Sports and entertainment management is a great industry if you thrive in high-pressure situations with major rewards. In this industry, however, there are a number of sub-fields, which help you learn one part of the business extremely well. For some, international sports management is the education and career path of choice.

With a career in international sports management, you could be representing players from around the world. You’ll still deal with typical sports management topics, like finance and accounting, event planning, travel, and law, but on an international stage so that players aren’t tied down to playing in just one country. International spots management companies typically focus on players that could move from country to country in sports that are popular throughout the world, such as soccer, rather than sports that are more confined to one area of the world, such as American football. Some international sports managers work with plays from a single country who travel to other parts of the world for tournaments, such as golfers and tennis stars. In any case, a good international sports management program will prepare you for the unique task of representing your clients’ best interests in places outside of the United States, where language, legal, and cultural barriers often stand in the way of deals.

So what should you look for in a degree program in this field? Here are a few characteristics of top programs:

• Professors with experience: The more time your professors have spent working with international clients, the better. They’ll be better able to answer you questions and give you real-world tips that really work.

• Classes dealing with law: Although you might have lawyers in your firm to handle contracts in different countries, a good sports management program will always at least touch on the law. The more you know, legally, about sports issues in other countries, the better prepared you will be to represent your clients.

• Language classes: You don’t have to know a foreign language to work in international sports management, but this is definitely a skill that will come in handy and make you an extremely valuable employee no matter where you work. Spanish, French, Russian, Japanese, and German are some of the top languages you should consider learning, at least on a basic level.

• Broad international focus: A program that is too focused on international sports management in a single country or even region won’t give you the best education possible. You could end up representing clients from remote areas of the world, and if that’s the case, an education that focused on dealing with clients in Western Europe won’t be much of a help.

• Internship opportunities: The best international sports management programs are ones that have internship opportunities, as well as other ways for you to get real-world experience. Without it, you will find it hard to break into this field once you graduate.