Kennesaw State Alum Makes His Mark

Press release from Kennesaw State University:

May 6, 2021

Kennesaw State alum makes his mark

KENNESAW, Ga.
(May 6, 2021) — Every morning, Zach Bazemore’s commute takes him to the base of Allegiant Stadium,
the NFL’s newest coliseum and state-of-the-art home to the Las Vegas Raiders.

An operations coordinator at the stadium, Bazemore secured his position in the highly
competitive sports industry immediately after graduating from Kennesaw State University
with a sport management degree last year. The job grants him a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into the
preparation for NFL games and other events hosted by stadiums nationwide. While it
may seem routine, he said it tends to be anything but.

“The cool thing about this job is that there’s not a typical day,” said Bazemore,
who recalled being awestruck the first time he saw the stadium. “I could come in one
day with a to-do list of things I want to get done, and one radio call makes everything
go out the window. That’s just the nature of operations and that’s what makes this
job attractive – that no two days are the same.”

Bazemore credits his successful job hunt to the skills he acquired at Kennesaw State,
particularly his experience working with KSU’s Night Owl program, a student-led organization
that provides hands-on experience in event service, maintenance and hospitality. His
experience caught the eye of company executives who were interested to know how Night
Owl exposed him to situations that could be useful working in operations.

While the coronavirus pandemic has altered some aspects of game day operations at
the stadium, Bazemore’s role gives him the flexibility to prepare for a multitude
of events ranging from Raiders and UNLV football games to private corporate events.
He assists the stadium’s engineering, maintenance and operations teams in order to
carry out procedures such as contract work, inventory management and scheduling, among
other things. On game day, he sits in the stadium’s press box in the Gameday Operations
Command dispatch room, communicating with the operations and engineering teams and
dispatching different groups to meet requests.

Much like the professionals, students involved in Night Owl work on conversion, the
process of switching stadiums to accommodate different events. Bazemore’s role in
the conversion department during his senior year gave him experience he uses almost
every day at Allegiant Stadium.

While working at Night Owl, Bazemore assisted with numerous events, including KSU
football, soccer and lacrosse games, homecoming concerts and commencement ceremonies.
He also assisted with Owl-o-Ween, a hot air balloon festival where Bazemore completed
a 13-hour overnight shift in which he helped convert Fifth Third Bank Stadium from
the festival setup on Saturday to a KSU women’s soccer game Sunday morning.

“At my age, experience in the sports industry is hard to come by,” said Bazemore.
“Graduating with a sport management degree with the background and experience I had
with Night Owl was super helpful because the businesses made it seem like the other
applicants didn’t have the same experience that Night Owl offered me. Seeing the stadium
everyday will never get old. I work at the coolest office in the world, and I am extremely
thankful for that.”

– Josh Milton

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A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers more than 150 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its more than 41,000 students. With 11 colleges on two metro Atlanta campuses, Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia and the second-largest university in the state. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the region and from 126 countries across the globe. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 6 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.

This press release was produced by Kennesaw State University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.