This summer, more than 55 Rice University students interned or worked in the sports industry. Twenty of these students interned with pro sports teams or their governing bodies, such as Major League Baseball, NASCAR, the PGA Tour, and UFC, while other placements included collegiate athletic departments and bowl games, sports agencies, retail companies, event planners, and more. Just as varied were the areas in which the students worked. Data and analytics had the largest number of students at 14, but students also interned in events, operations, marketing, partnerships, strategy, coaching, and content creation.
Meet some of our summer interns, and read more about their experiences on the department's Facebook page.
Aidan Chiang ’27
Sports & Entertainment Partnerships Intern - Athlete-Driven Worldwide
Chiang created lead lists for potential partnerships for athletes or teams and worked with contracts, strategy briefs, pitch decks, and outreach communications.
Trei Close III ’26
Football Scouting Intern - New England Patriots
Close helped prepare scouting materials for the 2025 season and 2026 Draft, supported pro personnel with workouts and player images for all 32 teams, updated the college coaching database, and participated in the defensive-focused scout development program.
David Coronado '27
Basketball Analytics Scout - SkillCorner
Coronado helped create high-quality datasets by analyzing basketball film, specifically box-out events.
Chad Federico '28
Director of Baseball Analytics - Sag Harbor Whalers (Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League)
Federico collected pitching data and processed it into postgame reports about player development and in-game decision making, laying the foundation for an analytics program with potential league-wide adoption.
Thomas Gomez '27
Events Operations - Harris County Houston Sports Authority
Gomez assisted with preparation and day-of operations for major events such as the 2025 AAU Junior Olympics, which brought 50,000 people to Houston for more than 20 sports across five venues.
Tanner Holland ’26
Business Support - Arizona Diamondbacks
Holland worked in ticket sales and assisted with game-day duties and preparation.
Aly Khanmohamed ’27
Operations Intern - Los Angeles Media Fund Sports Agency (LAMF Sports)
Khanmohamed assisted in player management for all clients represented by LAMF and helped with operations for their Pro Day at the NBA Combine and a draft party for one of the LAMF clients.
Stacy Lujan ’27
Events Intern - Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl
A returning intern with the Frisco Bowl, Lujan took on more responsibility in planning for this year’s bowl game and summer charity events, also gaining insight into behind-the-scenes operations such as finances and logistics.
Kairi Mano ’27
Live Content Creator - Major League Baseball
As the MLB’s on-site videographer and photographer for the Houston Astros' home games, Mano captured photos and videos for the MLB and its teams to distribute on social media.
Maya Moise ’26
Basketball Division - WME Sports
Moise reached out to brands, assisted with mock drafts, and worked on both on-court and off-court projects for NBA, WNBA, and NCAA clients, ranging from brand strategy to player marketing initiatives.
Suhas Narra ’28
Football Scouting Intern - Premier Athlete Agency
Narra worked on scouting prospects and potential agency clients, largely entailing D1 football players, to evaluate their potential and projected longevity playing football.
Andersen Pickard ’27
Baseball Operations & Analytics Intern - Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the Cape Cod Baseball League
Pickard helped with advance scouting, player analysis, data analysis, roster construction, and game strategy, even hopping into the dugout during some games to prep players for their at-bats.
Dylan Raaum '27
Player Personnel & Football Operations Intern - University of North Dakota Athletics
Agent & Scouting Intern - Premier Athlete Agency
Raaum experienced two sides of the sports industry—collegiate and professional—with the not one, but two internships he held this summer.
Josue Reyes ’27
Performance Analysis and Scouting Intern - Albion Hurricanes FC
Scouting Intern - Phoenix Rising FC
Reyes had a busy summer interning with two professional football clubs. At AHFC, he produced reports analyzing players, style of play, game preparation, and coaching strategy for both the home and opposing teams, and at PRFC, he scouted players for the team.
Kenneth Soh '27
Director of Baseball Analytics - Jamestown Tarp Skunks
Soh operated the Rapsodo technology during bullpen sessions and batting practice, giving players and coaches access to advanced metrics to support data-driven development, created advance scouting reports on upcoming opponents, and assisted the manager with strategic decisions, including lineup construction, bullpen usage, and in-game adjustments.
Carson Talbott ’27
National Partnership Sales Intern - NASCAR
Talbott explored partnership opportunities with potential brand partners for NASCAR, supporting both league-wide initiatives and individual NASCAR-owned track efforts.
Alexa Vela '26
PGA Tour Events Intern - PGA Tour
Vela rotated across multiple teams, gaining experience in pricing analysis, ticketing, volunteer recognition, and partner relations. She also supported on-site operations and built relationships with organizers and digital teams at the 2025 Travelers Championship.
Pieter Versloot ’27
Global Partnerships Intern - UFC
Versloot supported sponsorship growth by managing the full partnership sales cycle across TKO properties such as UFC, WWE, PBR, IMG, and UFC BJJ, and he oversaw key account management for DraftKings and REGENR8rx.
Sarah Vu '26
Editorial Intern - The International Platform on Sport and Development
Vu contributed to the editorial and organizational development of the platform, helping publish and format community submissions and academic resources.
Molly Mohr Bruni ’15 is a freelance writer and editor and proud alumna of Rice University’s Department of Sport Management. You can find her at mollybruni.com.