What degree do you need to be a sports analyst?

You need a bachelor's degree in journalism to be a sports analyst. This is the recommended degree if you want to pursue a career in sports news broadcasting. Other acceptable bachelor's degrees include ones in broadcasting, communications, or another related field.

How To Become A Sports Analyst: What It Is and Career Path

What is a sports analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A sports analyst can be a few different things in the sports journalism and communications field. There are sports analysts that work as broadcast commentators during sports games or those that discuss sports games along with other analysts and previous players or coaches of a specific sport. Sports analysts can also write for the sports section of a newspaper or online publication.

Sports analysts often work for a TV network, like ESPN, ABC, NBC, or CBS, or for print publications like national newspapers, or sports magazines.

Some sports analysts also work specifically with sports data, using mathematical equations to derive conclusions and develop statistics regarding a specific player or team. Sports analysts of this stripe often work for specific sport team organizations in leagues like the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL.

Sports analysts' common skills include analysis, communication, both verbal and written as well as public speaking, editing skills, and interpersonal skills. Some sports analysts also have a wealth of experience in a particular sport, like having been a professional player or coach for a professional sports team.

If a sports analyst is not a previous player, coach, or other sports professional, they often need a bachelor's degree in journalism for the field. Some colleges even have sports journalism degrees that can be obtained. This is the recommended degree if you want to pursue a career in sports news broadcasting or print journalism.

Other acceptable bachelor's degrees include ones in broadcasting, communications, or another related field. You should also seek to minor in a sports-related area while attending college. If you can get any exposure to athletic programs in college, as an athlete, volunteer, or worker, this is also highly recommended to become a sports analyst.

ScoreSports AnalystUS Average

Salary

5.9

Avg. Salary $76,155

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.9

Growth Rate -10%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.29%

Asian 8.80%

Black or African American 6.37%

Hispanic or Latino 12.59%

Unknown 4.38%

White 67.57%

Gender

female 12.08%

male 87.92%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress Level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.8

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.9

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a sports analyst

Explore sports analyst education requirements

Most common sports analyst degrees

Bachelor's

87.1 %

Associate

5.7 %

Master's

3.6 %

Start to develop specific sports analyst skills

Skills	Percentages
Game Film	19.85%
Soccer	17.85%
NFL	13.71%
Play-By-Play	6.89%
Quality Analysis	6.37%

Complete relevant sports analyst training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New sports analysts learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a sports analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real sports analyst resumes.

Research sports analyst duties and responsibilities

Achieve worldwide coverage with one particular article criticizing racism in soccer.
Develop algorithms to better evaluate and compare NBA, MLB, and NFL players.
Analyze and generate statistical reports of NCAA DI, DII, DIII game footage.
Provide play-by-play and color commentary for men's and women's hockey, basketball and baseball/softball games

Prepare your sports analyst resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your sports analyst resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a sports analyst resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Sports Analyst Resume templates

Build a professional Sports Analyst resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Sports Analyst resume.

Apply for sports analyst jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a sports analyst job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do sports analysts rate their job?