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Justin Maccagnan’21, Journalism (IT minor), is currently a Network and IT Systems Engineer at World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he is in charge of all of the network infrastructure for WWE and MLS at 707 Stamford, including maintenance, troubleshooting and upgrading. His day-to-day involves three different aspects of engineering: – Broadcast- this is more physical equipment (cameras, graphics and replay) maintenance and troubleshooting – Network- configuring and deploying switches into the infrastructure of WWE as well as troubleshooting any issues that arise during the implementation and thereafter – Cybersecurity- analyzing malicious IP addresses attempting to enter the WWE firewall and hack equipment, virus investigation as well as upgrading and expanding the security policies of the WWE mainframe network. He says, “These three main functions come in different spurts but as an engineer, you must be thinking from both inside and outside of the network. How would someone try to exploit our network? Is there any glaring holes in our security policies? What is the current configuration of our network switches and how do we improve them if needed? Are there upgrades that need to be made? These are questions that are racking my brain 24/7 and being the best engineer means always thinking of ways to improve the infrastructure so that it isn’t vulnerable. Furthermore, we have 4 different companies working inside of WWE’s main headquarters, including MLS (Major League Soccer), IMG (International Managment Group), PBR (Professional Bull Riding) and AELive (International Graphics Company). Which means that if an issue came up, depending on what company it pertains to, that means I have to understand the interior network of each company so that I know what the source of the problem may be. It is most certainly a lot…. but I love every second of it.”
Prior to joining the WWE, Justin held broadcast engineer positions at CNBC and NBCUniversal, Metlife Stadium, Philadelphia Phillies, New Jersey Devils, Princeton University, Syracuse Athletics, and a broadcast associate position with Major League Baseball.
While at UMass, Justin was involved with
- UMass Sports Network
- WMUA Radio
- UMass Student Television Station
- Athletics Department as both an employee and intern
- Zeta Beta Tau.
- He was also Sam the Minuteman all four years!
Justin says, “Overall, these clubs and groups helped mold me to my eventual career in network and cybersecurity engineering. WMUA and UMass Sports Network were crucial for me in understanding the various aspects of broadcast and the intertwined network of cables that make the show happen. Without them, I most likely would not have gotten into grad school and picked up so quickly on the technical knowledge of broadcast television so I am very grateful for what they did for me. I would encourage anyone interested in the field of broadcast television to look at UMass Sports Network and the UMass Athletics Department. There is so much knowledge and people willing to help you learn more about the industry so do your best to get involved in any way possible. You also get to work major sporting events (including nationally televised hockey games) and if you put it in the right amount of effort, you will learn so much about how the actual production of a sporting event occurs, setting you up for future success with major news and entertainment organizations.”
Justin completed broadcast internships with Keene Swampbats, UMass Athletics, and a camera operator internship at Northeastern University.
