Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Zobel.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve been fortunate enough to have been working in multiple avenues of the sports industry since I was 18 years old. In college, during my time at Florida State University (Go ‘Noles!), I worked a number of sports job/internships. As an undergrad, I:
• Interned with the Miami Dolphins Marketing & Promotions departments
• Wrote for the sports section of the FSU newspaper
• Worked at the FSU Sports Information Department for three years, where I worked with every sports team at FSU, doing jobs such as running team social media accounts, statistics, marketing, operations, public relations and more.
• Worked for an NFL Pro Bowler, helping him do marketing and public relations as my side-job during my final year in school
After graduating, I had a number of great full-time opportunities to start my career and I was lucky to receive an internship offer at a top sports agency, Element Sports, in Atlanta. Even with these amazing job opportunities presented to me, my goal was to accept the internship and impress enough to one day receive a full-time offer. After 11 months of interning, I was eventually hired on full-time as Element’s Marketing Coordinator. My job was to procure marketing deals, endorsements and PR opportunities for Element’s NFL clients.
Now, about five years later, I am the Director of Athlete Marketing and I run and oversee Element’s multi-million-dollar marketing division. I help lead and spearhead the marketing and branding opportunities for Element’s clients, which includes elite NFL players, professional coaches and media talent. Some examples of companies I’ve done endorsement deals with include Nike, Adidas, Old Spice, Fanatics, EA Sports, Panini America, Budweiser and many more. I also run Element’s social media division – we’re one of the most-followed NFL agencies on social media.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not, but all the hurdles I’ve had so far in my career have only made me better at my profession in the long run. I’ve seen a lot and been through a lot in a very competitive industry so far – and I’m only 27.
For starters, getting your foot in the door in this industry is really tough – for everyone. Getting in is a big step because even doing that is extremely hard. Once you get your foot in, you then have to prove you belong because there are a million people behind you who would kill for the job you have. It’s a lot of pressure on a person, especially a young person coming into it straight out of college, which is what I did. Getting through all of that successfully took many long nights and lot of hard work.
The road to get to where I’m at now took a lot of work (and stress), but I’m grateful that all of it has gotten me to where I’m at now. It’s been a blessing to see the success I’ve seen so far, but my motivation is knowing how much further I can take all of this. If anyone is going to have high ambitions, especially in this industry, the road will never be smooth no matter how successful you are – and I’m totally fine with that. It’s part of what we signed up for. My goal is to keep getting better in every way I can.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Element Sports is a prominent full-service sports agency that represents elite NFL players, football coaches, basketball coaches, athletic administrators and media talent. Areas of expertise include multiple facets of athlete management, especially contract negotiations, pre-draft preparation, marketing, endorsements, public relations, social media, community giving, and post-career counseling. Armed with over 100 years of collective experience representing elite NFL players, coaches and media talent, Element is deeply rooted in a “family style” approach that is built around core values and vast resources and connections.
Since Element Sports launched, we have had the most clients drafted out of any NFL agency with less than 50 clients. Further, we have had the most clients drafted in the Top 150 picks out of any NFL agency with less than 50 clients since launching.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love Atlanta and I’m so glad I live here. I’ll give a few answers on what I like about ATL the most: the diversity, the variety of things to do and places to go, the people and most importantly…the wings. This is my special shout out to The Local – I go there every couple weeks for some amazing wings. Atlanta has the best wings overall, hands down! I feel like that’s not talked about enough. Everyone who follows me on Instagram sees that I get wings almost every week. Also, being from Florida, I love the weather here and that I get to experience seasons — that’s always cool to me.
What I like least about Atlanta: easily the traffic. Part of it is my fault since I chose to live far from my office, but it is still my least favorite thing about the city. I live in Midtown and I work in Alpharetta, so for me, the traffic is pretty grueling. Some days I could spend 2+ hours in the car. I used to live much closer to the office, but that kept me too far from the city, so even though traffic is pretty awful, it’s worth it to me.
Contact Info:
- Email: matt@elementsportsgroup.com
- Website: www.elementsportsgroup.com
- Instagram: @mattzobel / @element_sports
- Twitter: @mattazobel / @element_sports
