The next Bison Spotlight is on a member of the class of 2020, Michael McCann. He is from Narragansett, Rhode Island and is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in Sport Management and a minor in Marketing. On-campus, Michael is a member of the Sport Management Club. If you see the Bison Shuttle around, make sure to give a wave as it could be Michael. 
During the spring of 2019, he studied abroad in Barcelona, Spain. He had the opportunity to travel to five countries and fourteen cities. When he isn’t too busy traveling, he has a strong passion for sports. Particularly baseball, basketball, football, and golf. He also enjoys the beach, cliff jumping and hanging out with friends. A fun fact about Michael: he went to the Drake concert in Paris, France.
Throughout his time on The Hill, Michael has completed three different internships. It all started the summer going into his junior year. He completed an internship with the Newport Gulls Baseball Club. The Newport Gulls is a collegiate summer league baseball team in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. He was a Game Day Operations Intern. In this role, he would visit and work with Newport Gull sponsors, attend events with mascots, setup and work with the grounds crew before, during and after games.
After completing this internship, Michael said, “The key advice I would give to others is it is not always going to be fun, but it will be worth it.”
Michael McCann pictured at the 2019 American Athletic Conference Football Championship in Memphis, Tennessee
It sure was worth it for Michael. In the fall of his junior year, he began interning for the American Athletic Conference as a Game Day Operations Intern. In this opportunity, he worked Division I College Football games in the command center. He would input game information using DVSport and Football Replay. He would also capture game films needed for weekly conference calls. Michael has continued to work in this internship and even had the opportunity to travel down to Memphis, Tennessee to work the 2019 American Athletic Conference Football Championship game.
“I showed up days before the game to prepare. It allowed me to understand all that goes on operationally throughout the weekend. The opportunity the American Athletic Conference gave me was incredible. The senior staff has been nothing, but first class. From my supervisor to the commissioner of the football conference.”
When we asked Michael what he learned from his experiences with the American Athletic Conference, he said, “You need to be extremely detailed oriented. There are two big things I learned. The first is having very good time management skills, the second is to always be organized. If you do those two things, the results will show.”
While Michael was working the championship game down in Memphis, a staff member approached him asking if he would like to help the American Athletics Conference Women’s Basketball championship. This event will be held at Mohegan Sun this upcoming March.
Michael pictured in Barcelona, Spain
The third internship Michael completed was during his time studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain with Naru Sports. Naru Sports is a sport management company that offers educational and technical training programs, consulting services, and events to promote gender equality through sports. He was a Sports Tour Manager and a Business Development/Marketing Intern. In this role, he redesigned their website, contacted college soccer clubs and academies, emailed clients and sold sports tours.
When we asked Michael about his experience, he said,
“The second day I arrived in Barcelona, I began my internship. In my official meeting with my internship supervisor, Christian Lupion, CEO of Naru Sports, we started talking about how he was in the process of changing the company’s website. I mentioned how I was a Marketing minor and immediately Lupion went on to ask me if I would like to take a look at the website. When I began looking at the website, I realized that it was mainly directed towards an international audience. This was something that struck me by surprise. Inside my head, I was thinking to myself, ‘wow, what have I gotten myself into, this sports industry is extremely different but similar in certain ways.’ Christian and I began working on the website in order to appeal more to the American and International audience. Lupion had a goal to one day to create three soccer teams that represent Spain. During my time within this internship, I was able to help Lupion achieve that goal.”
Michael’s favorite thing he did during his internship was to learn more about the international sports industry and redesign the website. When we asked what his advice to others was during this internship, he said,
“Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone and never look back.”
We want to congratulate Michael on all his accomplishments throughout his time on The Hill. The CPDC Team wishes you the best of luck with your future career and thank you for taking the time to share your opportunities with us!
