This program is an opportunity for students with a serious interest in sports analytics to gain a worthwhile educational experience in the field.  Interns will have the opportunity to interact with faculty fellows and sports industry professionals and ask questions about the work they are engaged in. The value of this internship is to both gain experience in sports analytics and to show a potential sports industry employer your skills and abilities as they relate to the field.

Internships are offered in the following areas:

  • Analytics in Player & Game Performance Internship
  • Business Analytics in Sports Internship
  • Player Health and Injury Analytics Internship
  • Publishing/Content Editor Internship
  • Multiplatform Producer Internship
  • Graphic Reporters and Developers Internship
  • Audience Producers/Social Media Internship
  • Audio Producers Internships
  • Scholarly Publishing Internship

The Center for Sports Analytics has internship openings in the fall, spring and summer semesters. While we receive hundreds of inquiries each year, the summer is the most competitive semester. Applicants must be able to commit to 10 hours per week for the entire semester. While all work is performed remotely, interns should plan to meet with their faculty mentor weekly via Zoom. All internships in the Center are unpaid and students MUST be receiving academic credit for the internship from their home institution. Internships are open to students currently enrolled at any accredited university worldwide.

All applications are due three months prior to the beginning of the semester you wish to do the internship. Applications will not be accepted after this date. Due to the high volume of applicants, students who are granted internships will be notified at least two months prior to the beginning of the semester you wish to do the internship. Please be patient when you are waiting to hear about your application status.  If you have not received an offer two months prior to the start date of the semester you applied, you have not been granted an internship opportunity for this year’s program.

Samford University does NOT sponsor work visas.

Applications will be accepted only in the form of Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF formatting. Each application must include a cover letter, resume, and other materials specific to the internship applied for (see descriptions below). E-mail all material to Dr. Darin White, Executive Director, at darin.white@samord.edu. Emails must indicate which internship/s you are applying to both in the email subject line and in the cover letter. Only completed applications that meet the above guidelines will be considered.

Internship Descriptions

Analytics in Player & Game Performance Internship

The Analytics in Player & Game Performance Internship is ideally suited for students majoring in Sports Analytics, Business, Computer Science, Statistics and Strategy. Students majoring in Sports Management/Administration with a minor in Statistics or Analytics would also be considered.

When most people think of analytics in sports, they think of how teams have used data to enhance performance: to select the best players, field the best teams, and make the best decisions on the field or court. Students accepted into this internship will be involved in numerous projects related to player & game performance analytics. Interns will be given the opportunity to highlight their abilities by submitting original sports analytics research for publication on the highly popular Center for Sports Analytics website. Previous interns have leveraged this opportunity into job offers within the field.

Business Analytics in Sports Internship

The Business Analytics in Sports Internship is ideally suited for students majoring in Business Analytics, Sports Business, Finance, Marketing, Economics, Accounting, and Statistics.

A second major category of analytics in sports revolves around business strategy decisions. These include analytics for ticket pricing, fan loyalty, sponsorships, promotions, social media, and fan engagement. Students accepted into this internship will be involved in numerous projects related to sports business analytics. Interns will be given the opportunity to highlight their abilities by submitting original sports analytics research for publication on the highly popular Center for Sports Analytics website. Previous interns have leveraged this opportunity into job offers within the field.

Player Health and Injury Analytics Internship

The Player Health and Injury Analytics Internship is ideally suited for students majoring in Biostats, Health Informatics, Athletic Training, Health Analytics, and other health related fields.

The third category of sports analytics is health and injury analytics. Mental, biochemical, muscular-structural and biomechanical data are gathered by teams. Data is used to alert trainers and coaches if a player’s data are out of the expected range with the goal of injury prevention and peak performance. Students accepted into this internship will be involved in numerous projects related to player health and injury analytics. Interns will be given the opportunity to highlight their abilities by submitting original sports analytics research for publication on the highly popular Center for Sports Analytics website. Previous interns have leveraged this opportunity into job offers within the field.

Publishing/Content Editor Internship

The Publishing/Content Editor Internship is ideally suited for students majoring in English, Writing, or Journalism.

