From UCFB to NBA: Graduate shifts career from football to basketball

A UCFB graduate has been talking to us about how he has used his transferable skills gained from his football business-related degree course at UCFB to shift sports to a career in American basketball.

Henry Brown, who studied BA (Hons) International Football Business at UCFB, now works at The National Basketball Association (NBA) as an associate manager of merchandise partnerships.

Henry spoke about the shift from his career in football to basketball, saying: “I’d be lying if I said I knew a lot about basketball when I came into this role.

“I always wanted to work in American sport and learn about the differences in Europe and America in terms of how you look after a partner, how you sell a partner, how you build up a partnership to be all it basically it can be.”

He added, focusing on his day-to-day working life at The NBA: “One day, you might be reviewing products for Luka Dončić for the Dallas Mavs, and then the next day, he’s gone to the Los Angeles Lakers, and it all changes.

“Basketball’s a great sport because everything can change. That’s also the great part about my role, where no two days are the same.

“Anything new can come to my desk and you always get to run with it and make it your own, which is what I love about this job.”

Previously, Henry had worked on the business side at several football clubs, such as Aldershot Town, Stevenage and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Henry said that UCFB’s Employability and Career Planning Team was vital in securing his work placements alongside his studies, which has kickstarted his career to where he is now.

“Within half an hour of sending an email,” he said, “I had back an email saying, ‘You’re going to be starting at Aldershot Town on May 15th.’

“And those sorts of opportunities have cannonballed me into actually being able to be where I am now.

“If I went to a more traditional university across the country, I don’t think I would have done those internships, those experiences to actually allow me to get a job like I have outside of university so quickly.

“The work placements are critical to what UCFB can provide.”

You can learn more about the UCFB graduates who have gone on to secure roles across the football and sports industry since graduating.

UCFB has many sports media-related degree courses, as well as degrees focusing on fields such as sports business and sports coaching. Find out more about them and take the first step towards your dream career in the industry.