Also called: Director of Athletics
Runs a college's entire sports program, from hiring coaches to multimillion-dollar media deals.
College ADs negotiate TV and sponsorship deals, hire and fire coaches, oversee NCAA compliance and NIL rules, build stadiums, and fundraise. Big-conference ADs earn $1M+.
Estimate; ranges from small Division III programs to Power Four conferences.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 12 years after high school. Master's in sports management or business; years in college athletics administration.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $60k – $150k.
Majors to look at: Sports Management, Business.
Growing about average. Competitive field.
Low risk for 10 years. AI analytics help with scheduling and media deals; hiring coaches, NIL politics and fundraising stay human.
Classes: Business, Sports management or PE, Speech.
Official data: O*NET occupation 11-9033.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.