In a first for the Communications Academy, Sports Media students were invited to tour TIAA Bank field, home of the Jacksonville Jaguars. During the visit, students saw Daily’s Place, practice fields, the FriEnd Zone, and went behind the scenes at the stadium. They learned that TIAA Bank Field has been voted as the #1 NFL stadium for the best fan experience…and that ranking doesn’t come easy. On an average game day, more than 4,000 people are working in the stadium, and they do everything in-house, from the food, to the digital marketing, even the laundry. Directly tied to the Sports Media curriculum, the tour included spending time in the Media Room with the Jaguars head of PR, Alex Brooks, who discussed his role with the team, and answered questions from the students regarding his daily tasks, and what it’s like to work with the players. Next, the students were led into Shad Khan’s suite, and met with Jaguars Executive Producer, Dave DeCandis. DeCandis was a former Nease student. He shared his professional path to the Jaguars production team, and made links between the skills and software that the Sports Media students use, and those utilized by the Jaguars production crew. As a result of the field trip, DeCandis has now joined the Communications Academy Advisory Board. It was an excellent field trip!
