Sports Facilities – Facility Manager
Many of the job functions of a Facility Manager are similar to a Director. One reason for this is that only the larger venues have both a Director and a Facility Manager. In the smaller sports facilities the Facility Manager is the step before VP.
The Facility Manager has a significant amount of responsibility and it is commensurate with the size and structure of the specific sports/entertainment facility. Many of the job functions are financially driven. The Manager must work with accountants, marketers, team personnel, and often outside strategists to help produce creative ideas that allow the facility to be financially viable. This all breaks down to creating and managing a facility budget.
The Facility Manager is also required to hire and fire the staff that sells the facility for different sporting events. Those events include; company meetings, boat shows, car shows, additional sporting events, trade shows etc.
Not all responsibilities relate specifically to booking and running events at the venue. There are also other responsibilities such as hiring contractors to make sure that the facility looks great and all of the electrical runs properly. These contractors include; snow plowing/shoveling in places that need this such as in Buffalo, grounds crews to maintain the irrigation and cutting of the lawn inside and outside the facility, and all electrical related functions.
As with the Facility Director, most Managers have at the minimum a four year-degree in marketing, communications or sports business related field. Facility operating companies also want someone with five plus years experience managing events as well as understanding and being able to handle contractual issues. It should be noted, that many people are hired into these positions from other sports sales job functions such as group ticket sales, sponsorship sales and sometimes marketing.
Compensation:
Salary levels vary substantially, depending upon the level of managerial responsibility, length of service, education, professional level (minor league versus top professional league), location, and sport. Because some facilities have only a Facility Manager and others have both a Facility Manager and Director of Operations, there is a larger range of potential salaries.
Major League Baseball: $64,000 – $120,000
National Football League: $68,000 – $125,000
National Basketball Association: $56,000 – $105,000
National Hockey League: $50,000 – $92,000
Collegiate: $42,000 – $90,000
*The low end NHL salary included a conversion from Canadian dollars to U.S. dollars.