CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Learfield announced today that Kevin Williams has been appointed general manager for Patriot League Sports Properties. The Patriot League is represented exclusively by Learfield for marketing and sponsorship initiatives.
Williams, the former associate athletic director for external relations and development for Queens College in Queens, NY, served in Queens’ athletics administration for four years before joining Learfield’s core collegiate business in spring 2018. Most recently, Williams served as manager-business development for Learfield’s Seton Hall Sports Properties representing the Pirates.
Williams will lead all activity related to the Patriot League’s corporate relationships, selling certain League assets, and overseeing on-site marketing and promotions at all 23 League Championship events. He will work alongside Commissioner Jennifer Heppel and the entire League office.
“We are excited to have Kevin work in the League office. We’ve enjoyed our partnership with Learfield and consider them an outstanding partner continually aligned with our business objectives, goals and ideals,” said Heppel.
During his stint with Queens College, Williams led various initiatives to bolster sponsorship revenue and reduce departmental cost. He led and marketed the 40th anniversary of the first collegiate women’s basketball game at Madison Square Garden and helped significantly increase attendance for both men’s and women’s basketball two consecutive seasons. He secured the City University of New York’s (CUNY) and Queens College Athletics department first sponsorship deals as well. Williams’ prior experience also includes serving six years in marketing manager roles overseeing the Amazon account at the Taylor and Francis Group in New York, NY. He is an alumnus of Iona College.
“We feel certain Kevin will do an outstanding job for the Patriot League given his business acumen, knowledge of the area and range of experience inside collegiate athletics,” said Learfield Vice President Gerry Dickey.
Full Patriot League member institutions include American, Army West Point, Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland and Navy. Associate members include Fordham in football; Georgetown in both football and women’s rowing; Massachusetts Institute of Technology in women’s rowing; and Richmond in women’s golf. Learfield holds individual multimedia rights agreements with Army West Point, Bucknell, Fordham and Lehigh.
Patriot League member institutions are among the oldest and most prestigious in the nation. Alumni from Patriot League colleges and universities have played a leadership role in the shaping of our country. In the classroom, the Patriot League’s full-member institutions, individually and collectively, consistently rank among the top Division I programs in the NCAA Graduation Rates Report. Since 1998, the Patriot League has ranked first among all Division I conferences offering scholarships in student-athlete graduation rates according to the NCAA Graduation Rates report.
Learfield has long been immersed in the collegiate athletics landscape. In addition to the Patriot League, the company manages the multimedia and sponsorship rights for nearly 130 collegiate institutions, conferences and arenas, in addition to supporting athletic departments at all competitive levels as title sponsor of the prestigious Learfield Directors’ Cup. Learfield also provides its collegiate partners access to professional concessions and ticket sales; branding, licensing and commerce management; digital and social expertise; campus-wide business and sponsorship development; and venue technology systems.