One of the other threads jokingly mentioned wishing he was a GM in the NFL and I was actually wondering how often / possible it is to exit IB to some sort of CorpDev / Strategy role in one of the major sports leagues (NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB). Currently play low level D1 and looking to end up in sports in the long run post-IB. Appreciate any insight, thanks.
| +121 | Is my life over after not getting GS? | 30 | 37m | |
| +73 | Best IB group on the Street | 34 | 1h | |
| +66 | Thoughts and tips on how to speak like an investment banker. | 25 | 18h | |
| +58 | BIG FOUR ARE PARADISE | 15 | 18h | |
| +48 | Tell me one good reason why Jefferies isn’t going to be a top bank in the next 5 years | 23 | 11h | |
| +44 | BEING WHITEGIRL IS PARADISE | 11 | 1h | |
| +36 | UBS Outlook | 28 | 1d | |
| +35 | How to deal with egotistical team? | 6 | 3d | |
| +33 | Highest Paid Bankers in Toronto? | 51 | 17h | |
| +29 | Are you “less ambitious” for having long term goals outside of NYC | 13 | 2h |
Career Resources
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
IB is not your best bet imo. You’ll have to be a rockstar at MBB as that has as much of a track record as you can reasonably expect for sports FO.
Look at the NBA, unless you’re hella connected, you have to go in via the Sam Presti, Sam Hinkie, (and the Twolves GM or asst GM I can’t remember the name hes indian went to MIT CS/math), etc.
Data skills is also incredibly important so you’ll need a fortunate combination of Pedigree (good school+background), sport knowledge (like intellectual level not 99.9% of stuff you hear from casuals), be very skilled with data as that is the future, and get lucky as fuck.
Typically I envisioned for someone who’s not connected, their best bet is to go MBB and network like crazy for sports projects and with FO. Breaking in is going to be nearly impossible and then following that, until you establish yourself and your value, you’ll have a HF-level volatile career.
Best of luck and would love to hear others opinions on this topic
Appreciate the comment as I really don't know too much about this topic, just something that sparked my interest. Since MBB is kinda out of the equation right now (doing IB SA stint and go to non-target so odds are pretty low imo at MBB), do you think getting my MBA at one of the M7 would help any?
IB SA to MBB is not unachievable. Know a decent amount of people at my school that have done this and we are not even a top target.
MBB is always achievable. It’s not like IB where you have to have relevant subject experience. Tons of people lateral in from all sorts of backgrounds. Even recruiting FT is possible, but I’d be weary about choosing MBB over IB for that sole reason depending on how committed you are.
Otherwise B school is also a possibly useful conduit to get into Sports FO. Two years to network and an internship opportunity. If you go MBB -> b school and strike out for sports you can always go back to MBB as wel
Daryl Morey (76ers current President of Basketball operations, former Rockets GM) went to Northwestern UG then MIT Sloan MBA. After that he had a decent career at EY-Parthenon management consulting with a focus in sports. Exited to Celtics Senior Vice President of Operations and now is a top exec in the league.
Sounds like what others have said. Get the prestige, make the connections, and go management consulting. I would say outside of MBB, EYP is a good option.
Seen a few Deloitte consultants in NBA corporate departments too.
The big brain move here is to start a hedge fund then buy a team
Can you even make enough money from HF these days to do that? Assuming you make PM at 35 with a generous net worth of $10mil, you’d have to scale your AUM significantly and be in the game for a long ass time, no?
This is kind of a perfect example of why I always caution people against reading WSO - the top answers here are from interns/college kids and are mostly incorrect.
Have visited both NBA and NFL headquarters on an office visit thru MBA - there are a lot of former TMT bankers. Think a lot of the intern/college kid comments are misunderstanding the job entirely - obviously it's league dependent but so much of the job at the league level is media rights and sponsorships, so media bankers are preferred. Doubly so in an NFL-style league where everything is controlled thru 345 Park (as opposed to MLB where local teams retain the ability to strike deals and set up Regional Sports Networks).
Echo this - bit dated but the following link gives you an idea what they are looking for. Recruit through headhunters and networking.
https://careers.nba.com/strategy-analytics-finance-career-group-summer-…
Echo this comment.
Met a guy at when we were both interviewing at b-schools. He's now AVP of Strategy / Corp Fin at the NBA. He worked in FP&A before b-school at a well known company, but no previous consulting or banking experience.
I think the OP wanted insight into FO roles that are basically General Manager relating to the sport itself. It’s pretty straightforward to see that, of the people directly related to basketball/football operations, they did consulting or sport specific stuff before. You can easily go through the 30 people that run those positions and the background is consulting or playing/coaching/scouting.
I don’t think anyone was wondering how to be in Corp fin or related to the business side as that’s significantly further from the desired FO role, and is a pretty straightforward Corporate exit.
I agree with the interns making somewhat misleading content on here but the alternative is the thread dies or convo isn’t discussed. Thanks for the response though.
Excuse me...please reread the question
You’re misunderstanding the thread. FO = sports GM, no Corporate development, league office stuff
Maybe you should reread the question
My last sales and trading analyst. D1 All America. 2 years putting up with my crap. UCLA business school (sports marketing). Good internships. Front office for two different NBA teams (Director FPA ,then Director of Strategy).
So yes, it is possible and currently being done.
.
I currently do Corp. Dev / Strategy in the FO of a major team (think Dodgers, Knicks, Cowboys, etc.) and started in IB. The skills translate very well and experience in IB or MBB is usually a pre-req. for the position.
Ut a voluptates est libero. Beatae sunt non placeat deserunt. Quasi ut dolorem temporibus a qui.
Magnam sapiente recusandae eos et. Repudiandae eos ut quis laboriosam qui. Eligendi iste occaecati occaecati id fuga. Distinctio dolor qui sed voluptatem ipsam delectus ut. Ut cumque molestiae consequatur dolorem voluptatem eius ipsa.
Consequatur vel non autem rerum. Alias voluptatem nesciunt est illum saepe. Tempora iste voluptas fuga quia nisi. In suscipit quas repellat ut mollitia numquam.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...