The Most Important Skill in the Sports Industry

(It Hasn’t Changed in 20+ Years)

I’ve been working in the sports industry for over two decades now, and there’s one question I’ve been asked consistently, across countries, roles, generations, and formats:

“What is the most important skill one needs to succeed in the sports industry?”

My answer in the early 2000s was simple:

Communication skills.

And here we are in 2026 and my answer is still exactly the same.

If anything, it has only become more important.

The only evolution I’d make today is this:

Spoken communication skills.

In a world where AI can write emails, decks, proposals, strategies, and even speeches, what truly differentiates people is their ability to express, engage, and connect, in real time, as a human being.

I’m talking about:

• The ability to clearly articulate an idea, opportunity, or vision

• The ability to engage one person or an entire room

• The ability to listen deeply, remember what was said, and reflect it back meaningfully

• The ability to deliver a message without a teleprompter or notes

• The ability to align your body language with your words

• The ability to speak despite fear, anxiety, or nervousness

• The ability to fumble, lose the audience momentarily—and still recover

• The ability to prepare rigorously so you can express creatively

• The ability to look comfortable even when you’re not

• The ability to practice for hours so effort looks effortless

• The ability to be authentically you and still be engaging

• The ability to own the stage—big or small

• The ability to go deep on a few topics and stay conversant on many others

• The ability to sell yourself without sounding like you’re boasting

• The ability to know when slides help—and when they hurt

• The ability to control time, instead of letting time control you

I could go on and on, but you get the point.

The thing to always remember is this: sport is fundamentally a people industry. No matter how strong your domain expertise is, your success ultimately depends on how effectively you engage, influence, and connect with people.

What makes this reflection even more ironic is that public speaking did not come naturally to me. Not even close.

My First (Very Public) Failure

My first real public speaking opportunity came in 2003. I was 23 years old, working as Coordinator, Fan Development at Major League Soccer.

My boss had been invited to deliver the keynote at the SAY Soccer AGM & Convention in Scranton, Pennsylvania, yes, that Scranton, where The Office is set. He had just had a baby and couldn’t attend, so he sent me instead.

I was thrilled. Nervous. And quietly confident.

But instead of preparing my keynote, I spent most of my time filming MLS executives recording “thank you” messages for SAY members (which, to be fair, was a nice idea). I flew to Pennsylvania, enjoyed the conference atmosphere, and on the morning of my talk, started scribbling some notes.

For reasons I still don’t fully understand, I decided to wing it.

Charm them. Feel the room. Figure it out live.

It went terribly.

My opening lines didn’t land. I panicked. I started sweating, stuttering, and losing my train of thought. I could feel the audience drifting and I had absolutely no idea how to bring them back.

I cut the talk short, walked off stage, went straight to my hotel room, checked out, and asked my travel agent to book me on the next flight back to New York.

I couldn’t get the failure out of my head. I prayed the SAY Soccer executives wouldn’t report back to my boss about how badly I had bombed.

But I also knew something else.

If I wanted to survive, let alone grow in this industry, I had to get better.

So I convinced MLS HR to pay for public speaking courses at NYU Continuing Education. Being filmed while speaking and watching my body language, tone, and vocabulary was uncomfortable, humbling, and transformative.

Slowly, I improved. And thankfully, MLS gave me many opportunities to practice, AGMs, conferences, and events across North America and the UK.

Then India Changed Everything

When I moved to India in 2009, I had to relearn almost everything.

I had a strong American accent, very little cultural context, and had entered a sports ecosystem that was still finding its feet. That meant I had to research more, slow down, and practice relentlessly.

But it also meant opportunity.

The Indian sports industry was small, energetic, and, let’s be honest, fairly unstructured. Which meant there were chances to speak, present, and share ideas.

And because I had left behind my comfort zone, family, job, and personal life to come to India and contribute meaningfully, I treated every speaking opportunity as something that truly mattered.

I practiced more. I learned more. I became deeply knowledgeable about Indian football, and later, sports management education. Over time, I could speak confidently on these topics in almost any forum and stay conversant across many others.

Some Moments That Still Stand Out

Over the past 16 years in India, this one skill, the ability to speak clearly and confidently in public forums, has opened more doors, relationships, and experiences than any other skill I possess.

Here are a few of my most memorable public speaking experiences, in chronological order:

1. SportzPower's Indian Football Forum, Delhi (2010) – Speaking on what the I-League could learn from MLS’s single-entity structure; my first major Indian sports industry speaking opportunity

2. FC Barcelona Partnership Press Conference, Delhi (2011) – Announcing Conscient Football’s partnership with FC Barcelona; a landmark Indian football partnership I was deeply proud to represent

3. Liverpool FC Partnership Press Conference, Pune (2013) – Announcing DSK’s partnership with Liverpool FC; another project that involved blood, sweat, and tears

4. UK Department of International Trade Sports Summit, London (2015) – Speaking about Indian football in a major international forum for the first time

5. Soccerex, Doha (2017) – My first Middle East experience and speaking at one of the world’s largest football conferences

6. TEDx Vashi, Mumbai (2019) – Delivering my second TEDx talk in front of my parents; always special, even more so with them in the audience

7. GISB Convocation, Mumbai (2020) – Delivering the commencement speech at the first-ever convocation of GISB; celebrating the birth of the institute alongside its first graduating class

8. Bengaluru Lit Fest (2022) – Sharing the stage with Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri at the launch of Awakening the Blue Tigers; a surreal full-circle moment

9. Book Launch at Wembley Stadium, London (2023) – Launching my book Your Dream Career; returning to Wembley nearly 30 years after my first visit as a teenager

10. Toastmasters International Conference, Kolkata (2025) – Delivering the keynote in a room full of master speakers; one of the most nerve-racking and exhilarating talks of my life

Also, a special mention is the I AM GAME sports conference, which took place in Delhi in 2025, as it was my first major conference speaking opportunity as CEO of Dream Sports Foundation and my television appearance on ET Now, which checked off a box for my proud mother.    

There are many more, but these are the ones that immediately come to mind.

Final Whistle

If you’re entering or already navigating the sports industry, here’s my honest belief:

Ideas matter.

Intelligence matters.

Hustle matters.

But none of it travels without your ability to communicate.

AI will help you write faster.

Slides will help you structure better.

But you still have to show up, speak clearly, and connect human to human.

And that skill like sport itself is built through preparation, repetition, failure, humility, and time.

Which is why, after 20+ years in this industry, my answer hasn’t changed:

Learn to prepare.

Learn to speak.

Learn to listen.

And always take advantage of every opportunity to practice and cultivate your communication skills. You have no idea how many doors this may open, people you may meet, deals that may close, and dreams that may get fulfilled, simply because you chose to make this a priority.