Interview with Dr. Nicolas Zoroya

Sports Degrees Online: We are speaking today with Dr. Nicolas Zoroya, Professor of Sport Management at Madonna University – welcome to Sports Degrees Online’s Expert Interview series.

Dr. Zoroya, can you share a bit about your journey and how you decided to pursue a career in the sports industry?

Dr. Nick Zoroya: When I was an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan I finally saw what life would be like without sports to consume my free time, and I was lost. Luckily through an internship at a local high school athletic department, a part time job at the rec center, and a job as a J.V. lacrosse coach at a local high school, I realized that I was going to be involved in sports after graduation.

At first the plan was to teach physical education, coach, and work my way up to being a high school athletic director, but the coaching bug bit me so hard that I graduated and immediately pursued college coaching as a career. During my final stop I was given the opportunity to adjunct and realized that coaching could be my hobby but teaching should be my career. I enrolled in my doctoral program and the rest is pretty much history.

Sports Degrees Online: Professor, I understand that in addition to being a professor, you also do play-by-play broadcasting and manage the production of a podcast. Can you tell the story of how you got your start in broadcasting?

Dr. Nick Zoroya: During the covid lockdown I realized that one of my coaching friends and I were having weekly hour long conversations about life, lacrosse, and college athletics in general. We decided there would be no better time to start a podcast than when we were locked at home.

As covid subsided I sold my podcast and moved in a production role, but I missed being behind the microphone. I reached out to the Michigan Lacrosse SID who happened to be my roommate for road games and he supported my move to the booth, he went so far as to call it “a natural progression for me reinventing myself”.

That first year I was the backup broadcaster for Michigan BIG+ games but I was never called into service. In my second year I was able to do PXP or Color [commentary] for 5 womens and 3 mens games. 

Sports Degrees Online: Now that you have been in the industry for some time, I’m wondering how you are finding it compared with what you expected. Can you share some thoughts about that? Is there anything that you know now that you wish you knew before you got started?

Dr. Nick Zoroya: What I understand now that I didn’t as a student was the value of internships and volunteer work early in your studies. To put it bluntly I couldn’t afford to work for free, meaning most internships at that time were out of reach for me. I spent my summers doing construction, coaching, and lifeguarding which were all valuable but not as valuable as working for a professional sports organization. Ive noticed and really appreciate the industries move to paid internships making opportunities more accessible to people like me, who didn’t have the financial means to intern.

Sports Degrees Online: Professor, prior to your career in academia, you spent time as a coach and an athletic director. What are some of the takeaways you have from that time in your career, and what are some ways that you still draw from that experience as a professor of sport management today?

Dr. Nick Zoroya: Everything boils down to communication and relationships. As an athletic director you are a generalist, especially at a smaller school, but you can find all of the help you need if you take care people.

Sports Degrees Online: Dr Zoroya, everyone knows that internships and experiential learning are a key component for every sport management degree. Can you talk a bit about why internships and experiential learning are important and how students can get the most out of these experiences?

Dr. Nick Zoroya: Putting yourself out there, interning/volunteering, they signal to employers that you are willing to do what it takes and that you take your career seriously. Take every opportunity to network, to convince people that you are capable, hardworking, and you are someone that responds with how not why. Just because they might not be able to hire you doesn’t mean that they don’t know someone who can.

Sports Degrees Online: I imagine that you are always hearing anecdotes and gathering feedback about how recent graduates are faring in the job market. Are you noticing any trends about how the job market is looking as we approach the mid-point of 2023?

Dr. Nick Zoroya: The job market in sports is as competitive as ever, jobs in sales and promotion are the most accessible at the moment which is always a reality shock to students no matter how many times we warn them. And as usual, the students who spent 4 years building their skills, their resumes, and networking have usually set themselves up before graduation.

Sports Degrees Online: Part of our goal at Sports Degrees Online is to highlight and promote areas of growth in the sports industry where some of the best opportunities exist today and in the future. Can you take a moment to name some career areas that come to mind?

Sports Degrees Online: Finally, Professor, I want to provide you with an opportunity to promote your program. Why should students consider studying Sport and Entertainment Management at Madonna University?