The Center for Sports Analytics receives hundreds of submissions for publication on its website each year. The Publishing Intern will have the opportunity to see the publishing world from the ground up. Under the supervision of the Assistant Editor, the publishing intern will review manuscripts and witness the process a manuscript goes through from submission to publication. The intern will also be invited to observe and learn the process of evaluating manuscripts that are received from the public, prior in-house authors, and industry executives. This experience will include reading manuscripts, summarizing them, and learning how to prepare them for the next phase of publishing: editing and production. The publishing intern will also research potential authors and develop CFPs (call for papers) on topics of relevance to the industry.

Multiplatform Producer Internship

The Multiplatform Producer Internship is ideally suited for students majoring in Digital Marketing and Marketing Analytics.

The multiplatform producer intern will be responsible for updating the website with fresh content and making sure article pages have critical web elements. We are looking for interns with solid sports news judgment, the ability to write smart headlines and blurbs and experience at packaging web stories, photo galleries and videos. An ideal candidate also will be adept at analyzing traffic data and web trends, understanding search engine optimization, be a quick and effective problem solver and be able to quickly learn to use new web publishing tools.

Graphic Reporters and Developers Internship

The Graphic Reporters and Developers Internship is ideally suited for students majoring in Graphic Design.

The graphics reporters and developers tell visual stories and present sports data on the web. A candidate should be able to utilize the entire storytelling toolbox — writing, reporting, charting, coding, mapping and data visualization — and know how to weave it all together to tell engaging sports analytics stories. The candidate will create, or assist in creating, news applications such as data-driven maps, databases, social media apps, and widgets. They will work closely with the Assistant Editor, either through mining existing sports data on the web, taking in feeds, or working with digital producers to imagine new ways to present information. Candidates must be proficient in CSS(3), HTML(5), JQuery, JavaScript and must have experience in developing with databases, XML, JSON, PHP and/or Django. Send a portfolio that includes at least five examples of your work. The portfolio should be contained in one PDF or link on your application form.

Audience Producers/Social Media Internship

The Audience Producers/Social Media Internship is ideally suited for students majoring in Social Media Marketing, Digital Marketing, and Journalism.

The audience producer/social media intern will expand the reach of our storytelling and engagement with our content. We are looking for students who obsessively find ways to connect stories with readers. For instance, you may be a social media editor using Twitter to engage sports fans, a newsletter writer responsible for a weekly email breaking down a team’s biggest story, or a digital editor crafting the perfect web headline. Familiarity reading digital metrics and analyzing reader habits is required. Please include two samples of native digital work you’ve produced (e.g. a tweet thread, newsletter, sharable graphic, website redesign, etc.) with your application.

Audio Producers Internships

The Audio Producer intern helps record, write and edit audio stories for the Center’s podcasts – Statistically Speaking. The ideal candidate has a background in sound design, audio production or both. Our producers combine traditional journalistic skills with creative approaches to telling stories for sports fans through sound. Proficiency in either Adobe Audition or Pro Tools is required. Please include three links to audio clips with your application.

Scholarly Publishing Internship

This internship is open to masters and Ph.D. students that are interested in producing original, peer-reviewed academic research in sports analytics. Students completing this internship will be expected to produce scholarly research that can be presented at prestigious academic conferences and published in leading journals.

Commonly Asked Questions

What time of year is the Center looking for interns?

The Center for Sports Analytics accepts interns for the fall, spring and summer semesters.

What is the deadline for applying for an internship?

  • Deadline for fall term internships – June 1
  • Deadline for spring term internships – October 1
  • Deadline for summer term internships – March 1

Do I have to move to Birmingham for the internship?

No, internships can be completed on-site or remotely. Students that are not on-site need to be prepared to meet with the Executive Director weekly via Zoom.

How many hours does an intern have to work each week?

Interns need to be prepared to work a minimum of ten hours per week.

What skills are required to be an intern in the Center for Sports Analytics?

The required skills depend of which of the internships you are applying for. Please see the above descriptions for more information.

How do I apply?

Any interested applicants should send their resume & cover letter to darin.white@samford.edu. Some internships require additional materials as outlined in the above descriptions. No phone calls please.