Photo caption: Students and faculty in the sport administration program pose for a photo with staff from the TOUR Championship at the College of Education & Human Development’s 2024 Partnership Award Luncheon.
story by Claire Miller
The 2019 Super Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Ambetter 400 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The annual TOUR Championship at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club.
At each of these events, attendees likely interacted with students and faculty from the College of Education & Human Development’s sport administration program, who played crucial roles in a variety of operational activities – ticketing, safety and risk management, fan engagement and more.
These hands-on experiences wouldn’t be possible without the program’s strong partnerships with collegiate and professional sport teams and organizations across Atlanta.
“In our field, it is essential for our students and faculty to be up to speed with what’s happening in the sport industry, which informs the type of curriculum we have and preparing students with the knowledge they need to be successful,” said Professor Beth Cianfrone, who coordinates the sport administration master’s program. “Our partners help open doors and provide amazing opportunities for our students.”
Partnerships in Georgia State’s Backyard
The sport administration program faculty have developed multiple partnerships over the years, working to better understand how they can support each sport organization’s mission while providing students with access to and experience with professional sporting events.
For example, Cianfrone and her colleagues have partnered with The TOUR Championship to give undergraduate and graduate students volunteer experience at this annual PGA golf tournament.
Based on students’ experiences and conversations with event staff, the program helped create the TOUR Championship Safety Committee, a group of volunteers who identify, report and address risk management issues during the event. The safety committee’s success has inspired other PGA tournaments to create a similar safety model for their events and was recognized during the College of Education & Human Development’s Partnership Award in 2024.
“Big events like the TOUR Championship, world-class sporting events, only work because of the people that are involved, whether it's our staff, our volunteers, our partners, all the people that work together,” said Alex Urban, executive director of The TOUR Championship. “And when you have really great partners that are in this community, like Georgia State, those are the kind of partnerships you want to grow and continue to cultivate because that's how you're going to find success.”
Students and faculty also volunteer at the College Football Playoff National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium every January, where they help guide attendees to their sections, lead pre-game activities for fans and more.
“We got to meet so many people, connect with wonderful professionals in the industry and gain the experience of working in situations even when things didn’t go according to plan,” said master’s student Sara Silva about her experience volunteering at the 2025 National Championship. “It was really rewarding and exciting to be part of something so huge, and nothing compares to seeing the fans who were so excited to be there.”
Creating an Advisory Board
In addition to developing ongoing partnerships, the sport administration program also created an advisory board in 2017 to bring together alumni and colleagues working in local sport organizations who could provide volunteer opportunities, offer advice on curriculum changes and mentor students.
“We thought it would be helpful to have the advisory board to bounce ideas off of, find out what they may need assistance with and help keep us top of mind when they’re looking for interns,” Cianfrone said. “We’ve developed a few classes based on what the board has recommended to us, and one of our board members even teaches a class on storytelling with data in the sport industry.”
The board’s willingness to give back to the sport administration program helps students and faculty keep up to date with what’s happening in the sport industry and ensure Atlanta’s major sporting events are successful.
“The exposure that students have to large-scale events in our own backyard is such an advantage,” Cianfrone said. “It might just be a weekend of volunteering, but our students are essential to an organization’s goals of creating a world-class event.”