A person wearing a graduation robe receives a piece of paper from another person while on stage.

Jacob Leopold knew he wanted a career in sports. But, he was struggling to find one in the industry straight out of university.  

Leopold graduated with a degree in Kinesiology with a specialization in Sport Management and was applying for jobs in the sports industry. However, it became apparent he was going to need more education.  

“I wasn’t getting the results I was immediately hoping for out of university and attending Humber was a clear next step for me,” said Leopold.  

He has family that works at Humber Polytechnic who were encouraging him to attend the Sport Business Management program. He and a friend decided to enrol in the program and Leopold said it was a tremendous experience and one that prepared him for his future career.  

“You get to Humber and, on day one, every professor and lecturer knows that you’re there because you’re looking for a career,” said Leopold.  

He found value in the curriculum and the emphasis it placed on real-world application to complement the theory. Leopold wanted to take advantage of the work-integrated learning opportunities offered through the Humber program and used his internship to gain work experience that he could put on his resume.   

Leopold’s desire was to get into the sports betting and gaming side of the industry. Through Humber, he had the opportunity to do an internship at Cosmos Sports & Entertainment.   

“The internship was one of the best things that could have happened for my career,” said Leopold. “It was a fantastic experience, and it gave me my first taste of the world of sport corporate partnerships.”  

A head-and-shoulders photo of a smiling person.

He was put on the sport corporate partnership team and was learning about the industry and sport partnerships under Gavin Roth, who Leopold called a legend in the industry. Roth had previously come to Humber as a guest lecturer during one of Leopold’s courses, so it was a full-circle moment for him to intern with Roth.  

Within a month of finishing up his internship at Cosmos, Leopold landed a position as accounts coordinator, Partnerships with BET99. As part of the corporate partnerships team, some of his accounts include the National Hockey League (NHL) and Live Nation.  

He acts as liaison between BET99 and his accounts while representing the BET99 brand. One recent project had him interacting with the NHL on the BET99 digital rink board advertisements that appear during NHL broadcasts. He worked with the BET99 creative team on the design of the ads before taking the finished project and sending it to the NHL for the league’s approval.  

“This is everything I wanted in a career when I was studying at Humber,” said Leopold. “It’s the perfect role I was looking for.”  

One of the most important aspects of a Humber education that Leopold took advantage of was networking. When his professors offered networking opportunities, he signed up. For example, he had a coffee chat with a BET99 employee before he even applied there. When he saw the posting for the BET99 position, it turned out that person he had previously met was the hiring manager.  

“It’s really a fantastic career and I couldn’t have asked for a better company to work for,” he said.  

Find out more by visiting the Sport Business Management webpage