SAN JOSE, Calif. – Matt Mendes, who has 11 years of sales and sponsorship experience in college and professional sports, recently accepted the position of general manager of Spartan Sports Properties as announced today by San Jose State University Athletics Director Marie Tuite.
To date, Mendes has secured more than $40milion in premium, sponsorship and ticket sales for the teams he represented. Spartan Sports Properties is the locally based team for Learfield IMG College, the university’s athletics multimedia rightsholder.
“We are very fortunate to have a successful and experienced sales executive like Matt taking over the important position of Spartan Sports Properties general manager. He’s had success throughout his career in a variety of challenging sales environments, in several roles such as group and premium ticket sales, sponsorship sales and managing business relationships with high-end corporate clients. We are looking forward to his leadership in the areas of sponsorships and media rights for San Jose State University Athletics,” said Tuite.
Most recently, he was a senior manager of premium sales for the Staples Center, home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the last two professional seasons. His NBA experience also includes working for the Sacramento Kings as a manager of premium sales and the New Orleans Hornets as a corporate business development executive.
Mendes’ professional sports experience also includes working for the Los Angeles Dodgers as a premium sales executive (2013-15) and the San Jose Sharks of the NHL as a sales manager for corporate sponsorships (2012-13).
“I’m excited to return to the GM chair with Learfield IMG College and look forward to working alongside the entire San Jose State athletics administration representing the Spartans,” said Mendes.
The graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) majored in sports management. He began his sports sales career in 2009 as the director of corporate sales for the Joliet (Ill.) JackHammers, an independent minor league baseball franchise in the Northern League.
His first experience at the college level was as the general manager of Learfield IMG College’s Mustang Sports Properties for Cal Poly University Athletics (2016-17), a position similar to his new responsibilities at San Jose State.
Matt is talented and professional, and we’re proud to have him serving as general manager,” said Learfield IMG College Vice President Multi-Media Rights Jeff Bolitho. “He brings a brings a wealth of experience to our local team as we continue to help grow the Spartan brand within the state and on a national level.”
Mendes is joined by John Elliott, manager of business development, as the Spartan Sports Properties team headquartered in the San Jose State University Athletics Department.