Where FBA Graduates Work in the Football Industry Today
When exploring Master’s programs, one of the most important questions is where graduates build their football business careers and what return on investment the program delivers after graduation. The FBA performs strongly on both fronts. Recently ranked among the top 15 programs worldwide for salary outcomes in the SportsBusiness 2025 Postgraduate Rankings, FBA graduates earn an impressive average annual salary of $92,316.
Beyond rankings, The FBA has compiled a comprehensive Graduate Employment Report featuring career outcomes from its 300+ Graduates currently working in the industry. Together, these insights highlight why The FBA stands out as one of the most effective pathways to success in the global football business landscape.
Diverse Backgrounds, Shared Purpose
“The FBA program attracts passionate, committed individuals from very varied backgrounds and nationalities, with an open yet very selective admissions process ensuring high caliber. Beyond passion and intelligence, we place equal if not more importance on things such as values, mindset, and purpose.” – The FBA CEO, Kristian Dobrev
One unique component to The FBA’s Professional Master’s Degree in Football Business is that no previous football/sports or business experience is required. In fact, many Graduates are career switchers with 44% having Hospitality, Technology, International Relations, Law or other backgrounds. Instead, through The FBA’s admissions process, Candidates are evaluated through an application that includes an interview process.
CEO Kristian Dobrev says, “To accelerate the professionalization of the football industry requires a meticulous understanding of what type of profiles the industry needs and can benefit from.” This admissions process allows The FBA to evaluate the Candidate to ensure each selected graduates with industry professionalization in mind. Along with similar values, mindset and purpose, football organizations and increasingly wanting more FBA graduates because of this meticulous process. With a 96.8% graduation rate (92.4% of graduated Alumni being international), The FBA is proud of its truly global network with +82 nationalities spanning across 5 continents. This growing network is driving a more far-reaching evolution of the modern football industry.
A Diverse Industry, A Diverse Workforce
The employment landscape for The FBA Graduates defies the traditional assumption that a career in football is confined to clubs or federations. Agencies and consultancies have established themselves as vital pillars of the industry, as reflected by recent career outcomes with 27% of Alumni working in these areas as opposed to 25% in clubs. This shift highlights a highly professionalized ecosystem where the demand for external expertise and specialized services now outweighs the hiring volume of the sporting institutions they serve.
General Management, Strategy and Consultancy, Commercial, Sales, and Partnerships roles are dominant, with 44% of Alumni distributed throughout these areas. However, the significant rise of FBA Graduates in Technical & Scouting roles (16%) proves that modern sporting decisions are increasingly data-driven and strategic. This shows the industry is changing, requiring more specialized industry experts. Thanks to The FBA’s 100% football focused degree, Candidates graduate confident as the program leads them through a comprehensive, relevant, and impactful learning experience that sets them up for success.
This success is proven, as 90% of Graduates are working in the industry 12 months after graduation. As mentioned, agencies and clubs are where more than 50% of The FBA Alumni have found work, but the football industry is more than this. Jobs are also found in brands, technology, media, event management and federations. In fact, the top 3 employers of The FBA Alumni include two confederations, FIFA and UEFA, with Sport Lisboa e Benfica taking the third spot.
How The FBA Prepares Future Leaders of the Football Industry
“The football industry needs to welcome well-prepared, and ambitious professionals to help it reach its full potential. A solid education and a powerful network are crucial for this to happen, and we could not think of a better partner than The FBA to help us reach this mission.” -Marian Otamendi • Co-Founder & Director, World Football Summit
The FBA has three key pillars, Knowledge, Experience and Network, with the last one emphasizing on the importance of an international cohort. For football to continue to grow and professionalize, it must be understood around the world, and each nationality brings something unique. While the program was founded in Switzerland, with a portion of the program taking place in Lisbon, Portugal one would think most candidates come from Europe. However less than half (44%) of The FBA Graduates are from Europe, 23% are working in North America, followed by 15% in Asia and the Middle East, 7% in LATAM and 3% in Africa. This makes for a truly international program, bringing in different perspectives from all over the world to the game of Football.
Preparing Graduates who have integrity, innovative mindsets and relevant competencies, is what CEO Kristian Dobrev knows the football industry needs, creating a strong network of like-minded individuals. As an Alumni from The FBA, you’ll have access to the Alumni community and its network for life after graduation. Thanks to Alumni Relations Director, Rubén Figueira, The Alumni network now has an established board and online presence to share relevant industry updates and job opportunities. The networking spans beyond its Alumni, through a Networking week at World Football Summit, and international Field Trips. And being an FBA Alumni itself will already grow your network exponentially as they have over 90 direct partners and 2,500 contacts in the industry.
When speaking of the key pillar of Knowledge, The FBA’s curriculum fosters high-level business acumen that is valued well beyond the football pitch. The degree is recognized by the football industry thanks to, amongst other things, the Experts, all of whom have developed successful and impactful careers in renowned football-related organizations around the world. They possess a great wealth of experience, and know how to convey the realities, challenges, and needs of the football industry to our Candidates.
The final pillar to success is Experience. Besides the experience gained through classes, The FBA offers a guaranteed internship working directly with a Football organization. Usually one of The FBA partners, Candidates can graduate confident, as they will be entering the industry with hands-on experience in Football Business. What is even better is that this experience is tailored to each Candidate’s industry goals. There is no need for Candidates to struggle nailing down an internship. The FBA’s Partnership team sits down one-on-one with each Candidate and then reaches out on behalf of the candidate to partners and help guarantee a placement. These internships have led to many job offers for Alumni, securing their first job in the industry.
If you want the best and most up to date knowledge of the Football Business Industry, hands-on, real-world experience, and a network full of Football Industry Professionals with support for life after graduation, then The FBA’s Professional Master’s Degree in Football Business is the program for you. Applications are open for September 2026 and March 2027
Apply now and save up to 15% on tuition with the FBA Early Bird Scholarship.
