Kickin’ It with FIFA Seattle

The Albers School of Business and Economics’ MBA in Sport and Entertainment Management is a program built around hands-on access to the Seattle sports industry and five students recently got a rare look behind the curtain of the FIFA Men’s World Cup, spending an afternoon inside Seattle's FIFA Media Center.

The opportunity came when SU alum Will Trogdon, ’16, who is vice president for marketing & brand for FIFA World Cup Seattle, approached the university asking if any students might be interested in touring the media center. Despite summer being a slower time on campus, several students jumped at the offer.

“I was especially inspired by the number of women represented in leadership and by their commitment to creating a safe, accessible and welcoming experience,” says Sophia Perez, ’27. “Hearing the perspectives of the people leading different areas of the committee gave me additional insight into the many ways you can build a meaningful career in sports without necessarily working for a specific team. Their mission was to demonstrate that Seattle is a world-class sports city with passionate fans, a vibrant atmosphere and a welcoming community.”

The students sat in on a press conference with Seattle's FIFA World Cup 26 Local Organizing Committee, hearing directly from leaders shaping the city's role as a host, including Peter Tomozawa, CEO of SeattleFWC26; Beth Knox, co-board chair of SeattleFWC26 and president and CEO of the Seattle Sports Commission; Kelly Saling, chief marketing officer at Visit Seattle; Jennifer Casillas, vice president of public realm and ambassador operations at the Downtown Seattle Association; Antoinette Sullivan, assistant director of community engagement and outreach at the Washington State Department of Commerce; and Chief of Staff Lynette Buffington.

Each speaker offered a different angle on what hosting the World Cup meant for Seattle, from community impact to economic opportunity. They pointed to the numbers behind the moment, evident with the record crowds along the waterfront and at watch parties across the city, along with public transit ridership that broke records as fans moved between viewing sites, the stadium and celebrations downtown.

“What stuck with me the most from this press conference was the pride that each of the speakers had for Seattle and the hope that we would be given the opportunity to host such a large scale event again,” says Izzy Teal, MBA SEM '27.

Beyond the view of Lumen Field from the media offices, the trip gave students something harder to come by in a classroom—direct conversations with people working in media, local government and professional soccer. For students building a career in sport and entertainment management, it was a chance to see how a global event actually comes together and to start building the kind of industry relationships that shape where they land after graduation.

“Experiences like these highlight the prominence of real-world experiences in our program,” says Sport and Entertainment Management Program Director Natalie Welch. “Any chance we get to expose our students to practical and current events we will do whatever we can to make it happen. Our program prides itself on being innovative and leaning into opportunities to expose our students to behind-the-scenes leadership needed to make Seattle a world-class city.”