Juniata student, Pauls Ejups, had his celebrity debut working at Super Bowl XLVIII. After he got back from New York we couldn’t wait to ask him all about it!
How did you get involved in the event?
I was able to work Super Bowl XLVIII because of a connection through Leah Poiner, the Game Management Coordinator in our athletic department here at JC. She went to Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio and developed a good relationship with her advisor, Charles Campisi. Charles is one of the sport management professors at Baldwin Wallace and helps organize and run the sport management club there. Each year, the club tries to raise money so that a group of sport management students and some alumni can work the Super Bowl to gain valuable experience in their field. When Leah told me she was going I expressed my interest and long story short Charles hooked me up to work the Super Bowl.
What was the preparation process?
Our staff group consisted of about 26 people who worked for a company called Atrium Staffing at the event. Atruim is a company based in the greater New York area that helps with logistics for events of large scale, similar to the Super Bowl. The Friday night before the Super Bowl all the staffers received a box of gear. It included a jacket, long sleeve shirt, hat, gloves, scarves, ear warmers, and a neck warmer.
We also were given a key card, which would allow us to get our credentials on Super Bowl Sunday. Saturday we spent the day sightseeing and hanging around Super Bowl Boulevard in New York City. Sunday we departed for Newark airport at about 9 am where all the Super Bowl staff would be shuttled to an off-site location to pick up their credentials. Once we had our credentials we were ready to be shuttled to MetLife Stadium and get to work.
What did you do there?
My title was Directional Host and I was located, with the rest of my staff group, outside the Izod Center just inside one of the main entrance gates. The Izod Center is where the New Jersey Devils play, and NFL on location was hosting a Super Bowl pre-party from about 1 pm to 5pm for VIP ticket holders. My job was to welcome and greet all the spectators that came through our gate. I directed the spectators to where they needed to be as well as answered any questions ranging from ‘where’s the stadium’ to ‘hey do you want a beer?’ which I had to respectfully decline, unfortunately. At about 5:30 the pre-party had ended and we were free to go and watch all the pre-game activity, the entire first half, and the halftime show. After the halftime show we had to report back to the Izod Center to once again direct people to the post-party and nearest exits.
As a Sports Management major, what was most interesting to you about the Super Bowl as far as logistics, planning, and crowd control during the event?
The entire event was just an absolute spectacle, but I found the pre-game activity to be the most intriguing from a sport management perspective. From the warm ups, to the players running out of the tunnel, to the singing of the national anthem, to the flyover, to the coin toss, finally to kickoff, and everything in-between. If anything runs so much as 5 seconds over or under the planned time everything gets screwed up, so the pressure is on for the game managers.
Were you a fan of the halftime show?
The halftime show was impressive to watch from a sport management perspective as well. They had a crew of about 250 members transform the field to a concert hall in a matter of 10 minutes, leaving them about 20 minutes for the show and then transforming it back into a playing field. Also, the light show was absolutely crazy to watch in person because every fan was given a winter cap with a small electronic color board attached to the front. Those color boards sent out a signal to Bruno Mars’ light show coordinators who controlled what colors came up when and where from their computers backstage. It was the first time ever the entire crowd had been a part of the Super Bowl halftime show.
Did you see anyone famous, other than the players of course?
I saw Jimmy Johnson on the field while we were standing three rows up taking pictures during the pre-game activity. Another person in our group saw Shaq in passing. Other than that I didn’t really recognize any celebrities mainly because I’m sure a lot of them wanted to just blend in. There was also a special red carpet entrance on the opposite side of the stadium, but we didn’t get the chance to check it out.
What team were you rooting for?
I wasn’t really rooting for either team, more so hoping for a good game, which didn’t happen. Don’t get me wrong it was everything I imagined and more even with the blowout.
Would you work the Super Bowl again?
Absolutely. Hopefully one day I’m successful enough to sit in one of those fancy VIP skyboxes and just watch the game.