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College Football Playoff National Championship Trip
By William Mason
In the first trip to kick off the start to the New Year, students from the Florida State University sport management department were invited to help volunteer with ETZEL Agency for the College Football Playoff National Championship game. On Wednesday, January 6, a group of students and program faculty advisor, Dr. Jason Pappas, departed Tallahassee to head down to Miami, Florida, to meet with ETZEL Agency in an annual partnership for the College Football Playoff National Championship. Because Miami was the host site for the 2021 National Championship, the event provided a tremendous opportunity and access for FSU students since the game took place in the same state. After arriving in Miami, the students met with the ETZEL team to go over the plans for the five-day work week leading up to the game on January 11. Students were excited to get started and learn the aspects of facility and event operations in sports.
As the first day of work began, the group of students were tasked with different jobs, including setting up and staging team mannequins, hanging up sponsored signs, creating the numerous sponsor platforms such as the Dos Equis venue, maintaining and operating the perimeter, and more, all on the prestigious Ocean Drive located in South Beach. These tasks took up much of the week. With this being the first year with COVID-19 guidelines, the procedures for this year’s game and fan experiences were far different than ever before. It presented unique challenges and differences with being able to implement a safe and fun experience for everyone around. This trip taught the group of students just how different sporting events can look from year to year. Even though the National Championship takes place every year, there are certainly no preparations that remain the same. Every venue is different, and each game comes with its own set of unique responsibilities and operations.
Partnering with the ETZEL team provided incredible networking opportunities along the way. Each student was able to have numerous conversations with each employee, as well as some special networking opportunities from other people in the sports industry in town for the game. When work concluded at the end of the day on Saturday, the group of students were surprised with tickets to go and enjoy the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Hard Rock Stadium! It was the perfect cap to the end of a wonderful trip in Miami as Alabama claimed its title over Ohio State.
We are especially grateful that we were able to learn from such a great group at ETZEL. Florida State looks forward to continuing this extremely valued partnership with ETZEL in the future. This partnership will allow many more students to have similar facility and event operations experiences at major events, like the College Football Playoff National Championship.
