Summer break doesn’t mean a vacation for Vincenzo Carbone ’27 (CLAS). He’s chasing his passion for sports in the professional world at the Collegiate Sports Management Group (CSMG) in Stamford, Connecticut.

Carbone, a double major in statistical data science and communication, is putting his classroom experience into practice as a media and analytics intern. His work at CSMG spans across both disciplines, allowing him to combine his skills in a variety of ways.

“Right now, I’m working on a lot of coding projects,” Carbone says. “One is a software we’re working on where we can predict viewership in NFL games. I’ve been doing a lot of work in RStudio, which is familiar to me because I’ve used it in my classes.”

Beyond the hands-on experience, Carbone says the company’s connections throughout the collegiate and professional sports worlds have been invaluable,

“My coworkers and supervisors know so many of these people who I can talk to about future jobs and sports analytics,” he explains. “I think that definitely stands out.”

While the Stamford-based company has a far-reaching range of clients and connections, Carbone and his fellow interns help keep CSMG connected locally.

“The local [opportunities] are probably easiest for the younger interns, the ones that are from Connecticut, because we have those connections,” Carbone says. “We can bridge the gap.”

Taking Skills Beyond the Classroom

As a younger person in the workplace, Carbone helps fill in skill gaps and brings a fresh perspective to clients. Knowing how to effectively use modern communication technologies has been extremely beneficial, he says.

“Making things look appealing is a huge thing when you’re pitching yourself to a company that you want to get business from,” Carbone says.

Communications courses at UConn have given him a skill set in modern design software, which has proven to be valuable in the workplace.

“Those skills are always good to have as a young person in a company like this because most of my supervisors didn’t grow up with the technology I’m learning about … that goes a long way for me as an intern,” he explains.

Carbone’s experience in the statistical data science program has also played an important role in his internship success.

He recalls that even his Intro to Data Science class, taught by Professor of Statistics Kun Chen, provided him with knowledge about the data science pipeline that he continues to use today. His classes have helped create a necessary understanding of data science that translates directly into his professional experience.

“It’s easy enough to make a model. Nowadays you can just throw things in AI and they can easily make you a model in seconds,” he says. “It’s how you tweak it and get it to do exactly what you’re looking for. I wrote thousands of lines of code for this internship, but it’s how you can edit it and structure it to get it to a professional level.”

Being able to understand and communicate what the code is doing is especially important in his line of work, Carbone explains.

“You can’t just show your supervisor code; they’re not going to know what it means. You have to be able to explain it,” he says.

Learning the Business of Sports

In addition to growing his time management and professional communication skills, Carbone is getting the opportunity to gain experience in an emerging part of the sports analytics industry, jersey patches.

Jersey patches are small ads that can be seen on athlete’s jerseys during a game. They’ve recently been approved for collegiate sports by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which presents a new opportunity for sports media groups like CSMG.

Cabone is excited to be a part of it.

“To tell people about what I did for this company will be very beneficial to future internships or future jobs I look for, specifically because of jersey patch valuation, which is a new thing in college sports this year,” he says.

Overall, Carbone sees the opportunity as a chance to gain new skills and industry knowledge.

“I definitely see this position as a resume builder,” he says. “I finally got a sports analytics position to put on my resume that I was really looking for this for the past two years.”