Tourism touchdown: ASU students work behind the scenes at Super Bowl
ASU Clinical Assistant Professor Erin Schneiderman and her students behind the scenes at the Super Bowl in New Orleans. Photo courtesy of Erin Schneiderman
Mariah Vergara is the first to admit she’s not a sports fan.
In fact, she said she didn’t know a single player on the rosters of the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, who played in the 2025 Super Bowl in New Orleans on Sunday.
But that didn’t stop Vergara and 12 other Arizona State University students — four of whom are ASU Online students — from having the time of their lives and learning how major events are pulled off during their week in the Big Easy.
The students were led by Erin Schneiderman, clinical assistant professor in the School of Community Resources and Development. She directs the school's event management program, which is offered as a minor and a certificate.
Schneiderman said it’s important for the students, most of whom are studying tourism development or tourism and recreation management, to find out what it’s like to be on the “front lines” of a major event like the Super Bowl.
“They get to see it all,” she said. “It’s really a chance to do what we talk about in our classrooms. It may not be glamorous work, but it’s important work.”
The students did have enough free time to get a taste of New Orleans. They sampled the famous beignets at Café Du Monde, toured the city’s landmarks, went on a steamboat dinner cruise and came across celebrities like rap star Ludacris, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and former Super Bowl champion quarterback Terry Bradshaw.
After exploring the city on Wednesday — they arrived in New Orleans on Tuesday night following a long delay — the students got to work at the Super Bowl Experience, which was held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and featured interactive games, player autographs, photos with the Super Bowl trophy and other attractions. Their typical shift was midafternoon to about 10:30 p.m.
Vergara’s first day at the Experience was spent at the faux NFL draft. Fans pretending to be drafted by their favorite team handed Vergara a card with their name on it, and Vergara would then hand the card to a presenter, who jazzed up the announcement of the fan being drafted.
“The second day, I was in charge of handing the jerseys to each kid,” said Vergara, a junior with a double major in business management and tourism.
“They would let me know they wanted to be drafted by, say, the Cardinals. I would get the Cardinals jersey from the back, bring it out and hand it to the kids so they’re ready to go onstage.”
Vergara also had to make sure the fans weren’t having too much fun.
“Sometimes the parents or the kids would try to write a funny name on the card instead of their real name,” she said. “It was my responsibility to make sure the presenter wasn’t saying anything inappropriate or bad about a team.”
Vergara said the experience helped define her career path. She hadn’t considered a job in the sports world before leaving for New Orleans but returned to the Valley thinking that may be her destination following college.
Ana Atwell, a senior majoring in tourism development and management, had previously worked at smaller events like the Southwest Cajun Fest in Chandler. But the Super Bowl was hospitality on steroids.
“We worked with thousands of people. We were on our feet all day, nonstop,” said Atwell, who hopes to work with Native American tribes after graduating from ASU. “It was exciting to see everyone come in, and then me able to put a smile on someone’s face just by asking, ‘How are you doing? How is it going? I hope the line isn’t too long.’
“It was just an amazing thing to see how big events like that are run behind the scenes.”
Atwell said Super Bowl officials constantly reminded the students that the work they were doing was important. One of Atwell’s jobs, for example, was handing out New Orleans stamped postcards to fans.
“Now they don’t have to worry about going to find a post office in such a big city,” Atwell said. “Stuff like that, doing small things, could make someone’s day. And it adds up to people wanting to come back to more Super Bowls.”
Ava Koziorowski, a sophomore majoring in tourism and recreational management, called the week in New Orleans a “great opportunity.” She had worked previously at Walt Disney World and said the Super Bowl was similar in that they’re “tourism-based companies where they bring in people from all over the world to see what they have to offer.”
“I’m into cruise ships. I’m into theme parks, things like that,” Koziorowski said. “It was just a perfect way to get deeper into my major and the career I want to get into.”
Like Atwell, Koziorowski said she felt as if she was being an ambassador for the NFL.
“A lot of our leaders were like, ‘Hey, you’re wearing the NFL shield. You’re wearing the NFL logo. As long as you’re doing that, you’re representing the company,’” she said. “That’s something I kept in mind a lot of the time I was there.”
The students didn’t spend Super Bowl Sunday inside the Caesars Superdome watching the game. They worked hospitality at the Touchdown VIP Tailgate before the game — the event, held at the Smoothie King Center, featured a performance by Ludacris — and then returned to their Airbnb, where they made a meal, watched the game and shared their memories of the week.
“We just relaxed,” Atwell said. “A lot of us were really tired. It was exhausting. But I felt accomplished. I think a lot of us felt accomplished.”
The School of Community Resources and Development is part of the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions.
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