by Aaryan Rathod

"The biggest thing to realize is how fast-paced sports environments are. You need to be able to handle multiple roles, along with being able to communicate effectively and stay organized," said Evan Blanchard when asked about his experience working with George Mason Athletics.
 
Evan is a senior majoring in Sport Management and plays third base for the George Mason baseball team. As part of the sport management program requirements, all students have to complete a full-time internship of at least 400 hours before graduating.
 
Evan's interest in sports marketing began thanks to his boss, Lily Plizga, the associate director of fan engagement and brand strategy. Being a student athlete, Evan used to see her working tirelessly around during games and knew how strong the department was at promoting sports. After a discussion between the two, Lily offered Evan the internship, and he decided to fulfill his internship requirement by working with the Marketing Department of George Mason University Athletics.
 
Some of his core responsibilities included devising all-encompassing marketing plans, which included creating promotional themes, brainstorming giveaway ideas, and emphasizing social media strategy while ensuring all the marketing materials resonated with the different stakeholders, including fans, alumni, sponsors, donors, and so on. On game days, he was responsible for gathering and distributing promotional items, along with running in-game collateral such as sponsored student competitions and t-shirt tosses.
 
As part of his special project that is a requirement for the internship, Lily and Evan had previously discussed collaborating with Danny Hosley and South Trimble, both George Mason Baseball Alums and currently Banana Ball players. Evan felt that it was the right time to execute this idea for the men's basketball program, with the main purpose being to boost attendance by 5% ahead of the big in-state rivalry game between George Mason and James Madison, scheduled to take place during Thanksgiving break.
 
The idea was to have Danny and South participate in a pre-game autograph session, halftime entertainment, and also timeout competitions.
 
George Mason University Athletics initiative of being NOVA's team made Evan think of having a mini competition between Danny, who is from Northern Virginia, and South being from Virginia Beach during timeouts.
 
Aside from getting people to the game, the goal was to attract a new audience, especially baseball fans, since the Fairfax Community has a dedicated sporting community, while also cross-promoting men's basketball and baseball.
 
Evan still needed to be careful, as people might wonder why bring baseball into the game of basketball, but in the end, it was all about promoting Mason as NOVA's team, and also Danny and South, as alumni of the baseball team.
 
A good skill of a marketer is being able to adapt to various situations, and this was no different. Since most students were back home, the target audience for this initiative was kids and families in the area.
 
Evan began preparing for this at the start of the Fall 2025 semester, and for each week, he set out to accomplish smaller, achievable goals to keep track of progress. This included reaching out to both Danny and South to see whether they are on board with the idea, coordinating with the Masonettes, marketing staff, and the department leadership. He also reached out to various baseball and softball clubs to coordinate group sales and designed autograph cards for fans, along with additional promotional graphics for the event.
 
However, just like with any new marketing initiative, there were concerns about the feasibility of the idea. One of the concerns that Evan talked about was using the name of the Savannah Bananas for promotion, since you need to follow all the branding and approval considerations. Alongside this, the coordination and scheduling challenges also affected the process.
 
Evan always had a plan amidst the challenges he faced during the process. Failure isn't something that Evan is afraid of, and marketing is such a field that requires you to try out new ideas. "As a student-athlete, you are used to people doubting you, so I relied on that mindset. As an intern, you have value, but you still have to prove yourself. Preparation was key, and I made sure everything was well planned and gathered feedback from everyone involved," he said.
 
On comes the big day for both the marketing department and Evan, where they are eager to see whether their semester-long planning of bringing Banana Ball to Mason was successful.

The results speak for themselves:

• 61.1% attendance increase since the last time we played a home game over the Thanksgiving recess
• 1,499 attendees above the 2023-2024 yearly attendance average (39.8%)
• 19.7% attendance increase since last home game versus JMU (4401)

 
Over 400 fans came through the meet and greet line with trading cards, mini-bats, baseballs, jerseys, and banana hats, eager to meet Danny and South.
 
Lily has described Evan as "one of the best interns she has ever had," with special praise for his professionalism and reliability. She recalled a day when Evan exemplified these qualities and made him an intern whom she could always rely on.
 
The department decided to participate in the Annual Fall Festival in Fairfax within the week of the event, and so there wasn't a lot of turnaround time in getting people to staff this day-long event. The set-up time was at 8 a.m. with the event starting at 10 a.m. There was also a women's soccer game against VCU at George Mason Stadium at 6 p.m. This was going to be a long 12-plus-hour shift for Lily, and without any hesitation, Evan stepped in to help. Both of them arrived at 8 a.m. for set-up, and despite Evan not being able to help during the duration of the event due to other work commitments, he returned around 4 p.m. to help with breakdown. After the event, they headed over to the soccer game and continued working through the night.
 
His positive attitude and demeanor were also important qualities that Lily appreciated. "You are often working around the same people, and sometimes, tensions can get high, but his positive attitude made the workplace a lot better. Everyone loved working with him, and he definitely boosted the mood throughout the day," she said.
 
Marketing is a front-facing role, and the ability to interact with diverse groups of people is crucial in creating exciting experiences for fans and encouraging them to return to games. Evan excelled at this, forming a great camaraderie with younger children, considering he worked at a lot of camps during the summer for the department.
 
This internship has been hugely influential in making Evan confident and ready for a full-time job in the sports industry. He has made considerable strides in improving his communication skills, which is really important given how department members rely on each other to accomplish goals.
 
During his internship, he learned how to operate various technologies, including Adobe Services for creating paid advertisements and Daktronics videoboard, to drive excitement for the events. Understanding the importance of workplace culture, teamwork, professionalism, and knowing how to contribute effectively in an organization are also important lessons Evan has learned from this internship.
 
His advice to students for getting internships is to form good relationships with your professors and, considering their large network, always be on the lookout for opportunities that are sent out by them.
 
To those wishing to pursue sport marketing, Evan said, "You have to be able to put yourselves in uncomfortable situations that involve communicating with people, bringing up new ideas, and just trying out new things. You also have to be able to balance multiple hats at once, while ensuring that you stay organized by having a plan."