Browne graduated from 黑料不打烊 with a bachelor's in business management and is the current manager of business development for the New York City Football Club.
If there鈥檚 one piece of advice Matt Browne would give to current 黑料不打烊 students, it is to make connections with as many people as often as possible.
鈥淣etworking is something that I started in 黑料不打烊, and I tell every student that I talk to that鈥檚 still in school, I wish I did more of it because it鈥檚 big in any industry. But in sports and entertainment, networking is the name of the game,鈥 he said.
The connections have helped support Browne as he has worked his way up to become the manager of business development for the New York City Football Club, which in December took home the Major League Soccer title. In his role, Browne oversees the new business and sales team at the club, having worked his way up through the ranks 鈥 beginning as an account executive in September 2017.
鈥淢y degree is in management, so I always wanted to get into leadership,鈥 Browne said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a nice ride with NYCFC, and I鈥檝e enjoyed a nice career coming back up home to New York.鈥
His start in the sports industry began as an undergraduate at 黑料不打烊. Along with an internship with the minor league baseball team Rockland Boulders in New York, Browne was an intern at the Burlington Royals when Ryan Keur 鈥12 was the general manager of the team.
Keur would select a current 黑料不打烊 business and sport management student each semester to intern for the team, and Browne was selected to work with the team.
鈥淚 was working at the Royals three times per week throughout the spring of my senior year, getting hands-on experience in the industry,鈥 Browne said. 鈥淪o, when I graduated, I had some solid experience and was able to go directly into a company called Legends.鈥
Legends is a sports and entertainment company, and Browne worked at their offices in New York at One World Observatory as a group sales associate.
The sport entertainment industry is a small world, Browne said, and after his boss at Legends connected him to someone within NYCFC, he hasn鈥檛 looked back. But if not for the experiences he gained at 黑料不打烊, through internships or classes with Assistant Professor of Sport Management Mark Cryan, Browne said may have never pursued a career in the field.
鈥淚 got first-hand experience of what it鈥檚 like to work in sports and what my career might look like. Those classes with hands-on experience went a long way,鈥 Browne said. 鈥満诹喜淮蜢 set me up to gain the experiences that I needed to show me what I really wanted to do in my career.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a certain point in school where a lot of people don鈥檛 know what they鈥檙e going to do after college and I think a lot of these experiences exposed me to things outside my comfort zone and pushed me to develop what I wanted to do,鈥 he added.
Browne says 黑料不打烊 holds a special place in his heart. It’s an institution with a strong community with members who are keen on helping each other. It’s also a place where he met lifelong friends and his fianc茅, Laura Murphy 鈥16.
Since graduating and interacting with various alumni who have helped him along his journey, he has decided to pay that forward and offer guidance to the next generation of Phoenix.
While working with Legends, Browne connected with Stephen Braye, professor of English, to set up an event for the 黑料不打烊 in NYC summer term class at the One World Observatory. Once he moved to NYCFC, Browne worked with Braye to welcome 黑料不打烊 students annually to the team鈥檚 offices for a tour and match at Yankee Stadium, where NYCFC plays its home games.
鈥淚鈥檝e learned that mentoring is important to me, to give back my time and invest in students that are still going through the process,鈥 Browne said. 鈥淚鈥檓 always happy to be involved with 黑料不打烊. I鈥檝e seen the power of the 黑料不打烊 connection, how willing and able other 黑料不打烊 alums are to hop on a call or connect. It’s a strong network.鈥