Three University of the Pacific students spent their spring break inside the business operations of the San Francisco 49ers, tackling real-world projects that help shape the team’s global strategy.

Do emojis increase push notification open rates?
What impact do janitorial costs have on a team’s bottom line?
How do you rally 49ers fans in the Land Down Under?

Those were just a few of the questions Terrion Evans ’28, Giovanni Garcia ’26 and Andres Tobalina-Iverson ’28 explored during weeklong microinternships that combined professional development with hands-on learning.

From March 9–13, they worked on projects supporting the 49ers’ international marketing efforts ahead of upcoming NFL games abroad. They researched how teams engage fans, locally and overseas, and translated those insights into strategic, data-driven recommendations that they presented at the end of the week.

The microinternships are part of Pacific’s new collaboration with the 49ers as the organization’s official higher education partner, creating opportunities for students to gain real-world experience in the professional sports industry.

"Our partnership with University of the Pacific creates educational opportunities for students through a variety of programs, like Pathway to Success, which provides practical experience in how a professional sports organization operates,” said 49ers Executive Vice President of Finance Jeff Fong.

“Our team was impressed with Andres, Giovanni and Terrion, who were not just observing but participating, asking thoughtful questions and coming up with their own business insights. We are excited to continue our work with Pacific and carve professional pathways for aspiring professionals together.”

Terrion Evans | International Activations

Evans, a marketing and media arts and production double major, interned with the international marketing department, helping develop pregame activation plans for upcoming 49ers games in Australia and Mexico.

He researched stadium locations and capacities, seasonal weather patterns and even national color palettes, exploring how each might align with the 49ers’ brand.

“How can we intentionally make sure that when we’re having games in these respective countries that we’re being holistic, intentional, well-rounded and immersed in the culture so locals feel invited, but people from all over the world also feel like they can be immersed in the culture as well?” he said.

For Evans, the experience also reinforced a sense of purpose.

“That whole week I was reminded that I have purpose in this world. I get to do something that might not seem like a big project now, but when you actually see it activate, and when you see those pictures of people smiling at these things–that's why we do what we do.”

Giovanni Garcia | Digital Marketing

Garcia, a marketing and analytics major, interned with the 49ers’ digital marketing team, focusing on push notification strategies and conducting testing for email campaigns.

“One of the points that my manager wanted me to look at was identifying the best time to send out a push notification,” Garcia said. “The best time is 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. People wake up early in the day and usually the first thing they check is their notification center. But before they even open their phone, they see the notification.”

Garcia also analyzed which subject lines generated the most engagement, compared graphic-heavy emails to text-only messages and evaluated the best days to send communications to fans.

He recalled an exciting moment when the office learned the 49ers had signed wide receiver Mike Evans.

“Everyone’s working and then someone just announces ‘Guys! We just signed Mike Evans!’ and everyone starts talking and mingling and trying to figure out what to do and post next. It was cool seeing everybody so invested and seeing different marketing teams come together and work as one. It was something I have never really seen before.”

Andres Tobalina-Iverson | Finance

Tobalina-Iverson, an applied economics major, joined the 49ers finance and accounting team where he analyzed profit and loss statements and explored how operation costs influence the organization’s financial health.

The experience reshaped how he thinks about data visualization and its role in guiding strategy.

"The main point that I would take away is how you apply what you learn at school to an actual organization. One of the main things that is different is putting the theory into practice,” he said. “For example, doing the profit and loss statement in college they teach you about revenues, costs, other expenses and net profit. But here you had a huge list of expenses, a huge list of revenue streams, and you had to put them all together for them to actually make sense.  That changed my mindset on how I see data and how it's used to share with shareholders and people higher up, so using that data to visualize certain things and share them effectively.” 

Building connections beyond the classroom

Beyond gaining technical experience, the internships emphasized professional growth through workshops on networking, resume building and interview preparation. Daily lunches and interactions with staff helped students feel embedded within the organization.

“One of the biggest highlights I could take away from the internship was just talk to people,” Garcia said. “Networking and building those relationships is the most important thing. There were days where I met with 10 people, and I would have lunch with those same 10 people. The sports industry is so interconnected that once you're in it, you're kind of known. I'm extremely thankful to University of the Pacific for giving us the opportunity.”

The experience also gave the students a new appreciation for the scale and complexity of a professional sports organization.

“My favorite part of the internship was actually feeling part of the team,” Tobalina-Iverson said. “Everyone thinks of the 49ers as the team that competes in the NFL, but they don't really realize that there's a bunch of other subteams that help that team succeed. They don't realize the whole network that's behind the organization and what makes it work. Everyone’s willing to help. I think that's one of the things that I found amazing.”