When Meghan O’Donnell, a 2016 graduate of the sport management program in the University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, first learned she’d been named a Rising Star in the Philadelphia Business Journal’s annual Women of Influence Awards, she’d been wrestling all day with doubts about her ability.
“It was funny timing because I was having severe imposter syndrome at the time,” said O’Donnell, only to have her doubts refuted by being featured on an exclusive list of young business professionals who’ve achieved success early in their careers.
With positions at sports powerhouses like ESPN, Philadelphia Eagles, and, currently, FIFA World Cup 26 Philadelphia, O’Donnell has made a name for herself as a leader in the sports industry during her years following graduation.
Growing up, sports were a constant in O’Donnell’s life. She spent mornings listening to sports talk radio on the way to school and evenings at soccer practice. When it came time to select a career, sport management felt as natural as stepping onto the playing field. And while she was initially resistant to the idea of attending her mother’s alma mater, O’Donnell fell in love with UD’s campus upon her first visit.
“I visited during the fall and got to see the leaves changing. I love the campus itself, the whole town and Main Street … After that visit, just knowing [UD] had the programs that interested me and a lot of other opportunities — that is really what sealed it for me,” said O’Donnell, who pursued a dual major in mass communications and sport management.
Mirroring her active professional life, O’Donnell as a student filled her schedule with campus activities related to her dream job. In addition to working as a marketing and operations assistant for the athletic department, O’Donnell was a managing sports editor for the UD Review, an athletics announcer for WVUD campus radio station, and a teaching assistant. Timothy DeSchriver, sport management associate professor and O’Donnell’s faculty supervisor, recalls O’Donnell was constantly searching for new ways to improve herself and prepare for her future career.
“She was a hard worker and did very well in all her classes … She was always looking to get experience, build a resume, and network,” said DeSchriver.
Earning credits toward a sport management capstone internship, O’Donnell had the chance to enter the working world early by interning at ESPN within the Stats and Information Group. She spent a summer in Bristol, Conn., producing data-driven content for ESPN’s digital and television news. After the internship, O’Donnell was offered a full-time position and entered her senior year with a job lined up after graduation — an opportunity she believes launched her career.
“I really credit UD for the internship with ESPN, which led to my first job and every subsequent role,” said O’Donnell, which includes her current role overseeing the marketing and communications of one of the largest sporting events in the world, the FIFA World Cup, coming to Philadelphia in 2026.
As director of strategic communications for Philadelphia Soccer 2026, O’Donnell is part of a small team that collaborates closely with city and state stakeholders, the federal government, and FIFA to plan and execute six games that’ll be held at Lincoln Financial Field next summer. She was contacted by FIFA personally when the job became available in January 2025. O’Donnell’s role is to educate the public and generate excitement for the event, encouraging the city’s fan base to embrace a worldwide soccer event.
“Philadelphia is such a great sports city to begin with and we know that we have such passionate fans here, whether it’s the Eagles, the Phillies, the Sixers, the Flyers or the Union … They can understand the magnitude and how cool and rare it is to have this opportunity,” said O’Donnell, who’s excited to see the local passion for American sports translate to the world’s game. To appeal to these wide-ranging fandoms, O’Donnell notes her team has been marketing this event as a party in which any sports fan can participate.
Along with an estimated $770 million in economic impact for the greater Philadelphia region, O’Donnell is looking forward to showcasing Philadelphia on an international platform.
“If we perform really well and show out on that global stage the way we expect to, it also creates numerous opportunities for Philly in the future,” said O’Donnell. Citing the region’s packed 2026 lineup of sporting events, O’Donnell envisions the success of the FIFA World Cup positioning Philadelphia as an international hub long-term, hosting other global games like the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup or even the Olympics.
Despite building a prolific career for herself over the past decade, O’Donnell humbly attributes her award to the mentors and professors who’ve supported her along the way, including DeSchriver, who prepared her for the harsh realities of the industry.
“I was often one of only a handful of women in the sport management program. Dr. DeSchriver used to say all the time that different standards existed for women in sports – that you had to constantly prove yourself and your knowledge, whereas men don’t necessarily have to deal with that. I remember thinking, ‘This is 2016. That’s not true anymore,’ and then I went into the sports world and experienced that in my very first job at ESPN,” said O’Donnell, who dealt with misogyny and sexual harassment from a manager until she left to work for the former AFL team Philadelphia Soul.
With mentors playing such a vital role in her growth at UD, entering the working world without a similar support system in place inspired her to create a community for women in the sports industry with her ESPN internship roommate Samantha Ward. Drawing from their separate experiences dealing with bad company culture at their first jobs, O’Donnell and Ward decided to cofound EmpowHERed, a program that pairs women entering the industry with mentors.
“We always joked that we created EmpowHERed as a way to support our younger selves and to be that support system for women who are looking to get into the industry,” said O’Donnell.
Through EmpowHERed, O’Donnell continues to stay connected to UD by making its resources accessible to students in UD’s Women in Sports club through campus talks and open invitations to networking events. She’s also active in the Lerner Executive Mentoring Program and the Honors Alumni Mentoring Network.
“I don’t think I’d be anywhere in my career without having the opportunities [I had at UD]… I’m extremely grateful and that’s another reason why I love to stay involved in anything I can to support the sport management program, Lerner and UD itself,” said O’Donnell.