There’s a lot to see during a baseball game at Coors Field. Vendors selling delicious treats, run-ins with friends and fellow fans, picking up a jersey, and, of course, there’s the game itself. With all that’s happening, you might not even think about the various billboards lining the outfield or wonder about the advertisement that runs on the jumbotron after a Rockies’ player hits a home run.  That’s where Katie George (B.S., ’20) comes in.

“I really wound up falling into my dream job,” George said. “I never wanted to be in sales or the business development side of sports management, but now I want to be in it forever.”

As an Assistant in the Colorado Rockies’ Client Services Department, George is responsible for identifying business partnerships with the Rockies, building relationships, and then determining how to incorporate advertising and marketing into the games.

“Offseason is when my job is super busy. We’re doing outreach and proposals, understanding marketing objectives, and then putting a partnership together that will fit and come to life during the games,” she said. “Proposals can take months and sometimes years, so it’s the best feeling ever seeing your work come together.”

Though that’s the main piece of her role with the Rockies, being part of a small, nine-person team (one of the smallest front offices in all of Major League Baseball), means George is constantly switching caps and doing everything from removing tarps from the field, filming social media content with players, coordinating the first pitch, and, perhaps even most important, making sure clients and partners are having a great game day experience.

George is no stranger to having fun on the field. Born into an athletic family (her brother played Triple-A ball with Colorado’s farm team, the Albuquerque Isotopes and now works as a scout for the Rockies), George’s childhood is filled with fond memories of all things related to Colorado sports.

“We never went on trips unless they were sports-related,” she said with a laugh.

That passion extended to her time at CSU where she played as many intramural sports as she could with her Chi Omega Sorority sisters.

“We never lost a flag football championship,” George said emphatically. “I was also on the executive team of the sorority, and that helped prepare me for marketing, community engagement, and how to lead a team.”

A business-minded student even in high school, George was a marketing major at CSU and fully expected to just get “a normal, office marketing job,” until she got involved with CSU’s Sports Management Institute (SMI) as a sophomore and added on a sports management minor. Housed in the College of Liberal Arts, SMI provides a social, cultural, and historical perspective to sports, while connecting students to internships and on-the-job experience with different organizations.

“It was awesome and played a big role in where I am now,” George said. “There were always [industry] people coming in to do lectures to help you learn all the different parts of the sports world, and the internship requirements meant you could see how many different types of jobs there are in sports.”

The SMI helped George get her first sports internship with the Colorado Eagles, which helped her realize she did not want to work in the hockey world, and it also helped her understand how broad a career in sports can be. And how competitive it is.

“Especially in Colorado, everyone can relate to sports, so at first you’re thinking of these special things you’ll be doing, but quickly realize it’s down-in-the-dirt work,” she explained.

With 13-hour days and 81 home games a season, you have to have a passion for the work. That’s no problem for George. Not only because of her love for America’s pastime and how she always root, root, roots for the home team, but also because one of her clients is her alma mater.

Just last year, the University’s SMI partnered with the Colorado Rockies (the partnership was with the Denver Broncos while George was a student), which means George is now hiring and mentoring SMI student interns, developing branding, welcoming CSU President Amy Parsons and other University visitors to games, and helping organize an event she used to attend as a student – Rams at the Rockies.

“I get to help with the pregame ceremony and the first pitch, putting ticket packages and giveaways together, and making sure the SMI feature video runs at the right time during the game.” George said. “CSU really owns that entire game, so it’s fun to be involved with. Really the only thing missing is CAM the Ram.”

Even when Coors Field isn’t overrun with Green and Gold, George said the Rockies always feels like home because of all of her fellow alums who work with the organization and how, on any given day, she can hear someone shout, “Go Rams!” while she’s headed to client meetings, thinking about crafting the perfect (business) pitch, or reflecting on how happy she is to be working for an organization that has always been a part of her life.

“I really loved my time at CSU and it holds a place in my heart,” George concluded. “Now, to be a Colorado kid working for a Colorado team that’s focused on keeping their relationship with CSU strong – it’s just super special.”

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Ready to connect with your fellow Rams at Coors Field, root for the home team, and mix green and gold with purple? Visit the CSU Alumni Association website to get tickets for Rams at the Rockies on July 30, 2023.