Sport managers work for professional sport teams, college and university athletic departments and sport marketing firms and labor behind the players and games in a variety of business functions that make it all happen.

Houston Rockets Membership Sales Executive and 2015 Suffolk County Community College graduate Bobby Mainor, 29, recently spoke with students from the College’s new Sport Management Program about his journey from college to professional sports.

Born and raised in The Bronx and a die-hard New York Yankees fan, Mainor’s path to professional sports was anything but direct, “Not conventional,” as he described it. He attended colleges – including New York University and Stony Brook before finding a home at Suffolk, graduating, and earning his bachelor’s degree at Empire State College. And through it all, Mainor worked at jobs that included Hertz and L.A. Fitness and as a teacher’s assistant, among others, until he decided he wanted pursue a career he was passionate about. Professional sports.

Mainor scoured online sports professional’s job sites. “I applied for hundreds of jobs in professional sports. Internships. You name it,” Mainor said, “and got rejected left and right.”

Then, an out-of-the blue recruiting email hit Mainor’s in box. Pay dirt. Mainor completed a competitive and comprehensive interview process with hundreds of applicants and chose to work for the Houston Rockets in June 2021.

Mainor told students that he had no prior sports management experience. “I was green to all of this,” Mainor explained. “I did have sales experience and did a great deal of networking.”

Mainor described his typical day as “intense” and involves establishing networks and speaking with businesses and individuals about the Houston Rockets. “My job enables me to meet and make relationships with people I would not otherwise meet,” Mainor said.

As for the future. Mainor said he sees himself as a vice president of sales, or in the C-suite of a professional sports organization within the next 10 years. “Being able to lead an organization would be great,” he said.

“It was a pleasure to have Mr. Mainor speak to our Sport Management students about his journey into a career in professional sport,” said Chair/Professor – Health, Physical Education & Sport Management Al Heraghty.

Suffolk County Community College offers an A.S. degree in Sport Management that prepares students for dynamic careers in the industry. The curriculum of sport management, business and general education courses, combined with valuable sport event experience, provides students with a solid foundation for a sport management career.

This transfer program is designed for students who plan to transfer into a four-year Sport Management or Business Program. Graduates from Suffolk’s program can continue their education and pursue careers in athletic administration, sport/recreational facility management, coaching, and event management.

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Source: Suffolk County Community College

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