How Madison Vavala ’24 Found Her Niche in Partnership Marketing with Philadelphia Union

As a child Madison Vavala ’24 (marketing, business, economics) grew up in Philadelphia attending many athletic events with her family, including games for the Philadelphia Union, a Major League Soccer team. “Growing up, we lived half a mile from the stadiums in South Philly, so we would always walk to games and tailgates. Sports was everything,” says Vavala. She would never have guessed that years later she would work for the same team during college as a partnership marketing intern.

When Vavala started with the Philadelphia Union, she didn’t know anything about partnership marketing. But she did have valuable skills in analytics, marketing and interacting with people, and her internship tied all those components together. Though the job pushed and challenged her in many unexpected ways, Vavala endured—and found exactly what she is looking for in a career.

What is Partnership Marketing?

Spectators at professional sporting events often don’t think much about the logo on their soda cup or the company name written across their seats because they are focused on the excitement of the game. But partnership marketers have strategically placed these logos and company names to bring attention to the brand. It’s a crucial part of sports marketing for bringing in revenue to make the sporting events possible. Even more crucial, however, is maintaining relationships with these partners and developing new ones to keep the events going.

As a partnership intern Vavala rarely saw or interacted with the players on the team. Instead, she was in a crucial behind-the-scenes role that required Vavala to interact with and examine the team’s relationships with its many partners, including Subaru, Coca-Cola, Under Armour and Adidas. Before home games Vavala would speak with attending brand representatives to ensure they were enjoying the game. She would also implement “in-game activations,” which promoted brands by giving audience members titles, such as the “Chick-fil-a Family of the Match” or the “Cintron Seat Upgrade Family.”

Connecting with Partnership Marketing Pros

Outside of games Vavala engaged in a variety of tasks, including attending meetings with the entire sponsorship department, running promotions and examining the numbers side of marketing as part of the department’s mid-year recaps. These confidential, high-profile meetings examined the quantitative data surrounding each of the team’s partnerships, showing where improvement was needed and where growth was going well.

Even though Vavala was only an intern, her superiors treated her as an equal. They even asked her to complete a mid-year recap on her own for one of the smaller partnerships as part of her training. In completing her recap Vavala gained experience using a software system called Relo, which provides numbers describing how much exposure the partner is getting through their involvement with the team. “They were really gracious in trusting me with a lot and giving me a lot of opportunities to work on important, high-profile projects,” Vavala said.

Vavala’s Networking Mindset

Apart from honing her analytical and marketing skills, Vavala learned the value of forming connections with professionals in her field. Besides cultivating the partnerships her team already had, Vavala also found time to form personal connections with important people in the industry. As an intern she took initiative to grow her own network by pursuing conversations with higher-ups and scheduling meetings within and outside the Philadelphia Union.

At times it felt intimidating to talk to so many high-profile businesspeople. But through personally connecting with executives, Vavala gained confidence in herself as a business professional and was able to build a valuable network that cab inform her future career. Vavala was able to have conversations with the team president, the CFO and the VP of corporate sales, among others. She was also able to connect with partner executives while she watched each home game with them from a suite in the stadium.

God’s Providence in Finding Your Role

Vavala learned much over the course of her internship, but the greatest lesson she learned was that she can trust God with her career. Vavala knew she wanted to study business soon after she arrived at Gordon, but she never thought she could find a niche in marketing that combined her skills with her passion for sports and people. “It was really cool that the Lord guided the hands of the Philadelphia Union’s HR employee to put my resume on the partnerships desk,” she said. “I’m walking away knowing that I really found my niche in the business world.”

After graduation Vavala hopes to find a job in the same field and continue working with sports teams and their partnerships. But even if that doesn’t completely go to plan, she knows the Lord can take her dreams and desires somewhere even greater than she can imagined. “It was encouraging for me to use what I’ve learned and stay grounded in my faith and not compromise,” says Vavala. “I think that got me a long way.”

Reagan Forbes ’24, communication arts