Ten Monmouth University students visited Fanatics and Madison Square Garden on Oct. 26 through the Sports Industry Club, where they met with public relations and sales professionals, learned about career opportunities and attended a New York Rangers game.
During the visit to Fanatics, students spoke with employees in the company’s public relations department. At Madison Square Garden, they met with employees in sales and spoke with an intern participating in the organization’s Student Associate Program.
The visits gave students an opportunity to ask questions about different positions within the sports industry and hear how professionals got started in their careers.
For senior communication major Sydney Rosalsky, the smaller group made the experience stand out compared to other trips she has attended through the club. “This trip definitely felt a lot more personal compared to other trips I have attended,” Rosalsky said. “I loved that it was a much smaller group of students from Monmouth rather than having multiple schools participate.”
Rosalsky said the smaller group allowed students to ask more questions about the employees’ career paths. “Since we were in a smaller group, we had more opportunities to ask questions about how they got started in their career paths and what steps they took to get where they are today, rather than focusing on more standard questions about the companies they work for,” she said.
One conversation at Madison Square Garden particularly stood out to Rosalsky. An employee shared that he had worked as a teacher for more than 10 years before deciding to pursue a different career. After attending career fairs and taking advantage of internship opportunities, he eventually found his way into the sports industry.
“I found his story to be very inspiring because it showed me that there is no one set path to success,” she said.
The visits also introduced students to career opportunities they may not have previously considered. Morgan Rosa, a senior communication major and the club’s co-social media manager, said she was surprised by the range of positions within the industry, particularly at Fanatics.
“Before this trip, I never realized how many different areas there are within the sports industry,” Rosa said. “I didn’t know someone could work in collectibles for a company and have such an interesting job, like the employee we spoke with at Fanatics.”
Rosa said hearing from employees at both organizations made her more open to exploring different career paths rather than focusing on one specific area. “I’m realizing there are so many more interesting jobs out there in the world of sports after speaking with everyone,” Rosa said.
Rosa also said the trip stood out because students had the opportunity to speak with more professionals working in public relations and communications. She said the club has been looking to connect students with professionals in broadcasting and communications, rather than focusing primarily on the business and sales sides of the industry.
“I really enjoyed that we had the opportunity to speak with those people,” Rosa said.
For junior communication major Abby Kosch, the visit to Fanatics introduced her to opportunities outside of working directly for a sports team or league.
Kosch, who also serves as the club’s networking officer, said she had primarily considered working for individual teams or leagues before the trip. “In my mind I’ve only been focused on working for specific teams or leagues, but after visiting Fanatics I realized that working for an all-encompassing brand like Fanatics might be something I’m interested in,” Kosch said.
Kosch also said hearing from professionals who had changed career directions helped ease some of her concerns about finding the right position after graduation. “As I approach the start of my senior year this spring, I’ve been more worried about trying to figure out the right job right from the get-go,” Kosch said. “Hearing these perspectives has helped alleviate some of that anxiety.”
The trip was also different from previous club experiences for Kosch, who said it was her first time visiting two companies back-to-back. “It was really cool being able to see two different sides of the industry and compare them,” she said.
Frank Hoarle, a communication major set to graduate at the end of the semester, said the visits showed him how many different departments and career paths exist within the sports industry. “There’s a lot of employees at both Fanatics and MSG, with multiple different departments and fields you can work in,” Hoarle said.
Learning about career opportunities was one of his biggest takeaways from the panels. “There was a lot I didn’t know that I learned from both the Fanatics and the MSG panels,” he said.
Fanatics stood out to Hoarle because it offered a look at the sports memorabilia side of the industry, making it different from other club trips.
Matthew Harmon, senior specialist professor, sports communication minor coordinatior, and advisor to the Sports Industry Club, said the trip continued the club’s longstanding relationship with Madison Square Garden after missing the opportunity to visit last year. He helped arrange the return visit through existing contacts and used a personal connection to organize the Fanatics visit.
Harmon said he hopes students leave these experiences with new professional connections and a better understanding of the different career paths within the industry.
“The main hope is to help students develop a network,” Harmon said. He noted that speakers often encourage students to reach out with questions and connect with them on LinkedIn. “They don’t say that for no reason. They say it because they know it’s hard to develop connections.”
He also wants students to consider whether they could see themselves working at the organizations they visit. “I also hope that students can say, ‘I can see myself working there,’ or maybe even, ‘I can’t see myself there,’ and why, which is also important,” Harmon said.
Harmon said the trips and speaker series complement the university’s sports-related courses by allowing students to see firsthand what they learn in the classroom and develop skills they can use after graduation.
Beyond the individual company visits, students said the opportunity to meet professionals and learn about their experiences was a reason they wanted to continue participating in club trips. Rosalsky said the experiences provide insight into what working in the industry looks like on a day-to-day basis and allow students to learn from people who have already established careers.
“The sports industry is one of the toughest fields to break into and I think being a part of this club and going on these trips gives students interested in pursuing a career in sports that much more of an advantage and knowledge heading into this career after grad,” Rosalsky said.
The trip concluded with students attending a New York Rangers game at Madison Square Garden.
