Six sport management students at the University of Tennessee at Martin, accompanied by Dr. Dexter Davis, professor of sport management, worked at two National Football League games in early October in London.
The students were in England Oct. 1-13 and not only worked at NFL games but also had the chance to tour other sports venues and learn more about international sport cultures.
This was the second such trip for UT Martin students; Davis brought a group last fall to work at NFL games in London.
This year’s students making the NFL London trip included:
• Tiana Brooks, a junior management major with a concentration in sport business from Memphis.
• Kole Hellmann, a sophomore management major with a concentration in sport business from Centerville.
• Reagan McGee, a junior accounting major from Norfolk, Virginia.
• Mason Meyners, a senior management major with a concentration in sport business from Hixson.
• Haley Olsen, a junior management major with a concentration in sport business from Mount Pleasant. This was Olsen’s second trip to London to work at NFL games, having attended last year’s NFL London trip.
• Dakota Reddan, a senior management major with a concentration in sport business from Munford.
The two-week trip included working in customer service at the games, which were played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in northern London, the home of the Tottenham Hotspur soccer team of the Premier League.
The UTM group worked at the Oct. 5 game featuring the Cleveland Browns and the Minnesota Vikings and the Oct. 12 game between the Denver Broncos and the New York Jets.
Much of the work done by the students was handing out gifts to the official staff for extraordinary service and welcoming staff members to the games.
The students were able to explore London when they were not working at the games. Among the sites they visited were London Stadium and other locales for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games; Leeds-Beckett University, which has one of the top sport management programs in Europe, and nearby Headingley Stadium, which houses a cricket grounds and a rugby pitch at the same facility; the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club at Wimbledon, where one of the famous professional tennis Grand Slam tournaments is played; and Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.
Davis said the experience of working at NFL games as well as working at a sports event in another country will be invaluable to the students as they pursue careers in sport management.
Students of sport management at UT Martin have had several working opportunities over the years with Davis, including the last 12 Super Bowls and the 2023 Little League Baseball Classic. Davis said he has already selected students to work at Super Bowl LX, being played Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, California.
PHOTO: UT Martin students who worked at two NFL games in London in October are shown posing in front of a backdrop at the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club at Wimbledon. They include (l-r) Kole Hellmann, Reagan McGee, Haley Olsen, Mason Meyners, Tiana Brooks and Dakota Redden. This is the second time for UT Martin students to work at NFL games in London.
