

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast… Look this is going to be a stressful week, election week is important in our country and I can’t stress to you enough, young, old, and somewhere in the middle like me, get out and vote.  When you vote, you shape not just your world today, and next month and next year -- decisions like these impact your entire future.  Democracy works when everyone votes, so get out there. This is not the time to be sitting on the sidelines. Ok, let’s look at the Stat line, get a picture of our sports industry --  OK, three stats to help you better understand the health of the sports industry. On WorkInSports.com the number one job board for the sports industry, we currently feature 17,226 active sports jobs! 1715 new jobs added this week -- down a little bit from last week… But that is still an average of 245 new jobs posted every day... Now trend analysis -- lots of internships posted this past week, which makes sense, this is the time of year you start to see companies post their spring internships. If you are a college student making your plans for spring - check out last week’s podcast, some really good info in there on internship prep. OK -- three fresh jobs on the job board the really caught my eye --  Job #1 -- Associate Manager of Social Marketing for Athleta -- now, this is a great example of a category of job that has been growing -- retail/lifestyle - you’ve heard me talk about this in the past, but brands like Athleta, Puma, Nike, Adidas are doing quite well right now, and are hiring for a lot of roles. If you are into sports marketing or social media, don’t limit yourself to teams -- look to the big brands too! Job #2 -- Sr. Editor, NHL at The Athletic -- senior role contributing to comprehensive editorial oversight of our NHL coverage, using data analytics to optimize performance, and partner with stakeholders across the editorial organization and business teams on a range of initiatives. Interesting that it’s not a strictly journalism role, using data to optimize performance -- keep that in mind all you journalism types, it takes more than just sports knowledge and writing skills to elevate in today’s sports media. And job #3 -- Athletic Director at the College of Saint Benedict -- here’s why this job stood out to me -- The College of Saint Benedict is a women’s college with 11 intercollegiate (varsity) teams and 8 competitive club sport teams. The program seeks to reinforce the college mission of preparing women to think critically, lead courageously, and advocate passionately through sport. I like that mission a lot -- sounds like a great stepping stone role for someone who wants a lead role in college athletics. Alright -- that is the stat line! Ok, before we get into today’s question -- I got called out by a fan last week, and i want to address what they brought up. Just to remind everyone, I like it when you call me out, I have zero problems with it. And I have already spoken with this person directly… BUT if they are thinking it, you may be too, so let’s talk about it.  I’m all for transparency,  Got an email last week that said  “Hey Brian, I’ve heard you rant and rave about how all internships should be paid, and that it is unfair to create a system that requires experience ot get jobs,

June 2014, just 6 years ago, the Atlanta Hawks finished their season 38-44 and were bounced in the first round of the playoffs.  Their General Manager, former NBA player Danny Ferry, was in a conference call with team owners and organizational stakeholders outlining his off-season plans and possible targets in free agency.  Luol Deng, was a free agent.  Ferry, during the call, described Deng as a player who “has a little African in him” and “a guy who would have a nice store out front, and sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back.” The comments became public after being leaked. Ferry claimed he was only reading comments from a scouting report compiled by someone else. The team concluded from their own commissioned investigation that Ferry’s remarks did not include offensive language, and were not “motivated by racial or ethnic animus.” You can judge that for yourself, with or without a commissioned investigation.  But that wasn’t the end of the Hawks problems. At the same time, the franchise’s controlling owner Bruce Levenson reported that he sent out a racist e-mail two months earlier criticizing the Hawks predominantly African-American fan base.  The e-mail sent to Ferry detailed Levenson’s belief that the Hawks’ fan base was “overwhelmingly black” and the “black people scared away whites” from attending games. Levenson also wrote that the Hawks games were attended by a 70 percent black crowd with predominantly black cheerleaders, hip-hop music, 90 percent black patrons at the arena’s bars, and fewer fathers and sons at the games. He added that concerts at the games were mostly hip-hop or gospel, thus attracting more African-American fans.  Levenson sold his interest in the Hawks upon revealing his e-mail to the NBA. October 7th, 2014, just a few months later, Hawks CEO Steve Koonin, seeing a need for change in his organization, posts a job listing for a chief diversity and inclusion officer. We so often think roles in diversity and inclusion are the norm in sports. That there are people and staff dedicated to the process of equality in workplace, culture, hiring practices, benefits, deeper cultural awareness, education, and sensitivity – and they have always been there guiding the ship of cultural equity. But when Steve Koonin and the Atlanta Hawks hired Nzinga Shaw to be their Chief Diversity and Inclusion officer in the fall of 2014, she was the first in the NBA.  Amazingly, when Zing Shaw left the Hawks in 2019 to join Starbucks as their Global Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer, she was also the first to hold that role at Starbucks.  5 years ago, Diversity and Inclusion roles in sports didn’t exist. And while it is important to note that Diversity Officers and D&I executives are now being included in every sports organization's corporate structure, the fact it took this long, and this big of a problem to make it happen, is sad.  The Hawks, in case you were wondering, during Shaw’s reign, turned their image in the Atlanta community around.   They created all-staff service days with six service projects in the city, accumulating 1,000 combined hours of community service. They had a float in the Atlanta Pride Festival, with current and former players and employees riding on the float and throwing 2,000 basketballs to the crowd with pride and Hawks logos on them.