This post provides detailed information on the sports general manager job description, including the key duties, tasks, and responsibilities they commonly perform.
It also highlights the important requirements you may be expected to fulfill to be hired for the sports general manager role by most employers.
What Does a Sports General Manager Do?
A sports general manager supervises the sales and marketing functions of a sports team or organization, including handling finances, public relations, and the personnel of the company.
They are also involved in making important decisions relevant to team strategies, contracts, and player recruitment.
Their role is to supervise the business aspects of the team or organization so the players and coaches can concentrate on the sports.
The sports general manager job description entails creating team schedules, overseeing the team’s marketing and finances, promoting the team through different media outlets, negotiating player and coach contracts, and ensuring compliance with regulations.
Their duties also include working on players’ contracts and schedules, supervising daily corporate affairs of a team or organization, and managing the team’s media and marketing activities.
Working together with players and coaches to recruit new players, elaborating on the team’s choices to fans and the media, and acting as the team spokesperson are other responsibilities the sports general manager handles.
Sports general managers can work with different stakeholders in supervising all aspects of a sports team or organization, such as working intimately with athletes, coaching staff, and other personnel.
A sports team general manager’s responsibilities can be as simple as managing all aspects of a team, including player recruitment, contract negotiations, and inspecting team operations, or as complex as overseeing budget administration, strategic planning, stakeholder communication, and performance analysis, and ensuring total compliance with league rules.Â
They are also expected to act as a link between players, coaches, sponsors, the media, the team, and the team president or his/her spokesperson.
General managers employed in a sports organization engage in a wide range of activities using tools and technologies to efficiently manage athletes, teams, and operations.
These tools and technologies include platforms for social media and fan engagement, data analytics platforms, scheduling and calendar software, communication tools, and athlete management systems.
Sports team general managers may also be required to understand legal information about the team, its players, and coaches, as well as to organize sports events and make accurate decisions to be able to attain desirable profit-making results for the organization.
Where Sports General Managers Work
Sports general managers work with sports teams or organization. They report directly to the team owner or a high-ranking executive, like a Governor or the director of operations of the team.
In larger sports operations, depending on the specific organizational structure, sports team general managers typically report to the ownership group or team’s owner, or sometimes to a managing director.
They might also report to a higher-level executive within the industry, such as a President or CEO, especially in larger, more complicated organizations.
The working environment for sports general managers differs as they work mainly in office surroundings and occasionally travel during the athletic season.
Countries with professional sports leagues that have firmly established professional sports industries where the sports general manager plays a vital part in team management and success, such as the United States, Australia, and Canada, view the role of a sports general manager as highly important.
Sports general managers are in high demand in those regions.
Sports General Manager Training
To become a successful sports team general manager, formal education and training are essential.
Many employers prefer candidates who have a degree in Sports Marketing, such as a Bachelor’s degree as a starting point, and a Master’s degree for career advancement to higher-level positions.
It’s also vital to gain practical experience through internships and entry-level positions within sports organizations to develop the necessary skills and network within the industry.
This training can be obtained through completing relevant programs from different institutions, including universities and professional organizations offering certification courses covering areas like sports marketing, facility management, event planning, finance, and law.
Sports General Manager Job Description Example/Sample/Template
The sports general manager job description may consist of the following duties, tasks, and responsibilities depending on the organization they work for:
- Manage the day-to-day operations of the business and the entire marketing system of the organization
- Make important decisions that influence the team’s performance and financial health, to help the team reach its financial goal
- Ensure best team performance by supervising recruitment, training, players, and coaching staff performance
- Develop and oversee the team’s budget, including revenue generation strategies, player salary, and operational costs
- Secure beneficial agreements for the organization through negotiations with sponsors, players, and other stakeholders
- Initiate and organize fundraising activities, including special events and grant writing to improve organization’s assets
- Manage and improve the overall operations of the organization, and also increase revenue
- Set goals for growth, design strategy accordingly, and motivate employees for increase in productivity
- Work dynamically and flexibly and lead personnel reviews to identify good performance, making tough calls when necessary
- Develop and execute a long-term strategy for the organization, which involves discovering the organization’s long-term goals, identifying its different business units, determining its strengths and weaknesses, and recognizing business priorities
- Collaborate with external individuals and organizations, such as customers, business partners, employees, contractors, regulatory authorities, and judiciaries
- Select players during drafts and work with the coaching staff and scouts to build a strong team, with the head coach’s significant input working in these decisions
- Ensure that business decisions and operations comply with specific laws and regulations related to local governance, environmental protection, and consumer rights
- Use data analysis and metrics to evaluate team performance and improve player development as well as game strategies
- Organize logistics for games, events, and promotional activities to improve fan engagement that brings in more revenue
- Create a positive and inclusive workplace culture and a healthy work environment for employee satisfaction, retention improvement, and enhanced productivity
- Build and cultivate high-performing teams that are crucial for maintaining competitive benefits in the presently active business environment
- Play a vital role in discovering individual strengths, aligning team roles with business objectives, and providing growth opportunities
- Offer guidance and assistance to staff members, as well as hiring, training, and carrying out performance assessment for employees
- Ensure sports facilities are well-managed and maintained, and that they meet safety and regulatory standards.
