Talking about careers in sports: Rhetorical strategies in the sports labor market

This article offers an analytical reading of discourses surrounding careers in sports, with the aim of examining this market—not by attempting to describe or quantify it, but by analyzing the ways in which it is presented and understood. Drawing on two types of sources—career guides in sports, representing the “popular” literature, and grey literature consisting of studies, reports, and national reviews on employment in the sports sector—this article aims to highlight the rhetorical devices used in the sports careers market, with a view to revealing and deciphering how these professions are discussed.