WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Banks Shepherd has been appointed Wake Forest Sports Properties’ general manager as announced today by LEARFIELD, the university’s athletics multimedia rightsholder.
Shepherd, who officially starts on Feb. 16, brings significant industry experience to the Wake Forest Sports Properties team. Most recently, he served as general manager for LEARFIELD’s dedicated Tulane Sports Properties team in New Orleans, where he led sponsorship sales and brand relationships during a momentous and historic run for the Green Wave. Shepherd will be relocating to Winston-Salem and serve as the primary LEARFIELD liaison related to Wake Forest’s comprehensive athletics multimedia rights agreement and corporate partner platform. He will work closely with the athletics administration and Director of Athletics John Currie on all aspects of LEARFIELD’s relationship with the Demon Deacons.
“We appreciate the diligence of Joe Baldini and his LEARFIELD colleagues in identifying Banks and bringing him to Winston-Salem,” said Currie. “We were impressed by his creativity and energy in the interview process and are confident that he will have a big impact on delivering value to our partners while we continue to strive towards our goals of a World Class Student-Athlete Experience and delivering the Best Fan Experience in North Carolina.”
Prior to serving with Tulane, Shepherd spent five years as manager, business development in Chapel Hill with Tar Heel Sports Properties, LEARFIELD’s team dedicated to University of North Carolina. His previous experience also includes business development for the athletics multimedia rights teams at Baylor and LSU. Additionally, Shepherd was a development assistant at Ole Miss after beginning his career with Vanderbilt in the marketing and development offices.
Shepherd, a Jackson, Miss. native and a graduate of the University of Mississippi, holds a master’s degree in sports administration from Belmont University and an MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.
“Banks will be a terrific leader for our Wake Forest Sports Properties team,” said LEARFIELD Senior Vice President, Multi-Media Rights, South Region Joe Baldini. “He has valuable connections in the Southeast and throughout North Carolina, and his deep passion for college athletics and impressive success thus far made this an easy decision. We’re proud to have him at Wake.”
LEARFIELD is a leading media, data and technology services company in intercollegiate athletics. The company unlocks the value of sports for brands and fans through an omnichannel platform with innovative content and commerce solutions. LEARFIELD services includes licensing and multimedia sponsorship management; publishing, audio, digital and social media; data analytics; ticketing, ticket sales and professional concessions expertise; branding; campus-wide business and sponsorship development. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions.