Sean Durant (’23), “Work Hard and Be Nice to People”
It comes as no surprise Penn State alum, Sean Durant (2023), would find his way to Penn State and a career in sports. Hard work, purposeful planning, networking, and his family connections all came together to set him on a path to University Park and a career in sports management.
“It was an easy decision,” said Sean. “My older brothers both went to Penn State and my Dad was a member of the 1987 National Champion Football team at Penn State. I grew up visiting the campus and going to football games.” He smiled as he said, “All that Penn State influence must have been a negative for my younger sister; she ended up on the other side of the country at San Diego State.”
With an interest in sports and event planning, Sean started out in the Division of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) and started taking classes in the School of Hospitality Management. “Those first classes were obviously about hotels and restaurants which was definitely not what I wanted to do,” he said. An academic advisor in DUS suggested he check out Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management. One of his brothers’ friends had graduated in RPTM so he had heard about the major. “After my first class, I knew it was a fit.”
Early in his classes in RPTM, an alumna who was working for the Florida Panthers at the time came into class as a guest speaker. Sean heard her recommendations to build a resume and get involved. Sean took that advice to heart.
Following in his brothers' footsteps, he joined the coed business fraternity, Phi Chi Theta which was accepting non-business majors at the time. He joined the Penn State Club Lacrosse team and was elected to serve as Vice-President his junior year (not an easy feat given that the previous season had been shut down due to COVID). That experience led to membership on Penn State’s Club Sports Council. He participated in Penn State’s Sports Business Club and served as event coordinator for the club’s annual Sports Business Conference. His senior year, he danced in THON as a representative of Phi Chi Theta.
Also during his senior year at Penn State, he completed the Philadelphia Marathon. “I’m not much of a runner,” he laughed. “My brother is a distance runner. I figured if he can do it, I can do it.”
Sean completed four (4) internships in sports and recreation to prepare for his career. His first as Event Management and Operations Intern with Pattison Sports Group and Victory Event Series in Glen Mills, PA, involved setting up lacrosse tournaments all over the East Coast. From there, he went on to Happy Valley’s Nittany Valley Sports Centre, the Centre Region’s indoor and outdoor sports facility, in programs and operations. He then interned with Penn State Athletics Marketing team. “I worked with the team marketing all varsity sports and was the lead marketing intern for Men’s Basketball. That was the year we went to the NCAA tournament. It was a great experience.”
In the summer before his senior year, Sean took on a role in sales that changed the course of his interests. As a Sales and Marketing intern for Field Lining and Painting Services in Glen Mills, Sean was focused on acquiring new customers, communicating with existing customers, and representing the company at tournaments, events, and trade shows. “That was when I really became interested in selling,” said Sean.
Sean looked at his varied experiences and involvement as opportunities to network and to figure out exactly the path that he wanted to take with the RPTM and commercial recreation field.
After graduation, Sean returned home to West Chester, Pennsylvania. “That summer, my job was to get a job,” he laughed. Based on his experience at Penn State and with sales, he knew he really liked the business, promotion, and client facing side of collegiate sports.
He landed a job with The Gazelle Group in Princeton, NJ selling sponsorship agreements for college basketball and hockey pre-season and in-season events. “Princeton is a beautiful place, and I pictured myself settling down there but I soon found myself going back to Philly on the weekends for family and friends.” When an opportunity came to work closer to home at the University of Pennsylvania, he took it.
Sean is currently an Account Executive with JMI Sports, with an office in Franklin Field at UPENN. JMI Sports works as the intermediary between UPENN Athletics and corporate and business partnerships to support the athletic programs, including the Penn Relays. In addition to UPENN, JMI works with other universities like Pitt, University of Kentucky, UCLA, and Notre Dame. “My role is finding new business opportunities and activation of sponsors for Penn,” said Sean.
“My current boss is a Penn State alum,” said Sean. “The Penn State network is massive.”
When asked what advice he would give to current undergraduates in RPTM, Sean was clear. “Get involved. Be open to new things. Be kind to people and introduce yourself to everyone – other students, professors and everyone you can. It’s all about leveraging connections.”