Bradley Polkowitz ’23 on How He Turned a Smith Degree into an NFL Dream

As a high schooler, Bradley Polkowitz ’23 dreamt about a career in sports. He found a way to get in the game at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Polkowitz, a double major graduating with degrees in operations management and business analytics (OMBA) and marketing at the Smith School, is taking his first steps in living out the career path he always desired as an international rotational analyst for the National Football League (NFL).

Since starting the NFL Rotational Program in July 2023, Polkowitz has served the league’s sports betting, club and labor finance teams. His latest rotation involves supporting the NFL’s international growth department, which is focused on marketing and engaging a global audience.

Every step he’s taken has been intentional, including his decision to attend the Smith School as an out-of-state student from New Jersey. The school’s location within a bustling sports market provided a supportive environment for breaking into the industry.

“Once I got to UMD, I said, ‘Hey, how can I make this dream happen? What should I be doing right now to get there?’” says Polkowitz. “I wanted to set myself up to get a great job in the sports industry and start my career on the right path.”

Polkowitz's strategy for setting himself on that path included engaging the UMD community through student organizations and extracurricular opportunities. Part of that was accomplished by joining the Smith School’s Sports Business Society (SBS) during his freshman year, which he would ultimately take the mantle as president during his sophomore year and remain tenured until graduation.

Through SBS, Polkowitz and his peers founded the organization’s Maryland Sports Business Conference, an annual event that provides a forum for discussing the most prevalent topics in the sports world with industry professionals through networking sessions, fireside chats, and panels.

“We have so many Smith alumni in the sports industry, and we wondered how we could reach out and get them involved on campus again,” says Polkowitz. “The vision was to help everyone make connections, network and grow. It’s always tough to break into an industry or chase your dream job when you don’t have access to resources like that.”

As he continued growing SBS and its conference, Polkowitz bolstered his sports industry repertoire as a student employee for Maryland Athletics. He got his foot in the door as an operations assistant and subsequently supported the athletic department with graphic design projects.

Those experiences culminated in an internship with Maryland Football, during which he supported the team’s recruiting and operations capabilities and continued his graphic design work. Whether creating flyers and marketing materials or leading tours of football facilities for recruits, Polkowitz was there to get the job done and absorb as much as he could.

He learned early on some of the keys to succeed in the sports industry: Be flexible, work hard and strive to win at everything you do, no matter how trivial a task seems.

“When you’re young in sports, those types of duties are assigned to you a lot, and what people look at is whether you can show your versatility and willingness to work hard,” says Polkowitz. “No one wants someone who will complain and slack off. They’re looking for people who will roll up their sleeves and help them win.”

Polkowitz brought that mentality to spearheading the Smith School’s creation of its Sports Management Program (SMP), launched in collaboration with the School of Public Health’s Department of Kinesiology and Maryland Athletics to equip students with the skills and opportunities required to pursue careers in the sports industry.

In recognition of his role in promoting sports management resources and initiatives during his time at Smith, program administrators and Smith School Undergraduate Dean Joseph Bailey established the Bradley Polkowitz Founders Award for students whose “dedication, passion, and leadership have left an incredible mark on the UMD community.” Polkowitz presented the award to kinesiology major and SMP inaugural cohort member Zoe Melonas ’25 in April 2024.

Now serving on the Sport Management Program’s alumni advisory board, Polkowitz says it’s “humbling and gratifying” to stay involved with the Smith School and play a role in helping other students work toward realizing their professional aspirations akin to his.

“It's been an honor working alongside many people on this advisory board who I've looked up to and helped me get to where I am today,” says Polkowitz. “I think a lot of my friends and myself wished we had a program like this when we were students, and now we’re in a position to pay it forward.”