The department of Sport Management was well represented at Super Bowl LVI earlier this year with Nikki Epley (BA, Physical Education - Sport Business '93; Med, Sport Administration '97) and Natalie Dutton (BA, Sport Management '20). The two had different but related roles coordinating logistical elements at the biggest sporting event of the year!

Nikki Epley

Nikki Epley is a two-time Wichita State alum having received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the College of Applied Studies (at the time it was the College of Education). During her graduate studies at WSU, she completed a year-long internship at Wake Forest University Athletic Department in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Her experience there and the relationships she developed during that time which ultimately paved her way to a career in football. Epley went on to work alongside her former Wake Forest supervisor at several high level football jobs which she relocated for – the Super Bowl XXXIX Host Committee in Jacksonville, the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee XLI in Miami, and the College Football Playoff in Dallas, where she most recently served as the Director of Stadium and Game Operations for five national championship games before returning to Wichita. 

In the past Epley has worked as a contractor for the NFL in a variety of different roles at multiple Super Bowls, but at Super Bowl LVI her job was on the transportation side focused on fan transport. The Super Bowl is a large-scale event and transportation plays a huge role in the movement of teams and players, family and friends, media, workers, volunteers and fans to and from events all week. On game day, many elements spill over from the stadium into the parking lots taking up a lot of the available parking spaces resulting in many fans being parked in remote lots. Epley said 103 buses were used to shuttle fans from their remote parking spaces to the stadium and back again and it was her job to manage one of those transport teams. Many of her teammates were young professionals receiving a degree in sport administration and working their first Super Bowl.

“I truly enjoy speaking with and working with future up-and-comers. I always tell them to be a sponge and learn as much as you can. You never know who you might work with or for again. Take risks and don't be afraid to go and try  something different—you can always come back home, you can always change your career or apply your skillsets elsewhere.” 

As a student Epley worked in every aspect of sport—she played four years for the Shockers softball program, worked in the ticket office, assisted with statistics for other athletic programs, and even dabbled in coaching one summer—but she says she loved working on the administration side of athletics the most. 

“My passion for Sport Administration really started with not just being a student athlete but working at Wichita State and the opportunities they provided me to gain experience in different departments. Being able to stay and receive two degrees in my field prepared me and opened the door for me to  work in a number of roles.”

Epley’s career has taken her all over the United States and her past experience will continue to allow her opportunities to work major sporting events in the future, but in 2019 she accepted a full-time role as VP, project manager for the office of culture and talent at Fidelity Bank in Wichita. She’s thrilled to be back home, back to her roots and supporting her Shockers at every chance possible.

In the days leading up to the Super Bowl the NFL provides an interactive theme park called the Super Bowl Experience where fans have the opportunity to get autographs from current NFL players and legends, participate in games, and shop for merchandise. Sport Management alum Natalie Dutton worked the Super Bowl Experience this year as a brand ambassador where it was her job to ensure that the fans coming to the game have a great time and that everything runs smoothly. Dutton says that the position wasn’t one job but, rather, a whole bunch of jobs rolled into one. 

“Part of my job was just being a friendly face to the fans, making sure that if they had any questions they received the information they needed, making sure that all of the COVID protocols are being met—sometimes I’d have to ask fans for their vaccination cards or giving out COVID tests, I also got to hang out with NFL players, so it was a little bit of everything!” Dutton said.

Dutton has been working part-time for the Kansas City Chiefs for the last three years, but it was a social media post that brought her to this year’s Super Bowl. “I actually saw a TikTok that said ‘do you wanna work the Super Bowl?’ and I was like ‘yeah, of course I do!’ But I didn’t think I’d actually be able to since it was in LA.” Dutton applied for the position and was hired so she took some time off from work to go out to LA and she’s so glad she did. “It was definitely one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”

She credits her time at WSU for providing her with the experience she needed to get to the Super Bowl. “The Sport Management department is really great about putting their students in real world situations.” Dutton said. “When I was in college we had the men’s NCAA tournament in Wichita in 2018 and Mike Ross made sure Sport Management students were able to work the event and that was the biggest event I ever worked up until I worked the Super Bowl.”

As a student Dutton had an internship with the Chiefs and drove to and from Kansas City so that she could be at every home game. After graduating from Wichita State moved to Kansas City where she is putting her leadership skills to work as the manager of delivery operations at Amazon Logistics.