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To say that sports are a big deal in Julia Ravitz’s family is an understatement. Her father played football at West Point, her first birthday coincided with an Army-Navy game and she grew up rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles. Her family also frequented Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Ravitz, always intrigued by the business behind professional athletics, got her first glimpse of how that world operates through sports marketing and accounting courses offered by her high school in Dresher, Pa. Until she became a ������Ƶ School of Management student, her love of sports was confined to the sidelines.

That changed in the summer of 2025, when she worked behind the scenes at Phillies home games, part of a group of interns for the team’s entertainment staff.

Their mission: help drive the fan experience.

“When people think of a major sports organization like the Phillies, they think of the players, the owner, maybe whoever runs their social media. But I learned how every role at that stadium plays an important part in creating a successful fan experience,” said Ravitz, a sophomore business administration major concentrating in marketing and management information systems. “Some of my favorite memories are going to baseball games with my family, so this was a chance to do the same for people eager to have the same great time.”

Some of her standout internship experiences included:

• Assisting in fan activations to promote the Phillies’ All-Star voting campaign
• Helping with soundcheck, set-up, breakdown and other behind-the-scenes details for a concert by singer and rapper Nelly
• Working on special events at The Yard in Phillies stadium, in partnership with the team’s charities and other community initiatives

For someone like Ravitz, who easily feels at home in an athletics venue, there was no better way to blend her love of sports and business during her first summer internship. She’s always been fascinated by the influence that good branding can have on a product, something she’s picked up on watching Super Bowl ads.

In fact, one lesson Ravitz learned quickly during her first year at Binghamton was just how many doors she could open for herself through involvement with student groups on campus. Among them: PwC Scholars, TAMID at Binghamton, the Student Ambassador Program and Chabad at Binghamton.

Ravitz’s involvement with the Sports Management Group student organization at Binghamton helped get her in the door with the Phillies; a fellow Binghamton student encouraged her to apply for the Phillies internship, helmed by the team’s marketing and events coordinator.

Initially, Ravitz pictured herself in a traditional “desk job” role after completing her degree. However, the hands-on “in the trenches” work for the Phillies widened her perspective, especially after her internship supervisor revealed that he had been in her shoes when he was in college.

Not only did this help her visualize how one could grow into a career from the ground up, but she also learned that there’s an art to building strong partnerships when each team member contributes toward a larger objective.

That’s especially pivotal in sports marketing, and she’s eager to carry such lessons throughout her time at Binghamton because they complement the skills SOM emphasizes for each student.

“What we do as SOM students is train for the workforce and learn how to talk to people,” Ravitz said. “I’m fine with filling out a spreadsheet and all that stuff in the classroom, but the fact that some of my classes required me to go out and interview people or go out and have someone look at my resume is so important. Instead of telling students like me how to be successful, SOM shows students how to create success for themselves.”

This fall, she’s continuing the momentum she built during the summer as an intern with .

“There are so many intersections within sports and marketing. The name you put on a product, the wording you use to promote it, that’s all part of a strategy designed to influence whether you choose to pay for that product,” Ravitz said. “Sports teams have a unique personality, a brand that people are loyal to and form a strong connection with. No matter what you’re marketing, you must stay true to that brand.”