The Los Angeles Rams weren’t the only ones walking away from SoFi Stadium victorious from February 13th’s game. Celebrity A-listers, from the likes of Shaquille O’Neal to Kanye West, were graced by the presence of WCSU’s very own Hannah Benenati.

“It was awesome. It felt like a dream the entire time,” said Benenati.

Benenati, a senior Communication major with a minor in Sports Media, has long expressed an interest in athletics. Hailing from New Paltz, New York, Hannah and her family are all major sports fans. She even spent the summer of 2021 interning with the Battle Creek Bombers, a collegiate summer baseball team in Michigan. An athlete herself, she is also a member of WCSU’s Women’s Swimming and Diving team.

Hannah was able to travel to California through Living Sport, a company that provides unique opportunities for college students to network within the sports business community. For four months, she worked as a Digital Media Intern for Living Sport, creating digital media content for corporate Instagram and LinkedIn pages. Most exceptionally, she was selected from hundreds of applicants to work as a self-described “fan escort” on one of the VIP levels of SoFi Stadium during the big game.

The 10-day trip was full of hands-on educational experiences. Hannah’s week preceding the Super Bowl was packed with training and meetings with Sales and Entertainment teams. She met with officials from teams such as the LA Clippers, the LA Galaxy, and the LA Sparks. She spent February 10th-12th working the Super Bowl Experience at the Los Angeles Convention Center. During a training session at SoFi Stadium, she was even able to witness rehearsals for the Super Bowl halftime show. She described her week as a “good” kind of busy.

“We were getting stuff done. We were being productive and we were learning, all while having a great time,” said Benenati.

On Super Bowl Sunday, Hannah entered SoFi Stadium at 7:30am. This provided Benenati and her colleagues enough time to become acquainted with the layout of the stadium before doors

officially opened at 11:30am. Even as she was giving directions to fans, she was able to see the field for much of the game. She was moved from her station right before the halftime show, however, making her unable to watch it live. She described the halftime show as being, “the only time during the entire game that people were in their seats.” Although she was rendered busy later on, Hannah and her colleagues were dismissed from their stations right before the fourth quarter, allowing them to watch the rest of the game outside.

Despite the laboriousness, her trip was far from being devoid of fun. On the Sunday preceding the Super Bowl, Hannah was able to attend the Nascar Clash at the LA Memorial Coliseum. She described the event as being “so loud [that] the stadium was vibrating,” creating, “an environment I will never go through again, but it was awesome.”

“The biggest takeaway from the entire experience is [that] connections are the most important thing you could ever have,” said Benenati. She expanded, saying, “From the game yesterday, the most important thing I learned was that you have to know your workspace; you have to know how to get from Point A to Point B, in any space.”

After reflecting on her experiences, Hannah expressed an intense eagerness to join the sports industry, in whatever way she can. “After this trip, I’m ready to go anywhere. At this point, I will take a sales role. I would take anything, just to get my foot in the door and enjoy it,” said Benenati.

Her ultimate dream, however, is to become a Producer at NBC Sports and work the Olympics with them. “I would feel like a kid in a candy store,” said Benenati.

A loyal Denver Broncos fan, when asked if she was rooting for the Cincinnati Bengals or the Los Angeles Rams, Benenati responded, “I was rooting for myself to have a great time.”