For the third straight year, the University of Tennessee at Martin will have students from its sport business program working at National Football League games in London.
UT Martin students will work at the game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Washington Commanders on Oct. 4 and at the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 11. Both games will begin at 8:30 a.m. Central Time (2:30 p.m. London time) and will be played in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
UT Martin students will work in customer service, welcoming official staff members to the games and providing gifts to official staff members who do their jobs well.
Dr. Dexter Davis, professor of sport management, provides opportunities for his students to gain hands-on experience at events ike the games in London and at the Super Bowl. To be able to take part in the trip, they must go through an in-class process to earn a spot on the trip.
“There is an application process where they have to give me a resume and a cover letter that has to tell how this experience is going to impact their career and their career goals,” Davis said. “Then, there’s an interview process where I sit down with them and talk about what they expect to gain from the experience.”
UT Martin students working at the NFL games in London include:
• Anna Marie Brown, a sophomore sport business management major from Fairview; she worked at last year’s Super Bowl.
• Ian Eastridge, a senior sport business management major from Dover; he worked at last year’s Super Bowl.
• Paris Hodge, a senior sport business management major from Jackson; she worked at the last two Super Bowls.
• Nathan Moody, a senior sport business management major from Dyersburg.
• Jayson Ritz, a senior accounting major from Dresden.
• Josh Simmons, a sophomore sport business major from Greenfield.
The students will work at the games through Moonshot, the NFL’s customer-service employee training program, with whom Davis and UT Martin students have worked before at the Super Bowl and in previous years in London.
“The students write reflective pieces throughout the trip about how the experience is impacting them,” he said. “They say they’ve grown up, they’ve matured and learned how to handle stressful situations and different cultures. It’s a pretty powerful experience, and has had a good impact on these kids.”
Davis said that Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has a contract with the NFL to play two games per season there through 2030.
“That stadium was built – at least partially – with NFL money,” he said. “It was built to be able to host NFL games, similar to State Farm Stadium in Arizona, where the field will slide out onto a tray. At Tottenham, they have a tray that slides in with a soccer pitch and a tray that slides in for the football field – and it’s all natural grass.”
While in London, Davis and the students will take in the sights, including Olympic Stadium, the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (the site of the annual Wimbledon championships), Lord’s Cricket Ground and Twickenham Stadium. They will also take in tourist favorites, including Big Ben, Parliament, Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street, the home of the prime minister.
UT Martin students are scheduled to work at Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14 in Inglewood, California. This will be the 14th straight Super Bowl for UT Martin students to work.
For more information about UT Martin, visit www.utm.edu or call 1-800-829-UTM1 (-8861).
PHOTO: UT Martin students working at two NFL games in London in October are (l-r) Josh Simmons, Nathan Moody, Anna Marie Brown, Paris Hodge, Jayson Ritz and Ian Eastridge.
