Aaron Rodriguez

August 27,2019

The Game Plan

Cohort 21S

My game plan is centered on my passion in marketing, sales and customer service. I continue to look for opportunities that relate to my interests. I would like to end up in a professional sports team marketing department or a sport marketing firm. I understand that it is a challenging industry that requires hard work, creativity, and developing a strong and diverse network. I am preparing myself for future situations through the informational interviews as well as through multiple job opportunities leading up to the Leigh Steinberg and Steinberg Sports Career Conference in November.

Currently I am starting with the Los Angeles Rams in the 50/50 raffle ticket as a seller, I have an unpaid internship with Girls Football Association and got a job with CSC. These current roles will help me gain experience in the sports field and develop interpersonal relationships with many people through the industry. My previous experience in customer service and marketing studies help me understand how to approach people to provide the best experience possible for them as well as knowing the organizations goals to capitalize on opportunities for their interests. I am excited for these opportunities to test my current skills in the sports field and develop new skills for the future.

The Los Angeles Rams Job is a seasonal position but from there I would like to be able to develop relationships with other people in the organization to gain an assistant job in the marketing department. This experience with a professional team will also expose me to the environment of professional sports in a personal setting with fans which can help me given the opportunity to work in the marketing department. Right now, the football industry is looking for ways to gain interest in the league. There are many issues such as CTE, handling of social justice protests, and the interests in the league and its games. After writing my Career Prospectus Paper, this confirms my interest in marketing research and analytics. The world of professional sports is becoming customizable from the way you watch it, to how fans are approached to buy tickets and what services are offered to the fan, everything is built to their liking. I am interested in companies such as the Clippers, Padres and the Browns because they are smaller teams that are less popular teams in their respective leagues, and I enjoy building up organizations opposed to maintaining a team’s cache.

   I plan to reconnect with Joe Legaz (Los Angeles Clippers Director of Marketing) at the Sports Career Conference and see if there are any positions that I can apply for in the organization to be around that environment and learn sports marketing. For now, my focus will be on working in the sports industry to understand different sports environment as well as focusing on my studies to develop more skills and strategies in order to perform at the highest level possible when the opportunity comes. While I am currently employed at two jobs and an internship, I plan to continue networking through networking events as well as reaching out for more informational interviews. My education as well as my job opportunities have set the foundation to achieve my goals. I remain positive about my path and will peruse opportunities that will make me more competitive in the sports industry to get jobs which I desire in the future.