Quick Question that doesnt require a lot of discussion...

The NFL is rocking and rolling and the NBA is back and i just read this

http://poetsandquants.com/2011/11/28/companies-re…

So it got me thinking...

Lets say a consulting hopeful who loves basketball and football gets into MBB, does a couple of years, gets into a top Business school, comes back to his MBB gig, pockets now a little heavier, balls a little bigger... rocks out for a few more years and then wants some how winds up getting in talks with an NBA or an NFL team...

what kind of position would he likely be able to grab?

I'm ready for all you turkeys that are going to say im getting ahead of myself... im just wondering

 

The executive ranks of some sports, like baseball, are already rather saturated with graduates from top schools. At this point, you basically have to be top school and have played to have a shot at breaking into any position truly worthwhile. There are very few +100k jobs in each organization.

A law degree is often very helpful when trying to become an executive. Others start in talent evaluation, which is a long arduous road to reach the ultimate goal; ticket sales; marketing; or media/press relations.

You could probably land a decent job in sales, marketing, or other functions like that, but any path to GM type functions would be impossible.

 

As an NBA junkie, you should look into Morey of the Houston Rockets. Of all the GMs, he fits our mold the best. However, there's no path that gets you to a GM position in the NBA without putting in 20+ years of shitty salary and shitty menial work to get there. Don't even entertain the thought if you're not willing to put in the time. I know people who work in both the Lakers and Clippers organization, and the glass-ceiling is unbreakable.

 
Best Response

I'll be nice and ignore your "pockets now a little heavier, balls a little bigger" comment - unless you stick around to partner, neither of those things happens.

The part here with which I'd take real issue is "some how winds up getting in talks with an NBA or an NFL team." People who move into roles at major sports teams either 1.) work their way up from some lower level job to something senior, 2.) get hired away from another team to a more senior role, or 3.) worked with the team in some sort of outside capacity (this is where just about every team and league general counsel comes from). As a consultant, you'd have to go with option #3. But, in all honesty, I haven't heard much, if anything, about MBB working with professional sports teams, so it's going to be hard to create that relationship with ownership that makes them think of you when, say, a business development-type post opens up.

It boils down to skill set: as a lifelong consultant, you don't get the player evaluation, negotiation, etc. skills that the senior people in a sports franchise use. Daryl Morey and a bunch of non-athletes in baseball like Theo Epstein came in with non-sports backgrounds, but they started at the bottom and earned their jobs over the course of years of toil. With a Harvard MBA, you could come in on a low rung and climb up, but if you make a career out of consulting, the Lakers aren't going to poach you to succeed Mitch Kupchak.

One of those lights, slightly brighter than the rest, will be my wingtip passing over.
 

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