Also called: GM, President of Basketball/Baseball/Hockey Operations
Builds a pro team's roster through the draft, trades, and free agency.
A GM watches film with scouts, negotiates contracts with agents, juggles the salary cap, and decides whether to trade a star. Trade deadlines and draft nights are the most intense days of the year. They answer to owners and fans.
Estimate based on reported executive salaries.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 15 years after high school. Bachelor's degree, often in business or analytics; most climbed from scout, analyst, or coach roles.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Sports Management, Business Administration, Economics, Statistics.
Growing about average. Very few positions; high turnover.
Low risk for 10 years. Analytics and AI rank players and trades; negotiation, judgment and owning roster decisions stay human.
Classes: AP Statistics, Economics, Speech and debate.
Official data: O*NET occupation 11-1021.
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.