Making it big time in The Big Easy

There’s no bigger stage for college football than this. No bigger climb.

Especially this year.

An over max capacity crowd of nearly 77,000 in the Superdome, New Orleans. An estimated 25 million more watching on television and online. On top of that, the President of the United States in attendance.

And for Matt Mastrogiovanni ’17 that’s exactly where he wanted to be.

“I hadn’t really put the magnitude of the event into perspective,” said Mastrogiovanni, a Bloomsburg University mass communications graduate who served as a member of the College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship’s host committee in media operations. “When I walked onto the field for the first time and saw everyone filing into their seats, cheering as the players arrived, it hit me that I was in the middle of one of the biggest sporting events of the year. It was electric.”

Mastrogiovanni’s role in the CFP title game began two weeks prior with the Sugar Bowl, also held at the Superdome, where he has volunteered for the past three years with the game week media relations staff — an opportunity he landed through John Sudsbury, director of communications for the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

“Seeing all the photographers, TV personalities, and radio talents was awe inspiring,” Mastrogiovanni said. “And that was just the media side of things. I was fortunate enough to build on my list of contacts in the media world and was given lots of great advice on how to be successful in building a career in mass communications, mainly media relations. In every aspect, I was able to take away a ton of information, advice, and memories.”

According to Mastrogiovanni, he got a full behind-the-scenes look at large-scale mass media relations in all phases of the game day experience.

“I learned just how much it really takes to put events like these into motion,” said Mastrogiovanni, who at the designated media hotel was a media information distributor, way-finder, and general liaison between the media and the CFP. “At media day, I did the same type of stuff. Game day was also a lot of pre-game way-finding and directing people to key media locations around the Superdome.”

During the game, he ran stat sheets to LSU’s locker room after each quarter. Postgame was similar, he said.

“I ran stats to the locker room, as well as aided in handing out the final stat booklets to media in the postgame press conference room,” Mastrogiovanni said. “Also, I helped out up in the press box post game making sure the remaining media got all of their necessary stat and press conference quote sheets. It all made for a long day but was extremely involved.”

Through all the controlled media chaos, intensity of the game and its coverage, ending with the gentle calm of confetti sprawled across the Superdome turf, it was quite the memorable experience for Mastrogiovanni. A lot of lessons learned. Some of which he can even clearly remember back to his days in Bloomsburg

“I can’t say enough about how much BU helped me along my journey,” Mastrogiovanni said. “All of the mass communications faculty were extremely helpful, especially Dr. (Richard) Ganahl. I’d like to thank him for all the advice he gave me as an academic advisor but also a mentor.”

He added, “My friends and everyone I met in the major were amazing too. The comradery between us made working together so much easier and also lots of fun. Through my time with BUnow is when I think I learned my most valuable lesson. If you put in the work, stay hungry and get involved, you’ll earn your place in whatever it is you’re pursuing.”

Is there a bigger stage for Mastrogiovanni? Yes, he says. His climb continues.

“Through the contacts I have now, the knowledge I’ve gained and continued hard work, I’ll continue to pursue a career in the mass communications,” Mastrogiovanni said. “It’s been a tough road along the way but the rewards are all worth it.”