Last weekend, the finalists for Super Bowl 50 were set. On February 7 at 6:30 p.m. Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos will face Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers. While many Houghton students are sure to be watching the game in their dorms or Big Al’s, several data science students will experience the game live at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Jacob Dunnett ’17, Anna Coryell ’18, Ashley Schenk ’16, Theresa Taggart ’18, Ethan Duryea ’18, Isaac Hess ’16 and Bjorn Webb ’18 will team up with Dexter Davis of the University of Tennessee-Martin (UTM), and his sports management students to do a mix of volunteer and compensated work for the National Football League (NFL). Davis said, “ Current and former players (typically Hall of Famers) come to the hospitality events and do “meet and greets” with the attendees.” Broadly, “The students will function as ‘personal assistants’ for these players. Duties will include making sure they have the correct materials for autograph signings, making sure they have water, soda, and helping move them from venue to venue as needed.”
Several students will have tasks specific to data science and sports management as well. According to Carmen McKell, Founding Director for the Center for Data Science Analytics, Dunnet will work as the overall event coordinator while Hess will be “heading up the scheduling and scoping of meetings with executives.” Meanwhile, Coryell will be collecting data as part of a data science/business research project and Schenck is gathering data from meetings with executives for an independent study. The other students will spend the rest of their time engaging in sports business and data analysis activities alongside the UTM students.
Davis added the students “are also going to work a shift at the NFL Experience, which is the “fan zone” for the Super Bowl. Thousands of fans a day pass through this interactive activity area that is set up for their entertainment.” Through this experience Davis said, “Students will have an opportunity to observe how the NFL meets the needs of its many fans [who] will not have an opportunity to attend the actual game.”
All participants will also meet with representatives from Tableau, a software company that produces interactive visualization products focused on business intelligence. The objective of this meeting is educational as Davis stated the group hopes to learn about the company’s data animation tools “up close from some [data science] industry leaders”.
Webb, a participating student, expressed his excitement about the learning opportunity of the upcoming trip. He said, “I hope to learn a lot by asking questions and simply observing what goes on from a business perspective at an event like this. I am most looking forward to seeing how the NFL treats the people who pay the ‘big bucks’ and how they control the atmosphere.”
Davis emphasized that while the staff and students will certainly be near celebrities, any attempts to interact with them will result in being stripped of Super Bowl Week credentials and expulsion from the premises. “it’s not about interacting with [celebrities],” he said. “It’s about making sure that everyone has a good experience.”
According to McKell, Center for Data Science Analytics staff will produce a video
documenting the students’ and staffs’ experience. The video will be released shortly after the group returns.