Sports General Manager Requirements: Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities for Career Success
The sports general manager requires certain skills, industry knowledge, and a number of personal attributes to be successful on the job and career, and to qualify for hiring by most employers, including:
- Communication: Excellent communication skills will help sports general managers negotiate and convey vital information across departments. They have the responsibility of interacting with employees, coaches, staff, clients, and other stakeholders to ensure alignment and smooth operations. Listening skills are equally important to create a chance for everyone’s opinions and needs to be heard and understood. Communication is also important for dealing with challenges, crisis, and disputes.
- Organization: This skill will enable sports general managers to handle multiple tasks, solve issues successfully, and ensure daily operations are smooth, organized and coordinated across departments. General managers of sports teams need to be organized to relate well, especially with the media and the public, handle public appearances for athletes, supervise media relations, and to coordinate press conferences.
- Time Management: Juggling multiple tasks, organizing events, supervising day-to-day operations, and meeting deadlines will be easy with good time management skills. Sports general managers need this skill in order to maximize productivity and achieve what is required across departments. They have to make use of a sporting calendar to plan their actions and organize all aspects of logistics within this calendar.
- Leadership: Sports general managers need the ability to lead and inspire their team members to create a positive team structure, make strong decisions that profit the organization, and achieve common goals. They have to integrate coaching experience to lead athletes and staff well for effective daily operations.
- Problem-Solving: Sports general managers can make use of problem-solving skills in assessing situations, addressing issues that come up in the day-to-day operations of the team or during events, and developing effective solutions without delay. To actualize excellent problem-solving skills, strong analytical and decision-making abilities must be utilized.
- Negotiation: This skill will help in negotiating deals and contracts with players and coaches, trades, and sponsorships so as to secure favorable agreements. It’s the cornerstone of success for sports general managers if they will make proper use of their negotiation skills. This will assist them in building strong relationships with players, coaches, and sponsors to achieve long-term success.
- Adaptability: This involves the ability to change strategies in response to market changes, internal shifts, and crises. As the sports industry is frequently evolving, general managers must remain updated on industry trends and adapt quickly to changes in regulations, scheduling adjustments, and technology. Therefore, it’s crucial that sports general managers become flexible to learning in order to navigate sudden challenges efficiently.
- Business Knowledge: Having the idea of financial management, marketing, and strategic planning, which can be gotten through education or experience, supports sports general managers in their role. The business knowledge that sports general managers need to possess must focus on marketing, public relations, and planning. It will be extremely useful if they can draft and implement high-level strategies for long-term financial strategic planning.
- Networking: Sports general managers will have more opportunities and collaborations building a network of athletes, coaches, sponsors, and other sports professionals. To achieve this, they have to attend industry conferences, go to workshops, gain valuable experience through internships, join professional organizations, and build relationships with important personalities in the sports world.
- Financial Acumen: To attain a greater career height, sports general managers need to understand budgets, financial strategic planning, revenue generation, cost control, and profit margins. Advanced coursework will help develop a solid understanding of finance and economic principles. If sports general managers come across tough decisions, they need the tools required for ensuring financial sustainability. Therefore, sports general managers need to manage resources successfully and make the most use of revenue streams through sponsorships and marketing initiatives.
- Recreation Management: This skill focuses on assisting sports general managers in the management of recreational sports programs and facilities in community settings. They may also have to oversee educational institutions all with the aim of promoting participation in sports and physical activities among a wide array of populations, supporting a better and more dynamic standard of living.
- Marketing: Sports general managers have to understand marketing strategies for the ability to promote teams and secure sponsorships. Having the skills to create marketing campaigns that attract and improve brand visibility is necessary. Sports general managers sometimes plan events or organize sports programs to attract partners that will be valuable to the team.
Download sports general manager job description template (pdf).
Sports General Manager Job Description for Resume
If you have worked before as a sports general manager or are presently working in that role and are making a resume or CV for a new job, then you can create a compelling Professional Experience for your resume by applying the sample sports general manager job description provided above.
You can express the duties and responsibilities you have carried out as a general manager in a sports organization in your resume’s Professional Experience by utilizing the ones provided in the above sports general manager job description example.
This will show to the recruiter/employer that you have been successful working as a sports general manager, which can boost your chances of getting the new job, especially if it requires someone with some sports general manager work experience.
Conclusion
This post has provided detailed coverage of the sports general manager job description, highlighting the major responsibilities and duties that they typically perform in a team or organization. Â
It also provided information on the required skills and training to have to be successful on the job and career as a sports general manager, and to enhance your chances of being hired for the role.
This post is helpful to individuals interested in the sports general manager career, to learn all about the duties and responsibilities of the position to enable them decide if that is what they want to do.
It is also useful to employers in creating a job description for the sports general manager role, for use in hiring competent candidates for the role.
They can apply the sports general manager job description template provided on this page in making one for their organizations.
