The sports business industry has several different positions that value different skills and qualifications. There can be several types of roles that stretch across media, sponsorships and events, so the most important thing is identifying the valued skills for the area of the industry you’re interested in.

From a sales/new business perspective, personable skills are high on the agenda and being able to find a common ground and build new relationships with strangers will help. These are perhaps skills which are harder to acquire in the traditional sense, but can be worked on by networking with people both on and offline. Conferences and seminars are a great way to get experience here, albeit there can be some pricy tickets involved.

Data and Insights now play a major role in the sports business industry, so having the skills to work with, translate and present data in a digestible manner is heavily valued. This can be applicable to several different datasets and not just from a commercial perspective.

From my personal experience, the European Sponsorship Association Diploma is a well-regarded qualification for the sponsorship industry and one which I completed in 2023. The year-long course includes multiple webinars from industry sources and provides reading material that covers some of the most important aspects of the sponsorship industry. The organisation also has a Sales Certificate course and recently added an Introduction to Sponsorship course.