Header image for From the Classroom to the Football Stadium: Meet COMM alumnus Mark Neifeld

From the Classroom to the Football Stadium: Meet COMM alumnus Mark Neifeld

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11cd59eFor Public Relations and Sociology alum Mark Neifeld, every day is spent in the offices of the AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, where as many as 105,000 fans can congregate during football season.

The Events Manager originally began working with the NHL Tampa Bay Lightning in April 2009 as Event Operations Coordinator. Over a year later, Neifeld was stationed in Atlanta, Georgia, fulfilling the duties of the Senior Event Coordinator in the Georgia Dome.

His most prized accomplishment thus far has been managing the events of the College Football Playoff National Championship between the No. 2 Oregon Ducks and the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes on January 1, 2015 at the AT&T Stadium.

“I’ve had the privilege of overseeing many historical events, including the 75th Anniversary of the NCAA Final Four. However, while managing previous events in milestone years, you feel like you are a part of history. With the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship, we made history,” Mark says.SM_Champ_Field

While employed at Georgia Dome in July 2010, Neifeld served as the Event Manager for the 2013 75th Anniversary of the NCAA Final Four, and Chair of Operations for the Final Four’s Atlanta Local Organizing Committee (ALOC).  During his major projects, Mark attended IAVM Venue Management School and learned proper management of stadiums, arenas, convention centers, and other similar venues. He went on to the IAVM Graduate Institute where he mastered management theory, professional ethics, and human resource management in 2014.

Prior to his involvement in the 2013 NCAA Final Four, Neifeld managed the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (2010-2014), 2009 NCAA Women’s Volleyball National Championships, 2011 & 2014 SEC Basketball Championships and the 2012 NCAA South Regional.

“The education and skillsets that I acquired while on campus in Tallahassee provided me the tools I needed to make an immediate impact in the sports and entertainment industry,” he explains. Apart from Neifeld’s undergraduate studies, he was an active member in the Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA) and the Florida State University Student Chapter of the FPRA.

At the College Football Playoff National Championship, Neifeld hosted 20 Florida State University undergraduates in the Sports Management program.

Mark Neifeld also currently serves as General Manager of Ingress Events, LLC, specializing in live event consulting in the sports and entertainment industry. He is part of “The IN Team” and works with some of the nation’s most renown event managers located in Philadelphia, Nashville, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, San Francisco and Atlanta.

Take a look at Mark’s LinkedIn here.