Over the summer, Matt Bull interned for the Houston Astros baseball team in Houston, TX! The senior obtained the internship by sending in his resume. He found the opportunity when he sent a general application to the team and they picked a position for him. Throughout his time with the Houston Astros, Matt rotated in different departments each week. The departments included Marketing, Guest Service, Corporate Partnerships, and Safety and Risk Management. The senior set up for games, made sure everything was in place for ticket lines, ran the concessions stand, and worked at the games for the Guest Service department. For the Marketing department, Matt handled public relations, communications, and social media. Within the Corporate Partnerships department, the senior worked with sponsors to see how much airtime each of them got and how much revenue flowed in. With the final department, Safety and Risk Management, Matt looked at HIPPA forms on fans’ injuries and tried to see if there was a correlation between that and games in order to make sure the company accounted for the specific injury. His favorite aspect was being able to work in the numerous departments. “I wanted to work in the Sports industry and I got a view of that through this internship. My favorite department within this experience was the Marketing side” explains Matt. The most challenging parts were networking, selling himself, and making connections since he consistently rotated departments each week.

Personal skills, communication, creativity, critical thinking, and networking were the skills that the senior utilized at his internship. Matt believes he improved his personal, communication, and networking skills. The senior thinks that these skills will help him in the classroom and in his future career.

Tabitha in Human Resources made a difference in Matt’s experience. “She taught us everything. We would have meetings with her to make sure things were going well” adds the senior. In addition to Tabitha, the Vice President of Sales and Chief Financial Officer also helped enhance his experience. Matt considers these connections to be important for the future since he can use them as references or ask for recommendations when applying for jobs.

Matt feels more prepared for the day-to-day grind, having an eight to nine-hour job, and staying overtime in the working world. This internship gave him many skills that are transferable to any other sports teams. The senior believes he changed personally after interning with the Houston Astros because he gained leadership and teamwork skills. Overall, he learned that there are many things involved in sports industry. “There are numerous departments within the organization. It is not just the team, the players, or the coach. Many different aspects go into sports such as Sales, Marketing, etc.” explains the senior. After graduating from Ursinus, Matt plans on applying to another internship with the Houston Astros or maybe going into Marketing within the Sports industry.

The coolest part was when the owner of the team, Jim Crain, sent Matt and his fellow interns to Washington, D.C. for a three-day trip. During the three days, the senior went to the All-Star game, saw the Home Run Derby, and explored the city!

The senior advises to send in your resume early, make connections, and network during the internship. Matt would definitely recommend this opportunity to anyone with a similar area of interest!

Clubs and Activities on Campus

• Ursinus Baseball Team
• Heart Lab Research

Written by Faraha Rathad ’19