It Was All Business for Students Interning at Super Bowl LIX

Farrell has a long-standing relationship with GMR Marketing, the agency that sets up and manages NFL House. During that time she has earned a reputation as someone who understands the demands of working such high-profile events, and she prepares her student interns to be at the top of their game.

“For years I have partnered with GMR to help identify students who can succeed in an environment where you’re shoulder to shoulder with celebrities, athletes and influencers,” Farrell says. “Our students were the only ones embedded in the NFL House because consistently we have been able to deliver the types of students that can handle that responsibility.”

“I inherit talented and supportive students ready to put their best foot forward,” says Steve Peck, local staff manager for GMR. “Ultimately, this collaboration fosters a strong bridge between academic learning and the extraordinary world of professional sports hospitality.” Adds Stephanie Lee, senior producer at GMR, “Welcoming the Stonehill students this year was nothing short of a win for all.”

The immensity of the opportunity is not lost on the students chosen to participate.

“An opportunity like this was truly life-changing,” says sport management major Hannah Dow ’25. “Being able to take what I've learned in the classrooms and being able to apply that in the real world has been really helpful.”

This type of hands-on learning isn’t just a once-a-year opportunity for Farrell’s students. Students in the program have secured internships with major teams in the Boston and Providence markets, including the New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins. Another program, the Skyhawk Squad, offers sport management interns the opportunity to work across all of Stonehill’s NCAA Division I sports in the areas of game presentation, marketing, event management and facilities operations.

“I'm really a relationship architect,” Farrell says. “For me there's nothing more exciting than taking someone like Matt Page, who's a sophomore, and seeing him just light up when he walks into NFL House or when he walks into the Superdome and just realizing that this goal that he had – this life that he wanted to pursue – it’s not something in the future, it’s right now.”

Sport management major William Davis ’25, who was among those working the Super Bowl, says this commitment permeates the department. 

“The thing about the sport management department [is] it’s the true meaning of a team from the top to the bottom,” Davis said. “Everybody wants to see you do better. Everybody wants to see you reach that potential. With the Super Bowl experience, I now recognize my potential in this space. I recognized that I belong in those rooms.”

Farrell knows that, too – having seen over the years how far the experience takes her students.

“The Monday after the Super Bowl we had lunch with my former students who now work for the NFL and whose first trip to the Super Bowl was with GMR at NFL House,” she says. “For these students who went to the Super Bowl this year, their industry world magnified, it just exploded.”