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Broncos get inside access to the 49ers and the sports industry

Just a few miles from campus, Levi’s Stadium is gearing up to host two of the world’s biggest sporting events: Super Bowl LX and the FIFA World Cup. For ÐÓ°ÉÊÓƵ students, that proximity isn’t just exciting news—it’s an open door.

Thanks to the Career Center’s growing relationship with the San Francisco 49ers, dozens of Broncos had the chance to step directly into the heart of Bay Area sports business at the 49ers’ third annual “Students at the Stadium” career immersion event.

“One thing that makes Santa Clara so special is that we’re really in the middle of it all. Not just with tech and Silicon Valley, but in so many other industries as well," says Melissa Thiriez, the Career Center’s director of employer relations and partnerships. "This event highlights our ability as a university to connect students to employers and to what the Bay Area is about.”

This year, more than 50 Santa Clara undergraduate and graduate students were selected from hundreds of applicants across several universities to participate in Students at the Stadium, with diverse majors spanning from marketing to engineering.

Over the last few years, Thiriez notes, students across disciplines have asked for more opportunities to understand workplace culture firsthand—not just hear recruiting pitches. Meeting this demand, the Career Center hosted its first earlier this year, featuring site visits to industry leaders like Nutanix, Adobe, and HP. This fall, they’ve continued these in-person treks to other big-name employers, including Verkada and Western Digital.

“Students really want an insider’s perspective—what a workplace actually feels like, what a day in the life looks like,” Thiriez explains. “The hiring environment right now is tough. Students need to network, build relationships, and ask great questions to stand out from the pack.”

Students at the Stadium delivered exactly that. The day included fireside chats, breakout sessions, and small-group networking with 49ers staff across marketing, fan engagement, analytics, business operations, social media, and ticketing.

For many students, the event was both eye-opening and affirming.

For lifelong Niners fan Emma Alvarez ’28, a freshman communication major, the event was a bit of a ‘pinch-me’ moment. “Meeting the people behind this incredible team was so amazing; they were so welcoming and helpful.” She added that the advice on networking and interview preparation is something she’ll “definitely be using” soon.

Meanwhile, Brett de la Fuente ’27, a bioengineering major on the pre-med track, said the event showed that “even for somebody like me, whose major doesn’t have the most direct connections to the sports industry, you can still build bridges.” He even met an intern who shared his major and career goals—proof, he said, that skills like problem-solving and data fluency are valued across the sports world.

According to Thiriez, since Santa Clara began attending Students at the Stadium, several students have gone on to work for the 49ers, including Jasmine Santacruz ’27 and Mo Lichaa ’26 in their Entertainment Operations, and Libby Slater ’25, MS ’26, who secured a full-time role on the Game Presentation Field Team and is currently completing Santa Clara’s new graduate program in Sports Business.

“We’ve built incredible momentum with these employer partnerships, and seeing students engage so deeply—and find meaningful career paths—only motivates us to keep expanding these opportunities,” Thiriez remarks.