THE FOA BRIEF Front Row Access to the Business of Success
Issue 006 | May 2026
THIS WEEK: It's mid-May. That means thousands of sports business internships are either about to start or already underway. Most of the people in those roles will leave with a line on their resume. A smaller group will leave with a job offer, a network, and a clear career trajectory. The difference isn't talent — it's strategy.
THE INTERNSHIP TRAP
Here's the mistake most sports interns make: they treat the internship like a class.
They show up, they do what they're told, they stay in their lane, they leave at the end of the summer. They were good. They were reliable. They were forgettable.
The organizations that convert interns to full-time employees aren't just evaluating your ability to complete tasks. They're watching how you think, how you communicate, how you handle uncertainty, and whether you understand the business well enough to contribute ideas — not just labor.
The internship isn't the opportunity. How you operate inside the internship is the opportunity.
FIVE THINGS THE BEST INTERNS DO DIFFERENTLY
1. They learn the business, not just their department. The best interns ask questions across departments. They learn why the partnership team structures deals a certain way. They understand how ticket pricing decisions get made. They connect their daily work to the organization's broader revenue picture. This signals strategic thinking — and strategic thinkers get promoted.
2. They build relationships intentionally. Not networking in the surface-level sense — actually investing in relationships with people they genuinely want to learn from. One quality conversation with a senior director is worth more than a hundred LinkedIn connections.
3. They document everything. Every project. Every result. Every process they improved or contributed to. Not for their resume alone — for their own clarity about what they're capable of and what they've actually delivered.
4. They make their manager's job easier. The best interns identify the problems their manager is dealing with and find ways to take work off their plate. They don't wait to be asked. They anticipate.
5. They ask about full-time opportunities before the internship ends. Most interns wait for the organization to bring it up. The ones who get offers are usually the ones who asked — professionally, at the right moment, with a clear case for why they belong.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Even if the internship doesn't convert to a full-time offer, it should convert to something: a reference, a clear understanding of the organizational structure you want to work in, and at least one relationship you maintain long after the summer ends.
The sports industry is small. Everyone knows everyone. How you show up in an internship is a data point that travels.
YOUR NEXT MOVE
If you're starting an internship this summer, write down three things you want to accomplish — not tasks, but outcomes. What do you want to have delivered by the end? What relationship do you want to have built? What do you want to know about the business that you don't know today? Put it somewhere you'll see it every week.
If you're looking for an internship, this is the moment. Most organizations are finalizing their summer rosters right now. Reach out directly to the people managing the departments you're targeting — not just through the online application portal.
The FOA Playbook has the full framework for both. Learn more at learn.thefoacademy.com
That's Issue 006. If this hit different than what you expected from a sports newsletter — good. That's the point.
Forward this to one person who needs to be reading it. The FOA Brief grows through people who get it sharing it with people who will.
See you next week.
— The FOA Brief thefoacademy.com