On Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, the 59th Super Bowl was hosted in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Super Bowl is an American staple and UMSL students majoring in Sport Management had a chance to be a part of it.
The Sport Management degree program was approved in 2019, making it a fairly new development at UMSL. Lauryn Sanders, a Business Administration major, spoke with us to give more insight on the Super Bowl experience offered by the Sport Management program.
Sanders originally entered UMSL as a Civil Engineering major despite having a “love and passion for sports” and a history as a basketball player. She quickly shifted to a Business Administration major, introducing her to the Sport Management program.
Q: So, I wanted to start off with a few questions about the Super Bowl. First and foremost, did you see or interact with anyone famous: a celebrity, athlete or even an influencer?
A: The day before [the Super Bowl], the NFL shop had a football player there. Fred Warner from the 49ers. I got a picture with him, so it was cool. And the day of the Super Bowl, I saw Tini, the girl who makes the mac n’ cheese… I was also in a room with Terry Crews.
Q: If you can think of one moment, what was your favorite part of attending the Super Bowl?
A: A lot of people are gonna be like “Kendrick,” but I also am a big fan of Kendrick. I feel at the moment a lot of people were like, “Oh I wish he did old songs.” But the way he put on the show and performance made a big impact, especially considering the world we live in right now. And I think once people realized what he was hinting at it made people feel better about his performance overall.
While on the topic of today’s social climate, the necessity of people in the black community supporting each other was also discussed.
Q: As it is Black History Month, I wanted to recognize that our community is always advocating for our own integration into any and all spaces. We are no strangers to the monolith of [black] athleticism. It is both a myth and sometimes a reality for black individuals who do not have a lot of resources. What is the importance, to you, of having black people on the non-athlete side of sports?
A: The people I’ve started to follow [on TikTok] now have been women of color who are in sports, who have jobs, who are students, like we’re all learning together… It was hard because, you know, Black women are in sports, but … very few of us.
I’m starting the process of applying to jobs and going through interviews and not getting anything. But now that I’m meeting more [Black] people, I hear more stories and how they have overcome it. I know I am going to make it somewhere, I just have to get over these few humps that keep occurring every time and I’ll be good.
When asked how attending the game helped her visualize her future career, Sanders states, “I also do planning on campus, and I think I want to go into the event planning or event management side of the sports aspect. I just love putting on events for people. I like making people happy and that’s what I did with playing sports. But I also just love doing fan engagement at games.
Q: So a major part of this degree program is an integration of sports interest (whether you like to play, watch, or coach) combined with communication, business, and marketing. I did see some of your social media marketing skills on TikTok and Instagram and it made me more curious about this experience overall. Can you tell me more about the academic side of this experience and what your day-to-day looked like?
A: Friday was stadium training day. We got to see what level we were going to work on and get familiarized with what’s around us: the restroom, concession stands, any shops near us. If people had questions on game day, we would be able to direct them. Afterwards, we had a networking event with other schools, and about 300 students came out to network.
On Saturday, we volunteered for an NFL breakfast. There was a whole ceremony in which they honor a player, and this year, they honored Cam Jordan. They had people there from different football teams, people from ESPN … and you could feel [in] the atmosphere that there were celebrities in the room. But we were all split up, and my job was to usher people to their seats. It was a good way to talk to people and get to know them.
Sunday was a bit of a rough start, but when we got there, some of us were split up, but we’re all kind of still doing the same thing that we were trained to do [Friday]. We directed traffic. I was stationed at the main NFL shop. We had captains that we had to go to if we needed to use the bathroom or if we needed water or if we needed to take a break. So the communication was really good this year, so I didn’t feel like I was exhausted by the end of the day… And every school was given a different task.
While networking and employing her social media marketing skills, Sanders was also featured on NFL’s instagram. The post has received more than 13K views since Super Bowl weekend.
One of the focuses of Sport Management is to “examine and explore the legal and ethical issues affecting amateur, collegiate and professional sport programs.” Regarding issues personally faced today, Sanders stated, “Funding is probably our main issue. Not only because we’re a D2 school, but the Sport Management program has only been a sport management program for not that long. So, trying to convince higher-ups to give us more money is hard, but I feel like because the program is growing so much, they realize that there are so many opportunities within the program, that we’re starting to get more funding. But it’s still like a, I don’t know, a ‘tit-for tat’. I feel like if we’re at a D1 school, it would just be automatic.”
Sanders, a student majoring in business administration, has found a career focus in Sport Management. The program has opened many doors for students to get real experience in business, management and marketing, which includes attending iconic events such as the Super Bowl. Without this program and hands-on experience, students would be missing out on the opportunity to pursue their passions. The Sport Management program is directed by Dr. Karen Boleska, whom Sanders mentions as being an understanding and outstanding mentor. For students who want to learn more, feel free to request more information through the UMSL Sport Management page.
