Rapids create sports-business job fair to identify candidates, sell some seats

The Colorado Rapids are creating their first Sports Career Fair, slated to take place Oct. 1 at Invesco Field.

For $20 apiece, interested folks can snag a ticket to the Oct. 1 Rapids-Chicago Fire game and get access to the job fair, which will be held in the stadium's club-level lounge for the three hours preceding game time. The day-of-game price will be $25. The game starts at 7:30 p.m.

The Rapids expect to have representatives from each of Denver's pro sports franchises at the Sports Career Fair to offer advice and share expertise, said Michael Hitchcock, the MLS team's senior director of sales and marketing. Those franchises include the NFL's Denver Broncos, the NBA's Denver Nuggets, MLB's Colorado Rockies and the NHL's Colorado Avalanche.

Hitchcock said the Rapids would invite executives from about 30 companies in Colorado that have strong ties to the sports industry, as well as representatives from colleges and universities in Colorado that offer programs in sports marketing and sports management.

The career fair gives the Rapids a chance to provide a service to the area's sports industry. "We also hope to be able to identify some prospective [Rapids] employees," Hitchcock said.

The event also is a ticket-sales initiative for the Rapids. The team hopes to attract about 1,000 people to the job fair.

The Rapids plan to market the event through sports-career Web sites, such as Teamworkonline, and through the colleges and universities in Colorado that have sports marketing and sports management programs.

Hitchcock said the Rapids would like to make the Sports Career Fair an annual gathering and would look to find presenting sponsors in future years.