Clemson’s new Sport Management Club hosted the Tennessee Titans’ inside sales manager, Joey Meredith, through Zoom on Monday, Sept. 13. Although the club is in its first year, Meredith speaking to the members sets a foundation for its growth and gives members advice on how to make it in the sports world.
Nicholas Lisi, a sophomore economics major, founded the Sport Management Club in May 2021.
“I created the club because I think finding opportunities to work in sports and networking in the industry is difficult when the sport management, sport communication department is selective and not as prominent as the business school,” said Lisi. “I wanted to create a club that allows students to network with each other and give them confidence to reach out to professionals in the sports industry.”
Lisi’s goals behind creating the club seem to be coming true, as Meredith gave members of the club his opinion on making it in the sports industry.
Meredith’s job is to manage the sale of season tickets, among other commodities, for the Tennessee Titans, a team in the world’s most lucrative sports league, the NFL.
The path to a position of Meredith’s stature is not easy by any means, but during his talk with the club he gave some insight to the members who are looking to pursue a career in sports. One of Meredith’s key talking points centered around networking.
“The best thing that happened to me was getting out there and meeting those 20 business professionals in the sports world and networking and building that relationship base,” said Meredith.
“Everybody’s got this, or this many internships or everybody’s really good at Microsoft Office or whatever. So, knowing one of those people in that stack [of resumes] definitely gives you a leg up if you’re that person.”
For those looking to get into any career in sports, Meredith indicated that “experience triumphs many teachings in the classroom.”
“It’s mostly about the experiences that you have, like, what internships are you doing? What part time jobs are you doing in school, we really want to see those,” said Meredith.
To build that experience, Meredith suggested that students interested in a career in sports should utilize the Clubhouse, a consultancy service that is centered around sports. There are blogs, webinars, job boards, potential mentors and sales training in a variety of sports leagues and programs on the site.
As for his beginning experiences, Meredith, knowing how competitive the sports industry is, mentioned the importance of asking for help.
“I knew right away that it was really competitive to get a sports job. There are so many people willing to do it, and they’re all willing to do it for less money than you are. So, I just started asking people for help,” said Meredith.
For Meredith, that help initially came through an undergraduate professor that Meredith had in sports classes. That professor had a connection with the minor league hockey team in Boston, Tennessee.
That is not to say that Meredith suggests only utilizing existing connections, as he has reached out to many professionals in the sports community in an attempt to broaden his network.
“I would cast a wide net, like I would reach out to the departments that you’re not sure about. Because you never know what you’re going to find,” said Meredith.
“I would just go big, and I would ask people from different teams, different parts of the country, different leagues. I mean, at the end of the day, like, if you don’t enjoy it, it’s just 30 minutes of your time having a conversation with somebody, and you can mark that off your list.”
There are thousands of people who would love the chance to work for an NFL team like Meredith does. However, only a small percentage of them get the opportunity to do so. Based on Meredith’s talk, what differentiates that small percentage from the others is experience, determination and networking.
The new Sport Management Club appears to be aimed at building up those aspects for members. For something that was just created in May, having a guest-speaker like Meredith is a strong start.
Nicholas Lisi, a sophomore economics major, founded the Sport Management Club in May 2021.
“I created the club because I think finding opportunities to work in sports and networking in the industry is difficult when the sport management, sport communication department is selective and not as prominent as the business school,” said Lisi. “I wanted to create a club that allows students to network with each other and give them confidence to reach out to professionals in the sports industry.”
Lisi’s goals behind creating the club seem to be coming true, as Meredith gave members of the club his opinion on making it in the sports industry.
Meredith’s job is to manage the sale of season tickets, among other commodities, for the Tennessee Titans, a team in the world’s most lucrative sports league, the NFL.
The path to a position of Meredith’s stature is not easy by any means, but during his talk with the club he gave some insight to the members who are looking to pursue a career in sports. One of Meredith’s key talking points centered around networking.
“The best thing that happened to me was getting out there and meeting those 20 business professionals in the sports world and networking and building that relationship base,” said Meredith.
“Everybody’s got this, or this many internships or everybody’s really good at Microsoft Office or whatever. So, knowing one of those people in that stack [of resumes] definitely gives you a leg up if you’re that person.”
For those looking to get into any career in sports, Meredith indicated that “experience triumphs many teachings in the classroom.”
“It’s mostly about the experiences that you have, like, what internships are you doing? What part time jobs are you doing in school, we really want to see those,” said Meredith.
To build that experience, Meredith suggested that students interested in a career in sports should utilize the Clubhouse, a consultancy service that is centered around sports. There are blogs, webinars, job boards, potential mentors and sales training in a variety of sports leagues and programs on the site.
As for his beginning experiences, Meredith, knowing how competitive the sports industry is, mentioned the importance of asking for help.
“I knew right away that it was really competitive to get a sports job. There are so many people willing to do it, and they’re all willing to do it for less money than you are. So, I just started asking people for help,” said Meredith.
For Meredith, that help initially came through an undergraduate professor that Meredith had in sports classes. That professor had a connection with the minor league hockey team in Boston, Tennessee.
That is not to say that Meredith suggests only utilizing existing connections, as he has reached out to many professionals in the sports community in an attempt to broaden his network.
“I would cast a wide net, like I would reach out to the departments that you’re not sure about. Because you never know what you’re going to find,” said Meredith.
“I would just go big, and I would ask people from different teams, different parts of the country, different leagues. I mean, at the end of the day, like, if you don’t enjoy it, it’s just 30 minutes of your time having a conversation with somebody, and you can mark that off your list.”
There are thousands of people who would love the chance to work for an NFL team like Meredith does. However, only a small percentage of them get the opportunity to do so. Based on Meredith’s talk, what differentiates that small percentage from the others is experience, determination and networking.
The new Sport Management Club appears to be aimed at building up those aspects for members. For something that was just created in May, having a guest-speaker like Meredith is a strong start.
