All Work and Play: Mr. Sandy Alderson on working in Sports

Students of Haas in particular have a special affinity for the spring semester. Whether you are a departing senior or rising junior, the feeling of anticipation for the start of the spring semester is strong. This Spring, Haas students will not only be enjoying new classes and but will be partaking in the recruiting and internship season activities.

It is presumed that many Haas students will pursue the areas of accounting, banking, and consulting---the ABCs. Although these industries provide great opportunities, I want to introduce a different industry for students to explore: sports.

This past Fall 2010 semester, I took UGBA 167 Sports Marketing with Mike Rielly and Sandy Alderson. As an avid sports fan, it was an amazing learning experience full of visits from top industry professionals and daily open discussions on anything from Tiger Woods to Visa’s World Cup sponsorship. Through studying cases on international franchises and group projects, the class delved in-depth in many ways to communicate to students how the sports industry functions like any other industry under the ABCs.

The first half of the course was led by Mike Rielly, the Vice President of the Golf and Sports Consulting Division at the Creative Arts Agency, who has over 20 years in sports industry.  Prior to joining CAA, Mr. Rielly worked in a senior position with the first sports’ agency, IMG.

The second half of the course was taught by Sandy Alderson, an industry veteran who has held top positions several teams in Major League Baseball. Mr. Alderson began his career in sports with the beloved Oakland Athletics and, a couple of years later a World Series, joined the San Diego Padres to be CEO. On his final day of teaching, Mr. Alderson shared with my classmates and I that he will not be teaching next Fall because he will be the new General Manager of the New York Mets. Though we were disappointed, we are all very excited for Mr. Alderson.

Since Mr. Alderson will be leaving for New York soon, I asked him to join me for an informational interview to help Haas students understand what it is really like to work in the sports industry. By the time of the interview, Mr. Alderson was already at work in his new office in Manhattan. Thankfully, he was gracious enough to share some time with me through a conference call.

Prior to beginning your career in sports, you were working for the Farella Braun & Martel Law Firm in San Francisco. What about the sports industry encouraged you to make the shift in careers?
Well if you go back to 1980, there wasn’t the sports industry as we know today. What attracted me to the Oakland A’s was purely an interest in baseball. Today, the size and complexity of the industry in terms of the revenues and the types of participants in advertisers and vendors that are fully engaged is different than when I first started. It is a far more complicated, mature, and prominent industry.

As an alum of Harvard Law School and Dartmouth College, what courses or activities do you believe prepared you for the field?
I did not have any inkling when I was in college or law school that I would be entering the sports business. In retrospect, there wasn’t anything that I did purposely that prepared me. The legal education was very helpful, though not necessary, and provided an analytical framework for decision-making and so forth. Certainly classes in economics and other business classes, which are available at Haas, were great. Sports management classes would have been great to take but they weren’t available at the time.

What would say are the key personal characteristics needed to be successful in this field?

A real interest in sports. At the entry level, the compensation is not all that attractive. It is like every other business in many respects. An understanding of accounting, economics, and marketing are all valuable as well.

How do most people get into this field? What are common entry ­level jobs?
Internship with a variety of departments within a franchise, league, or sponsor. Also, it could be in a form of an internship with an agency that represents athletes or advertisers.  Internships are important. Making contacts are really important. Getting involved in sports is similar in getting involved in any business or any job. It takes energy, commitment and effort.

What should one consider when creating a resume?
The resume is important and one must be able to somehow demonstrate interest and experience. Another thing that is important about a resume is that is gets to the right person within an organization. Each organization is slightly different in the way it assigns titles and responsibilities. However, information is available online. In my capacity at Berkeley, I’ve counseled students in past on where to send a letter to particular organization with some confidence. 

What opportunities for advancement exist (in regards to a sports franchise)?
These organizations are not that large unless you’re taking about sponsors such as PepsiCo or Anhauser-Bushch. If you get your foot in the door and do good work in whatever capacity, people will notice. Then there may be an opportunity to move up or laterally based on ability. Often young people will enter at a sales level and to the extent that they’re successful at the sales capacity, there may be other opportunities. I’ve definitely seen that in the past.

What types of publications would list job openings in this field?
Sports Business Daily and other more targeted resources such as Baseball America and the section of employment opportunities on MLB.com

What advice or suggestions do you offer for someone considering going into the field?
Well at Berkeley, I would definitely recommend taking the undergraduate course of Sports Marketing.  In addition to giving students an overview of the sports industry, the course also puts the student in contact with a professor who may be active in the sports field and an access to speakers who come from different areas of the industry.

What related fields should students consider looking into?
Entertainment but keep in mind the sports industry is tremendously diverse. You have leagues, franchises, agencies, sponsors, vendors--just so many different business participants in the industry.  There are many different ways of being involved in the industry by not necessarily being part of a team.

I would like to thank Mr. Alderson for taking the time to contribute his insight to the Haas Undergraduate Blog. Please note that UGBA 167: Sports Marketing  will be offered in Fall 2011. I promise you that the course will be worth taking whether you’re a sports’ fan like or a fellow Haas student.

If you have suggestions or ideas of content you want to see in the Haas Undergraduate Students Blog, feel free to shoot me an-email!