Proud moments are when a player in the most watched football game of the year is from a hometown area. Not much is said about someone in the background, but playing a crucial role in the operations of such a day.

New Iberia native Cyone Batiste is gearing up to host the largest sporting event in the country, Super Bowl LIII. Batiste serves as the Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications for the Atlanta Super Bowl Host Committee. She is responsible for digital and social communication, including website management and managing the organization’s brand standards.

Her job is to tell Atlanta’s story through community programs, such as the Legacy 53 initiative, which aims to leave a lasting legacy on the city of Atlanta through sustainability, capital improvement and business development projects. During Super Bowl LIII, Batiste is leading the Social Media Command Center, the hub for all fan communication surrounding the Big Game. While leading a volunteer team of 75 professionals, her team is working to ensure engaging, creative content, rapid fan response and thoughtful crisis management immediately across all social media platforms for the Host Committee accounts, as well as the NFL’s Super Bowl channels.

With thousands of fans traveling to Atlanta for the Big Game, she has been working to ensure fans know there are dozens of ways to get involved with Super Bowl even without a ticket to the game. Events like Super Bowl LIVE, a six-day free-to-the-public fan village, highlighting Atlanta’s music scene and Super Bowl Experience, the NFL’s interactive theme park. Batiste has the unique opportunity to get fans excited about football and the fun that a Super Bowl brings to a city.

“I’ve always had a passion for sports and people. Working on these events has given me the opportunity to use the skills I’ve learned in the classroom to truly tell the ‘off the field’ story of these major events — it’s definitely more than just a game. It’s a beautiful thing when your passion and purpose come together,” said Batiste who has been working on Super Bowl LIII since July 2017.

Prior to Super Bowl LIII, Batiste worked on the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship and served as the marketing and communications manager for the 2016 and 2017 NCAA Men’s Final Four in Houston and Phoenix, Arizona, respectively. Through her years with the Final Four, Batiste organized the largest statewide literacy program in Final Four history, securing 34,000 students at more than 400 schools across the state of Arizona to participate in a March Madness bracket-like challenge.

Batiste is a graduate of Episcopal School of Acadiana in Cade and a 2014 graduate of Louisiana State University. She is the daughter of Alton Batiste Jr. and Gail Simon, both of New Iberia.