This year’s ALSD salary survey results comprise a snapshot of information illustrating the current state of industry compensation. Today’s premium seating industry requires much more than a simple analysis of each league or market; therefore, the data offers insights into distinct separations between sales and service professionals, while also uncovering compensation trends for those individuals that have both sales and service responsibilities.
To complete the picture, the ALSD sought to not only document the demographics of the industry, but also expand the breakdown in salaries across all market sizes.
Demographics
Over 100 survey responses were returned to the ALSD from across multiple industry segments, including professional sports, minor leagues, colleges, and motorsports. As evidenced by our graphical representations, the ALSD community continues to be a wide-ranging and expanding group of professionals.
Our previous survey in 2014 hinted that the industry was trending younger with the majority of respondents having less than seven years of experience in premium seating. This year’s survey resulted in similar findings. Over 63% of the respondents reported having seven years of experience or less in the premium seating industry.
Contrary to 2014, the industry seems to be changing jobs more frequently. Approximately 60% of respondents have three years or less in their current positions, compared to 2014 when the responses were much more evenly distributed.
Common Survey Responses
When it comes to the best part of working in the premium seating industry, the most common responses involved its people.
“The best part of my job is meeting people and enjoying games with my clients,” said one industry professional.
To be successful in this marketplace, professionals must make maintaining client relationships a way of life. In sports and entertainment, these relationships do not happen overnight, and most happen outside of normal business hours.
While the people are great, the most common complaint from across the industry remains work-life imbalance. The fun does not come without difficult sacrifices.
From extra inning all-nighters followed by early morning conference calls, there’s no denying the commitment of those who work in sports and entertainment. Many industry outsiders would respond with a resignation letter if told their hours would increase by almost 150%, especially when the season starts.
Additionally, over 70% of respondents indicated having at least three weeks of vacation every year, but only 23% of those respondents reported that their unused (and it does go unused) vacation time rolls over. But despite those 60-plus-hour work weeks with little time for refreshing getaways, nearly 90% of survey respondents demonstrated high job satisfaction.
Staff Retention and Growth
The premium seating industry continues to thrive in the ever-changing sports world, and the past year continued to move us forward. The ALSD is happy to report that less than 10% of our community experienced staff cuts in 2017. Additionally, nearly three-quarters of respondents received a salary increase in the past year.
Answers were nearly 50-50 in responses to whether or not the industry is adequately compensated for the value brought to its organizations. To create a full picture of the salary breakdown around the country, the ALSD expanded our analysis to not only include a breakdown by market and position, but also show the difference between departments.
After digging deeper into these areas, relevant separation between certain departments emerged. 60% of sales professionals and 70% of sales & service professionals reported adequate compensation, but two-thirds of service-only professionals reported feeling under-compensated. View all our collected data in the sidebars above and to the right.