Sport, from digital producer to data analyst the five growing professions
According to Eurostat data, there are approximately 1.6 million people employed in the sector in Europe and more than one third are under 30. In the UK one in 3 young people would like to work in the sector
Around major sporting events not only the interest of spectators grows, but also that of young people who would like to work there. On the other hand, if we take our country, according to the latest available Istat data for 2024, there is a lot of passion for sport in our country and 21.5 million people over the age of 3 participate in a leisure activity. According to The Careers & Enterprise Company, the UK's independent career guidance body, students who have the sports industry as one of their main career ambitions are almost a third, 29%. This is followed by art and music-related professions (19%) and animal care (15%). The latest available Eurostat data speak of around 1.6 million people in the European Union employed in the sports sector, a figure that is set to continue growing. Analyses show that sport is a particularly relevant sector for youth employment: more than one third of workers (36.8% according to Eurostat) are between 15 and 29 years old, a significantly higher proportion than the average for other sectors.
At the same time, the sector has specific characteristics: a higher prevalence of part-time contracts, a higher incidence of self-employment and a growing professional qualification. In this regard, in the top five of the fastest growing professions are the digital sport producer, who deals with the production, management and distribution of content for digital sports publishing, the sports data analyst, i.e. the specialist who identifies and collects all the data relating to the various sports disciplines (statistics data and analysis), the sports trader, the professional who deals with the buying and selling of shares in the sports markets, the club media manager who deals with the social communication of sports clubs and federations, and the eSports manager who manages the overall organisation, strategy and operations of a competitive video game team.
"The change we are observing does not only concern professions, but the way the younger generation approaches work. There is a growing attraction to fields that combine data, technology and decision-making skills. Even in the world of sport, more and more, it is not just about passion but about skills related to analysis, risk management and scenario reading,' interprets sports trader Davide Renna. The European sports sector is today in a phase of strong evolution: on the one hand it continues to grow as a pool of employment and economic leverage, and on the other it is increasingly intertwined with technological innovation and new digital business models. The challenge for the coming years will be to find a balance between economic development, worker protection and regulation of emerging tools, in an ecosystem where sport, data and finance are increasingly interconnected.
