USF graduate turns lifelong love of football into Buccaneers front-office role

By Paul Guzzo, University Communications and Marketing

Chase Cooper was raised as a football fan. Whenever there was a big game, his father found a way to get them tickets.

In 2007, they attended a playoff game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Giants. A week later, they were on a plane to Dallas to watch the Cowboys face those same Giants.

"I love football," Cooper said.

He loves the skill and passion of the players - but just as much, Cooper loves the full stadium experience that surrounds the game.

"I love going to games with my dad and enjoying the experience -- including everything that's going on outside of the actual game," Cooper said. "There was never a moment where I was bored, and even as a kid you could tell it was something bigger than just 11 guys on the field playing football."

Now, Cooper is part of the behind-the-scenes team helping deliver that experience.

He is graduating from the University of South Florida with two degrees - a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Science degree in sport & entertainment management - both from the Muma College of Business' Vinik Sport & Entertainment Management Program.

And he has already landed a job.

Cooper has joined the Buccaneers, working on the business side of football. His role doesn't focus on wins, losses or play calls, but on the numbers that drive revenue and shape the fan experience. He works across departments, including sales, marketing, partnerships and events, tracking everything from ticket sales and digital campaigns to fan engagement and retention.

By analyzing that data, Cooper helps the organization decide where to invest - whether that means increasing marketing efforts, adjusting event strategies, or showing potential corporate partners why doing business with the Buccaneers makes sense.

"Everything's business," Cooper said. "I touch all the departments in different ways."

He earned the role through USF's partnership with the Buccaneers, which connects students in the Vinik Sport & Entertainment Management Program with hands-on experience inside the organization. As part of that collaboration, students earn fellowships, attend executive lectures and work directly with team departments.

Cooper completed a two-year fellowship, tracking and reporting performance metrics for the Buccaneers' marketing, partnerships and fan relations teams. The team later offered him a full-time position.

The support, he said, was immediate - and unexpected.

"Every single person I walked by congratulated me," Cooper said. "They told me how proud they were, how they expected it, how they saw it coming. You see the team on the field, but there's also a team on the business side that really rallies behind each other. That was something I didn't necessarily expect."

For Cooper, the role is exactly what he had been working toward.

"I wanted to work in sports in some way," he said.

While getting his undergraduate degree at another university, Cooper interned with the football team's human performance.

"The players would do tests every day during their workouts - things that measured speed, strength and mobility," he said. "We tracked those numbers over time to see where guys were improving, where they were declining and whether something might be wrong even if it wasn't obvious. The numbers don't lie."

When it came time for graduate school, Cooper said USF stood out for its emphasis on real-world experience. Through the Vinik Sport & Entertainment Management Program, he found the hands-on training he believed was necessary for a career in sports business.

"If I wanted to work in a sports office, I knew I needed real data, real meetings and real responsibility - not just classes," he said.

Through USF, Cooper found a way to stay close to the game he loves - not on the field, but in shaping everything around it.

"I definitely want to work in leadership," Cooper said. "I want to manage people, build teams and be someone others can count on. Whatever role that takes, that's where I see myself going."