Bad economic times hit home?

When I graduate from school in May, it will be a happy moment for me personally but professionally, I don’t know that it will be as happy a moment.

For at that moment, I will move on and find a new place to work. Unfortunately, while beginning the searching process, I’ve come across the grim realities of the sports management market today.

I knew things were bad when the Arena Football League postponed this entire season. Actually, I’ll take you back to about a year and a half ago when the Nashville Kats of the AFL closed shop. That was a bad sign.

I know some of you may look at leagues like the AFL or United Soccer League and even the WNBA as leagues that you don’t really follow and don’t care about. As long as your favorite NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL team doesn’t go broke or leave for another city, you’re cool with that and I understand that prospective. When I was younger, I was fortunate to grow up in the NYC and there were no chances that my favorite teams were going to leave for another location.

However, after seeing what the Nashville Predators have dealt with in the past few years with leaving and not leaving town, I have a new prospective of things and actually feel some sympathy for fans of the Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets, LA Rams, LA Raiders, Baltimore Colts, Minnesota North Stars, Hartford Whalers, Houston Oilers, Montreal Expos, Vancouver Grizzlies, Seattle Sonics, Cleveland Browns and many others.

For when those teams leave or end completely, those are countless jobs that are lost. Sure, the owners and the players may move to the new city and keep it moving, but what about the marketing team? The vendors? Maintenance people? Sales team?

I’ve begun to contact college athletic departments and other sports entities inquiring about possible job openings when I graduate and I’ve heard the same thing from all of them in one form or another. Either they don’t have anything open now, see nothing open in the future, or even worse, are in a hiring freeze.

One of those schools happened to be Stanford, which recently made the news about their impending budget cuts in their athletic department. The story is here for your viewing: http://www.mercurynews.com/sabercats/ci_11506962

Since its now public news, I’m not exposing anyone but I’ve contacted other schools which are doing the same thing.

What does this mean for me? Well, it means that I will have to diversify my options, which I always do and make some adjustments. I’ll be fine. Trust me, this is light work compared to stuff I’ve dealt with in my life and many of you have confronted as well.

What does this mean for the sports management industry? That’s a complicated question that will have to be explored further but it probably isn’t a good thing. If you’re willing to be an intern with minimal benefits and even no pay, the market won’t change for you. Free work will always be appreciated. However, for me who is trying to establish a career in sports and has had one too many internships and volunteer experiences, compromises will have to be made.

I always said that I didn’t want to go to certain parts of the country to work, but now, I have to really go where the work is.

When people ask me what I’m doing after graduation, I really have no idea. I wish I could tell them that I will get a marketing job with an NBA team or a development position with a Big 12 athletic department, but myself and my fellow classmates can’t make these proclamations anymore.

In a way, this may be a microcosm of the realities that the young people will have to make in our society in general. I’m 27 and have lived a charmed life. My generation, which I’m saying is 35 and under have never had to deal with a Great Depression, a Vietnam, a World War I or II, a set of Jim Crow Laws and subsequent Civil Rights Movement, a Holocaust, a Dust Bowl, you get the idea.

President Obama has been a representation of the attempted change that this country is trying to make and that’s a good thing. However, all of us are going to have to change our lifestyles for true results to come about.

I mentioned on this blog a few months ago that the people who were dealing with the unsteady auto market in places like Detroit should deal with their problems and find another job. However, its not that simple for them.

Its not that simple for me either but some of those people have it worse. I work in a fickle sports industry. What I mean by that is that sports aren’t a necessity. Cars are a necessity and if people are losing their jobs in that market and farmers who produce the food that all of us need to survive are struggling as well, I have no need to complain.

This was a rambling post but I was just thinking aloud or in typing. Thanks for reading.

Good fight and good night as always.