Nine students from Niagara University are in Santa Clara, California to attend the Super Bowl, but not as mere spectators. The cohort is there to gain firsthand experience as part of their studies.
The students are enrolled in Niagara's College of Hospitality, Sport and Tourism Management. The purpose of their trip is to observe and participate in some of the operations off the football field, while meeting some contacts and networking while there.
“It's a great opportunity that Niagara offers to get to go to such a big event like this. You get to see all that goes into it," said Mylie Philbrick, a sophomore from Kenmore, NY. "When you're watching on TV you just see the game, but there's a lot more that goes into it. So getting to be able to experience that is pretty cool."
Tom Burns is a faculty fellow for the Sport Management program. On an early Tuesday morning before the Super Bowl, he was among the caravan of students and faculty leaving campus for the airport to embark on this project. His past professional work included positions with the Buffalo Bisons baseball club. He has seen the inner workings of a sports operation and was looking forward to observing the students do the same.
“The classroom learning is outstanding. But then to see this and everything that happens behind the scenes, and what goes into putting the largest event in the world, it's just an unbelievable experience to see it firsthand and take away,” Burns said. “They'll all take different things away from it too. They'll see different things and learn different things.”
The students will begin by working with the company handling merchandise, Legends. Then, on game day, they’ll work within various fan support services.
Already, some of the students told BTPM, they've picked up experience in various roles.
"I worked with ESPN on campus. We did basketball games, baseball games, soccer games. I did a little bit of camera work for them," said Nicholas Dipaola, a senior from Niagara Falls, Ont.
Philbrick said she hopes to work within the sport of hockey in the future. But her past experiences includes an internship in baseball, with the Bisons. She spoke of adjusting and working outside her preferred sport.
"You just have to adapt on the fly," she said. "Not everything is going to be the same between sports, but it's all kind of similar in some way. So you learn how to kind of deal with that, and learn valuable knowledge that can help in future roles.”
Burns suggests there are many different roles out there.
"Security, and IT, and finance and marketing, and PR and hospitality. Just thousands and thousands of careers," he said. "Whether it's the Super Bowl or at Niagara University in the athletic department. I mean, all different shapes and sizes. You can do anythin in operations, whatever you want to do.”