BCS National Champs Crimson Tide Visits Obama Yesterday
The Tide has rolled into Washington, D.C. as Nick Saban and his winning football team received an honorary visit with President Obama yesterday. They also are touring the National Mall and other landmarks, and participating in a service project with area youth.
We’re proud to have Alabama in our portfolio of outstanding schools and hope their trip to the nation’s capital was rewarding. Story and photo gallery »
McIver new Associate GM at Hurricane Sports Properties
Jim McIver is the new Associate General Manager for Hurricane Sports Properties at Miami. He comes to us from AEG in Los Angeles, where he served just over a year as Vice President, Business Development. Prior to that, he served 15 years with IMG’s L.A. office in the same position. He’s an avid runner and golfer and was a letter man on the Asuza Pacific baseball team.
Aztec Change-Up
We wanted to tell you about some changes happening at our Aztec Sports Properties at San Diego State. Diane Penny has done an exceptional job serving as General Manager since December 2007 and she’s now shifting into a dual role continuing to sell corporate partnerships for SDSU while also handling National Television Strategic Planning for all of Learfield Sports.
This is an exciting move for Diane, and she’ll of course still be very much a part of the Aztec Sports Properties’ operation. She is well-versed in the business of television, having spent 15+ years in various producing positions with CNN, Twentieth Century Fox, Lifetime Television, as well as ABC News/Good Morning America, prior to joining Learfield in March 2006 (initially with our Oregon State property).
With this move, we’re pleased to announce that Jeff Bolitho has been promoted to ASP General Manager, having served as an Account Executive since March 2008. Before Learfield Sports, Jeff was Chief Marketing Officer for On The Record Sports and as Director of Business Development for eBranded Solutions Sponsorship Group, both in San Diego. He also served as Sports Marketing Director for Trio Design Group and as Marketing Manager for the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks. He is an Arizona State alum, and he and his wife, Kathleen, have son Jackson (9) and daughter Campbell (7).
Penn State Sports Properties adds AE’s Nelson, Younker
Doug Nelson joins us as a Penn State Sports Properties Account Executive. He’ll have no problem working with GM Pat Fagan and the PSSP team in representing his alma mater, the Nittany Lions. Doug and his wife, Victoria, have a daughter, Jade (13), and two sons, Dante (8) and Domenic (5).
Doug comes to PSSP from the Cleveland Cavaliers organization, serving as Group Sales Manager for their AHL Lake Erie Monsters hockey team. Before that, he served three years in various sales and sponsorship roles with the ECHL Johnstown Chiefs hockey team, and he also has been Ticket Account Manager with the Altoona Curve Baseball team (AA-Eastern League).
New Account Executive Randy Younker also recently joined PSSP. Randy, a longtime Florida resident, moves from the sunshine state to Pennsylvania with his wife, Beth, who actually has numerous family members who’ve lived in State College for a long time. Their kids are Andrew (18), Alyssa (16), Ansley (6) and Aidan (2).
Randy has been immersed in the sports marketing arena nearly 20 years, having gained experience at the collegiate, professional and high school levels. He most recently served as Director of Sales for Youth Sports Marketing, and before that, was Partnership Development Manager for NBA’s Orlando Magic. He also owned a full-service advertising agency, Your Ad Source, Inc., for five years, and served 10 years as an Account Supervisor with BBDO. Randy has a B.S. from Illinois State and master’s degree from Georgia.
Butcher back as Graphic Designer
Brandon Butcher recently joined Learfield Sports’ Plano office to help meet corporate and property-based graphic design needs. He comes with outstanding experience from The Richards Group, a notable Dallas-based ad agency, where he was Interactive Brand Manager for Click Here, its interactive/digital division.
Before that, he served one year as Sales & Marketing Associate for Mizzou Sports Properties and completed internships with the Mizzou Club Sports Federation and United States Tennis Association (MO Valley section).
While at Mizzou, Brandon helped start the official men’s club soccer program and played four years. His final year, the team won the National Club Soccer Championship. He’s also an avid runner, mountain biker and loves to travel.
Graham Ashe: From UNC to UNI
Graham Ashe is the new Account Executive for our Northern Iowa Panther Sports Properties team. He comes to UNI from UNC, where he graduated and recently interned a short time with our Tar Heel Sports Properties team. He also has experience serving as an Account Representative for State Farm Insurance.
Graham, a native of Hendersonville, N.C., will be making the move to Iowa with his wife, Joanna.
Gamewell returns to home team
It’s a homecoming of sorts for Matt Gamewell, who returns to the Learfield family as a Senior Account Executive for Mizzou Sports Properties. A Mizzou alum, Matt initially served a three-year stint with the company as Reporter and Anchor on Brownfield and Missourinet in Jefferson City years ago. After that, he moved to Chicago to serve as Sales Development Manager for Chicago magazine and as Midwest Advertising Director for Esquire Magazine. He also gained experience with KPLR Television in St. Louis as a Reporter/Anchor.
He comes to us by way of Chicago, having most recently served as Sales Director for PointRoll. Matt and his wife, Kate, have three-year-old Mallory and two-month-old Andy. He holds his master’s degree from Northwestern and enjoys running, golf, snowboarding, biking, cooking and live music.
Lobo Sports Properties Hritz home run
Lobo Sports Properties added new Account Executive Ted Hritz to the team last week. Ted, a Penn State alum, is not only a big college football and hockey fan, he enjoys playing obscure sports like kickball.
Prior to joining our New Mexico property, Ted lived in Phoenix serving as the Manager of Corporate Sales for the Arizona Golf Association. Before that, he was an Account Manager for Sports 620 KTAR, the flagship radio station for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Cardinals, Phoenix Suns and ASU. His prior experience also includes serving as the Corporate Sales Manager for the Phoenix Coyotes and as Sales Manager for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Columbus Destroyers.
Greg and Joshua to help out in Haiti
I wanted to make you aware of an upcoming trip that Joshua Madden (from the HR team) and I will be taking. We are headed to Haiti to work with a group called the Global Orphan Project Team (GO). From what I know, he and I will be helping locate Haitian children that have lost their parents or family in the recent tragic earthquake that hit the country and get them stabilized and relocated to GO-sponsored orphanages. As I understand it, we may also be involved in the construction of another orphanage as many of the existing and recently constructed facilities are overflowing with children.
I’m sure many of you have been following the events in Haiti and may be aware of this, but to complicate matters, the trafficking of children for sale and for sex-trade is a major problem in the country. For that reason the need to locate these at risk children quickly and get them to safe places is hugely important. You’d think by now they’d all be in safe hands, but that is simply not the case. It’s hard to even fathom what the people of Haiti and more specifically the children have had to endure and will continue to deal with for some time to come.
This is not a company sponsored or affiliated trip, but if you care to follow us along on our trip, we will be blogging (see Greg’s Blog in the sidbar to the right) and tweeting (@learfield) to the extent we have communication access. I’m looking forward to the trip and the chance to serve and learn. If you have a desire to help, let Joshua or me know or we may post some information on how to do so. Please pray for the people of Haiti and their recovery and that Joshua and I will find unique ways to care for, serve and love these people who are in such great need.
–Greg
Miller heads up MVC
Beginning today, Branden Miller officially takes the reins as General Manager of our brand-new, St. Louis-based property servicing the Missouri Valley Conference. Since 2005, Branden has been a member of our Mizzou Sports Properties team serving as Account Executive and Sales and Marketing Associate.
Branden is a Mizzou alum and Kansas City native, and we’re looking forward to the upstart of “MVC Sports Properties”. He and his wife, Sarah, moved to the St. Louis area January 18
