Reese Rosales '19 and Evan Weisberg '18 took a bite out of the big apple this past summer as interns for Roc Nation Sports in New York City. At its core, Roc Nation is an entertainment company founded by Jay-Z with a focus on both music and sport. Rosales and Weisberg had the unique opportunity to work with this impressive company in their basketball and baseball divisions, respectively.
Working as a Baseball Operations Intern, Weisberg assisted in many projects related to the draft, college summer leagues, and prospective client research. He most enjoyed the opportunity to delve into the statistics of potential clients and analyze trends on specific players the agency is hoping to acquire.
Weisberg reflected on his experience in a new side of the sports world.
“I've always considered the representation industry, but never been sure how I would fit in such a fast-paced environment,” Weisberg said. “Learning that I actually enjoyed the atmosphere should be useful [in the future].”
Rosales worked as a Statistics & Data Analysis intern in Basketball Operations. Specifically he worked on draft preparation, free agency research, and player management. From contracts to scouting to endorsement deals, he got to see every aspect of the industry.
He was able to work on the same floor as RocNation's music label, Tidal, which gave him the ability to see how different facets of the entertainment world collide.
“Just being in the office every day exposed me to a wide variety of people in sports, music and entertainment and the crossovers between them” Rosales said.
From these connections, Rosales had the opportunity to attend many high profile events including the 2017 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center, Draft Night Party at the 40/40 Club, Jay-Z 4:44 Album Release Party, and even a fashion show during NY Men's Fashion Week.
Rosales also had an advantageous perspective coming from Rice. Joe Branch (MBA ’04), an adjunct faculty at Rice from which Rosales had taken a class, happened to be his boss. This gave him the opportunity to approach Branch for projects directly and already have that sense of trust and responsibility.
According to Branch, "Reese was an intellectually savvy student who brought great opinions to class and motivated other students to pay attention and work hard. He brought that attitude [to Roc Nation] and went above and beyond."
“Having Joe Branch as a professor at Rice University gave me a strong footing during this internship experience as I received amazing projects directly from him, Rosales said. “I learned a lot working directly with Joe Branch.”
These two students had the unique opportunity to work for an extremely influential company in the entertainment world. Both echoed thanks to the Department of Sport Management and its connections. Weisberg and Rosales have bright futures ahead and their education with the Department of Sport Management will pave the way for those futures.
Madison Nasteff, a junior from Liberty, Missouri, is majoring in Mechanical Engineering and is the student assistant for the Department of Sport Management.