As Houston welcomes the world for the FIFA World Cup 2026, Rice University students are helping make it happen.
From sponsorship activations and fan experiences to human rights initiatives and sustainability efforts, Rice students have spent the past year gaining firsthand experience behind the scenes of the world’s largest sporting event.
The opportunities are part of a long-standing relationship between the university’s sport management program and Houston’s sports industry leaders. Several students have served as yearlong interns with the FIFA World Cup 2026 Houston Host Committee, while roughly 15 students have participated through internships, volunteer opportunities and other World Cup-related roles across the city.
For David Brady, chief of staff for the host committee, the yearlong internships offer students a rare opportunity to see how a global sporting event comes together from start to finish.
“They started in August, and they’ll be with us through the end of July,” Brady said. “It gives them a unique opportunity to experience the world’s largest sporting event from the ground floor and see how every aspect of an operation like this is planned and executed. That’s the type of experience you can’t get in a classroom and you can’t get from a normal internship.”
The students’ responsibilities span nearly every aspect of tournament preparation.
Building partnerships
Junior Jacob Lozano Bolanos, a sponsorships and partnerships intern with the host committee, helps ensure the organization’s corporate partnerships run smoothly.
His work includes coordinating event logistics, supporting partner communications, reviewing commission agreements and developing presentations for stakeholders. Recently, he helped manage logistics and merchandise distribution for the Aramco Soccer Clinics, which reached more than 500 students at local schools.
For Lozano Bolanos, the experience has reinforced the importance of attention to detail.
“When everything is hectic with tasks piling up and deadlines to meet ahead of this huge-scale global event, things can get lost and forgotten,” he said. “Yet those details cannot be overlooked because they show how much we care about the work and the people we’re serving.”
A lifelong soccer fan, Lozano Bolanos said he hopes to one day apply what he has learned to help support the 2028 Summer Olympics in his hometown of Los Angeles.
Planning for fans
For sport management student Charlie Bridgewater, the World Cup has offered an inside look at the operational complexity required to host millions of visitors and fans.
As an operations coordinator with the host committee, Bridgewater has spent the past year helping plan the FIFA Fan Festival, one of the largest public-facing components of the tournament.
His responsibilities touch nearly every aspect of the event, including transportation, parking operations, signage, volunteer logistics, vendor coordination and on-site execution.
One of his most memorable experiences involved helping lead a multiday talent search and audition process to identify performers for the Fan Festival’s main stage.
“A lot of the work happens long before the event itself, and every detail matters,” Bridgewater said. “I’ve learned how important communication is when you’re working with city officials, vendors, community partners, event staff and internal teams all at the same time.”
Creating a lasting legacy
For senior Cielo Reyes, the World Cup’s impact extends beyond the matches themselves.
As a human rights and sustainability intern, Reyes has contributed to accessibility initiatives, human trafficking awareness training, workers' rights resources and the host committee's human rights action plan, which outlines how Houston will address issues such as public safety, accessibility and support for vulnerable populations before and during the tournament.
Reyes said the experience has revealed the extensive planning required to ensure an event of this scale is safe, accessible and beneficial for the broader community.
During her internship, Reyes has witnessed the growth of FREEKICKS Houston, a legacy initiative that provides club soccer opportunities and scholarship support for youth in underserved communities. As the program has expanded across the region, she has seen firsthand how the World Cup's legacy efforts are working to increase access to the sport.
The program carries personal significance.
Growing up in a low-income family, Reyes said scholarships made it possible for her and her younger brother to participate in club soccer. Today, she serves as president of Rice Women’s Club Soccer and sees programs like FREEKICKS Houston as a way to open similar doors for the next generation of players.
“Soccer in the United States is often a pay-to-play system,” she said. “My younger brother and I were fortunate to receive scholarships, but a lot of kids don’t have those same opportunities.”
A senior double-majoring in sport management and sports medicine and exercise physiology, Reyes said she hopes to work in community relations for a professional sports organization after graduation.
“This kind of legacy work is what I want to be a part of and hope to bring to communities in the future,” she said.
Learning beyond the classroom
Rice students have become valuable contributors because they arrive with both classroom knowledge and practical experience, Brady said.
“They come in already with tremendous experience,” Brady said. “There are a lot of things you don’t have to teach them because they already know them, and it made it an easy transition to have students involved from the very beginning.”
Tom Stallings, professor of sport management, said experiences like the World Cup internships are central to the Rice program’s approach to preparing students for careers in the sports industry.
“We work very hard to get students real-world experience while they’re in school,” Stallings said. “Because the sports industry is so competitive, it’s important that students build their networks and gain practical experience before they graduate. As a result, Rice sport management graduates have consistently secured highly competitive full-time opportunities throughout the sports industry, from professional teams and leagues to agencies, governing bodies and sports-related businesses.”
That emphasis on experiential learning has helped create a pipeline of opportunities for Rice students, from internships with professional sports teams to roles supporting major events such as the World Cup.
As Houston’s World Cup preparations enter their final stages, Rice students will continue supporting activities tied to the FIFA Fan Festival, youth soccer initiatives and other tournament-related programs.
For those helping bring the event to life, the experience offers more than a line on a resume. It provides a rare opportunity to contribute to a global sporting event while gaining lessons that will shape their careers long after the final whistle.