From MSU to MLB, Instructor Alexandrea Stanley’s Journey Through the Sports Industry
How her career in Major League Baseball began in East Lansing, Michigan
By: Nolan Czaja
Alexandrea Stanley, an instructor for MSU’s Department of Advertising and Public Relations, has had a successful career both in and out of the sports industry. Having worked with the Detroit Tigers and the Brockton Rox, a minor league baseball team in Brockton, Massachusetts, she has seen firsthand the value of communications within sports organizations.
She’s also an alumna, having earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing and master’s in public relations from Michigan State University. MSU is where her sports career originated, having heard about an internship opportunity at the Tigers from one of her campus friends. At that time, she was a huge baseball fan, and says she couldn’t believe there was an opportunity to potentially combine work and baseball.
“He forwarded it to me and was like, ‘oh my gosh, this is your dream job, you should apply for it,’ and I remember joking with him afterward and I was like ‘I don’t know, is this a real job? This can’t be a real job,’” Stanley said.
She eventually applied through the team website, which led to an interview and eventually an internship offer. After one season with the Tigers, she wanted to advance her sports career, which led her to a job with the Brockton Rox as the director of community relations, promotions, merchandise and advertising.
Stanley was with the Rox for three seasons, holding a variety of different roles, before deciding that she wanted to pursue a community relations-focused role. She says her goal was to get back to the MLB, specifically to her hometown team, the Detroit Tigers.
Stanley was able to make the transition back to the Tigers, where she worked in community affairs, a niche of the sports industry involving an organization’s philanthropic efforts in its community. She says she enjoyed being able to focus more on her strengths and passions within the larger organization.
“In minor league baseball, you do a little bit of everything. In major league baseball, you’re hired to do one job,” said Stanley.
She ended up staying with the Tigers for nine more seasons, leaving in 2016. While at the Tigers, Stanley says she created memories that she cherishes to this day. She was able to work on a program that hosted a dinner and shopping spree for underprivileged children in Detroit, an event she says she was grateful to have been able to contribute to for that special community.
“One of the more surprising parts of that, and why it’s memorable for me, is that a lot of kids bought things for other people,” Stanley said.
She says students should take advantage of all the opportunities on campus to help expand their network, which she believes is extremely important in the sports industry.
“Curiosity and asking questions are two things that help you grow in almost any career, but especially sports,” Stanley said.