BIDDEFORD — This week, a group of Maine students has the opportunity to help with the National Football League’s biggest game.
Eight students from the University of New England’s College of Business traveled to Santa Clara, California to assist the NFL with its downtown block party, a week-long fan expo that will include concerts, meet-and-greets with NFL players, pop-up shops and interactive games.
“It took me about two years of climbing down many different rabbit holes of different connections to get the invite (to the Super Bowl),” said UNE professor Aimee Vlachos.
While Vlachos and the students will not be inside Levi’s Stadium for Super Bowl LX on Sunday — which pits the New England Patriots against the Seattle Seahawks — the group will watch the game with other NFL fans at the block party in Santana Row Park.
UNE is one of a short list of schools to take part in this invite-only opportunity from the league. Within the last five years, Vlachos has developed a working relationship between UNE and the Rooney family, the founders and owners of the Pittsburgh Steelers, one of the NFL’s most storied franchises. Jimmy Rooney, the nephew of current Steelers president Art Rooney II, visited UNE’s campus in Biddeford in December, to have students play a pen-and paper version of a fantasy coaching game he is trying to develop.
UNE senior Aiden Buggee was in attendance during Rooney’s visit and has benefitted from the program’s connections. Last spring, Buggee, a native of North Bennington, Vermont, was invited to work at the NFL Draft in Detroit. He is in Santa Clara this week.
“Overall, it’s going to be a great experience,” Buggee said. “On top of it, we get to do all of this stuff that helps us further our careers, seeing all these professional sports venues, working for the NFL. It’s certainly a once-in-a-lifetime (opportunity), especially working at the Super Bowl.”
Aiding the NFL is just one aspect of the group’s trip, which began with their arrival on Wednesday and wraps at 3:30 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday. The students will get to train in various aspects of sports business, with learning from San Francisco Giants director of ticket strategy Justice Hoyt, San Jose Earthquakes manager of group sales Jon Bellis and San Jose Sharks senior director of ticket sales Eric Manuta. The group was scheduled to get tours of PayPal Park, the home of the Earthquakes, and the SAP Center, the home ice of the Sharks.
The group is renting a house in San Jose, along with students from three other schools participating in the training, giving students the chance to mingle and network during the week.
Vlachos’ course covers a multitude of topics, including sports law, which enticed Alex Thibeault, a UNE senior from Nashua, New Hampshire. Thibeault is also traveling with the group to Santa Clara this week.
“In the sports law class I’ve had with Aimee, we’ve had a number of Zoom (meetings) with people who’ve worked in sports law, agents, stuff like that,” said Thibeault, a business administration major with a minor in sports leadership and management. “It was really cool to meet and connect with all of them. We learned about (player) contracts, but we also did mock trials.”
Vlachos has had multiple lawyers speak to the class, including sports attorney Caleb Ginsberg, who is independent council for the Maine Hearts of Pine soccer club, as well as Portland-based courtroom attorney David Abramson, who is also a certified agent with the Major League Baseball Players Association.
“When you picture a lawyer, you may just picture a person in court or a sports agent,” Vlachos said. “I bring in (lawyers) from all different levels.”
Students are getting hands-on experience at home, too. Buggee has worked for the Maine Mariners for the past four years, first working with the marketing and promotions team. He’s since become interested in player development and scouting. Through UNE’s Center for Sport and Business Innovation, Buggee is now helping the team’s hockey operations staff.
“Through that program, we have a contract with the Maine Mariners, doing various projects with them,” Buggee said. “One I’m working on now, and (Thibeault) is working on now, is helping (Mariners head coach and general manager Rick Kowalsky) scout this season’s (college) senior class to eventually sign to the Mariners.”
While this week involves plenty of work, the students, like any good NFL fan, are also looking forward to the action on the field during the Super Bowl.
“I’m rooting for a good game,” said Buggee, a Denver Broncos fan.
“I know some people are saying the Seahawks are going to win by a lot, but I think the Patriots can do it,” Thibeault said. “A lot of sports media has been disrespecting them, but I think the Patriots are going to win.”
