FT seeks a sports business reporter in New York

The FT is expanding its reporting on a rapidly growing asset class that commands the attention of billions of people and tens of billions of dollars: the business of sport.

Its coverage requires a highly energetic, versatile journalist based in New York who can spot a good story and is capable of leading our coverage of the American sports business sector. We are looking for a dynamic reporter with a track-record of breaking corporate stories and writing analysis. The ideal candidate must be able to dig into dealmaking and the relationship between global finance, sports franchises, media powerbrokers, sponsors and the personalities that influence the professional and collegiate game.

This is not a role for a fan. The US is the world’s largest sports market. As part of the job you will have to report on the billionaires who are invested in the National Football League, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and other American sports. You will report on the cross-section of sports with technology, media, consumer industries and the nascent US betting industry. In particular, we want a reporter who will cover how US sports are seeking to grow globally and the risks that such strategies entails – the recent debacle of the NBA in China being a perfect example. We want a reporter capable of regularly producing scoops, while filing early and often on the latest US sports business trends.

This correspondent will need to be a collaborative self starter who will work closely with Murad Ahmed in London, who leads global coverage of sport, Anna Nicolaou, who leads US media coverage from New York and James Fontanella-Khan, US corporate finance and deals editor in New York.

They will also be at the forefront of a new newsletter in collaboration with the Due Diligence team. This will debut as a weekly newsletter that will need to develop an original voice while promoting the best of the FT’s reporting on the business of sport.

They will have a role in helping to turn the new newsletter into a broader franchise, including working on the Business of Football summit which launched in London earlier this year. 

Skills that we are looking for:

• Building contacts

• Breaking stories/writing features

• Reacting quickly and confidently to news events

• Identifying trends

• Writing with flair

• Analyse and report across all digital platforms

• Engage with our audience through newsletters and events

• Weekend shifts within the newsroom are required as usual

To apply, go here.