Our mission is to accelerate the recruitment, retention, development and advancement of Black Sports Professionals at all levels within the industry’s business operations. Our organization and chapters are a change resource for sports organizations to impact and expedite diversity, equity and inclusion.
BSP invests in the industry access, professional development and job readiness at every stage in our members’ career., membership in BSP provides environments and platforms for our members to develop meaningful and endearing relationships with peers, mentors and leaders, both diverse and non-diverse, across the business of sports.
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Why is it important to be a BSP member vs. a BSP contact?
BSP has shifted from a grassroots organization to a membership-based non-profit association, relaunching nationally this past April. We will continue to support and assist Black Sports Professionals who aren’t members, while members will begin to receive additional career development opportunities that non-members won’t.
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What is the value proposition the BSP members get vs. a BSP contact?
The value proposition for BSP is being fully integrated into our organization as a career accelerator. As we seek an evolved approach by the sports industry in the recruitment, search, placement and onboarding of Black Sports Professionals, we will bring our members and organizations and the career opportunities they represent closer together as more access will generate more advancement.
Our national and local chapter member benefits will continue to grow and presently, include:
- Access to local and national relationship-building opportunities, industry and career information and education
- Priority status and pricing difference for national and chapter events, where applicable
- BSP National Membership Directory (after membership achieves a certain threshold)
- BSP National Membership Spotlights
- Exclusive member discounts for SportsBusiness Journal subscriptions, events, data platform as well as access to additional content and member benefits
- More benefits forthcoming with industry organizations
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What is the cost for my BSP membership and how long do they last?
Membership annually is as follows for a one-year term:
- Professional | $75/year
- Student | $50/year
- Affiliate | $100/year
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How do I pay for my BSP membership?
Membership into BSP is done through BlackSportsProfessionals.com via PayPal. Members will receive an invoice from PayPal for the transaction as well as a welcome message from the National Office.
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Are there corporate memberships? What if my company wants to pay for my membership?
Yes, organizations can purchase BSP memberships for their staff, with a discounted rate based on the number purchased. An invoice would be provided by the National Office and payments would go to the National Office and be distributed to the respective chapter, in the likely scenario that the support is for a group of memberships for a specific chapter or chapters.
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Is there a split of membership dues between chapters and the national office?
For 2021, 100% of individual memberships and corporate memberships will go to the chapter selected in registering as a member. There is no share with the national office. Individuals are allowed to select the National Office as their designated “BSP chapter” if they don’t want to select a city chapter or there isn’t a chapter established yet in their respective city or region.
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How are membership dues sent from the national office to my chapter?
BSP is closing in on being able to send funds from the National Office to chapters electronically. We are working to provide chapters with updates of new members within 1-2 days of registration and provide those membership dues to chapters on a monthly distribution basis.
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How do I use the BSP membership benefit with SportsBusiness Journal?
BSP members will receive an access code for exclusive discounts with Sports Business Journal here, including:
- Custom SBJ product and service demos
- SBJ Weekly and SBJ All-Access subscription discount
- SBJ Atlas subscription discount with exclusive onboarding walkthrough
- Exclusive discount to all SBJ events and more
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Will there be other industry benefits with a BSP membership?
The National Office is in communication with several industry leaders about strategic alliances that benefit our members. We are looking to maximize those discussions for BSP as an organization and hope to make announcements of partnerships over the summer and fall of 2021.
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Will there be longer-term memberships in the future?
The ability for BSP members to become members for longer than one year and for current BSP members to renew their membership for longer than one year are in consideration for the future.
As BSP continues to add members, your support goes a long way in building a national pipeline of professionals and students. If you chose to become a member, we are thankful for your support in helping us create this community of people looking to connect in mutual benefit of each other, and together grow and accelerate inclusion in sports.
