Super Bowl internship clearly a winner for Sport Management students
The SUNY Fredonia contingent gathering in front of a large Super bowl LVIII sign include (front row, from left): Zach Helms, Matt Volz, Davon Kubasik, Zach Roache, Dr. Kerry Fischer; (back row): Mason Neale, Mark Hall, Dr. Linda Hall, Ian Summerson, Joshua Santacroce, Rachel Bayer, Parker Gurnett, Brynn Morseon, Noah Richner, Kayla Welsh, Madison Esmond and Alex Smith.
An immersive week-long internship at the Super Bowl clearly ranks as premier experience for students as they prepare to pursue careers in facility or event management.
That’s a conclusion Matt Volz, a junior Communication: Journalism major with a minor in Sport Management from Allegany, NY, and others students reach after being in the SUNY Fredonia contingent that completed a week-long internship at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, NV. That experience becomes a key asset that SUNY Fredonia students can place on their resumes.
“For students who are interested in a career in facility management or event management, there is probably no event more attractive on a resume than the Super Bowl,” Volz said. “It was also a great opportunity to interact with fans of all different backgrounds, which is great for students looking to enter community relations or things like that.
“I truly believe that we learned more through this hands-on experience than anything we could learn from a textbook or in a classroom,” Volz added.
Senior Sport Management major Joshua Santacroce, from Greenport, NY, also anticipates his job prospects in the sport management industry will be raised as a result of having worked at a Super Bowl. He plans to pursue a career on the event planning side that could encompass games, charity events or camps.
“Going on this trip has allowed me not only to see how one of the world’s largest sporting events is run, but it also allows me to put that on a resume which could be pivotal for me when it comes to landing a job in the industry,” Mr. Santacroce said.
It was the 10th year SUNY Fredonia placed students – most of them Sport Management majors – at the world’s most famous sporting event. Internship credit was earned working shifts at the fan-centric Super Bowl Experience, the NFL’s interactive football theme park in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, and Allegiant Stadium. They were assigned to various stations where they assisted fans in a wide range of activities or small games, managed lines at player autograph sessions or took photos of fans with the celebrated Vince Lombardi trophy.
“It’s so very customer facing, they really learn quickly you have to be happy, excited and make the fans there feel excited, have a good time and to leave happy,” explained Sport Management Assistant Professor Kerry Fischer.
Interns also returned to the convention center another day to experience what fans experience there. On game day, they supported stadium staff working the game. “This was the less-glamorous part of working in sports, but it’s also important to understand there are a whole lot of moving parts in an event like this,” Dr. Fischer noted, so they learn what it truly takes to host a massive sporting event. Fischer, Dr. Linda Hall and her husband, Mark, served as chaperones.
New this year for interns was a networking session, where they met other students and attended panel discussions featuring workers in the sports industry who shared how students can make themselves marketable for these kinds of jobs, and compensation. Students pocketed around $550 that will help them defray internship expenses.
By the end of the week students were exhausted, Fischer said. They worked eight- to 10-hour shifts every day and were on their feet the whole time, she said, but were happy and positive.
“The idea is to have them put the specific skills that they did or learned on their resume, to help them get jobs and internships in the industry down the road,” Fischer added.
