Conference alignment and additional executive leadership positions will help school partners transform their business
Dallas, TX (April 24, 2025) – Learfield, the media and technology company powering college athletics, announced a strategic reorganization of its flagship Sports Properties division today, which will – for the first time in company history – align schools by conference, facilitating greater communication and collaboration on revenue growth with similar universities. This strategic reorganization will also add new senior leadership positions to serve as everyday consultative partners to athletics directors. These organizational and leadership changes will help schools transform their businesses and navigate the dynamic conditions in college athletics.
Jeff Purinton, former Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics at Arkansas State University, and Deana Barnes, former President of Learfield’s ticketing division, Paciolan, will join the Sports Properties team. Jeff and Deana will join Andrew Wheeler and Meghan Heinchon in Executive Vice President (EVP) roles, reporting to Learfield Sports Properties president Kim Damron.
With this new reorganization, each EVP will oversee school partners within specific conferences, as well as other partner institutions. Purinton will oversee all Southeastern Conference (SEC) school relationships, Barnes will oversee all Big Ten Conference and Pac-12 Conference school partnerships, Wheeler will oversee all Big 12 Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) school relationships, and Heinchon will oversee Group of 5 conferences school partnerships. Each EVP will lead a multimedia rights team comprised of senior leaders, general managers, and local personnel representing more than 150 sports properties.
“As we navigate the complexities of college athletics, we must realign our resources to focus on consultative, innovative partnerships to realize incremental revenue growth for our school partners,” said Kim Damron, President of Learfield Sports Properties. “Adding Jeff and Deana to our Sports Properties leadership team, along with Andrew and Meghan, will allow us to align our organization and resources to unlock new revenue generation and NIL opportunities.”
The new positions add seasoned leadership to Learfield at a pivotal time in college athletics, providing the company’s athletics director partners with consultative stewards of their business. Jeff Purinton, a highly respected veteran athletics administrator, served as Arkansas State’s Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics since 2022. Under Purinton’s leadership, Arkansas State experienced tremendous success, including innovative revenue generation, NIL, marketing, and multimedia rights programs. Before his time at Arkansas State, Purinton served as Alabama’s Executive Deputy Director of Athletics and held various senior leadership positions during his 15-year tenure with the Crimson Tide.
Deana Barnes has been President of Paciolan, Learfield’s ticketing division, since 2022 and has delivered transformative technology and consultative solutions to over 170 college athletics organizations. Barnes also served as Paciolan’s Chief Operations Officer and held other senior roles during her twenty years at the company.
Paciolan will continue to deliver best-in-class solutions to its clients, led by a veteran leadership team. The team includes Chief Product and Technology Officer Keith White and Chief Revenue Officer Christian Lewis, who will report to Learfield’s Chief Strategy Officer, Ben Mathan, on an interim basis.
Andrew Wheeler, a twenty-year Learfield executive, will continue delivering consultative services to school partners as Executive Vice President. Through Andrew’s leadership, school partners experienced significant growth in revenue generation, groundbreaking NIL programs, and innovative sponsorship partnerships.
Meghan Heinchon, a veteran leader with over twenty-five years of strategic experience, has been elevated to Executive Vice President. Heinchon has helped school partners succeed with powerful sponsorship programs, NIL solutions, and revenue growth from new sponsorship categories.
As part of the strategic reorganization, Learfield will continue aggressively investing in its industry-leading NIL services. To fuel NIL growth, Learfield has invested significantly in the number of dedicated NIL personnel to 34 on-campus positions. Within the next academic year, the number of on-campus dedicated NIL personnel will grow to over 50 positions nationwide.
The Learfield Studios team has also significantly grown its content and NIL storytelling personnel. The team now boasts over 50 dedicated content creators at schools nationwide, creating NIL storytelling campaigns for Learfield’s school partners and student-athletes. Within the next year, the number of content creator roles will grow to over 65 positions.
“There is no one in our industry with the scale, power, and resources Learfield offers,” added Damron. “We’re reinforcing our strengths by adding strategic leadership and reorganizing our Sports Properties team to help enrich our consultative relationships with schools and athletics directors.”
The four EVP positions complement a comprehensive Sports Properties leadership team with best-in-class services to support its school partners. Rounding out Learfield’s Sports Properties leadership team are Shawn Hegan, Executive Vice President of Global Partnerships; Solly Fulp, Executive Vice President of NIL Growth and Development; Sarah Davis, Senior Vice President of Amplify Ticketing and Seating; and Jeff Gosey, Senior Vice President of Revenue Strategy and Operations, who all report to Sports Properties President Kim Damron.
About Learfield
Learfield is the leading media and technology company powering college athletics. Through its digital and physical platforms, Learfield owns and leverages a deep data set and relationships in the industry to drive revenue, growth, brand awareness, and fan engagement for brands, sports, and entertainment properties. With ties to over 1,200 collegiate institutions and over 12,000 local and national brand partners, Learfield’s presence in college sports and live events delivers influence and maximizes reach to target audiences. With solutions for a 365-day, 24/7 fan experience, Learfield enables schools and brands to connect with fans through licensed merchandise, game ticketing, donor identification for athletic programs, exclusive custom content, innovative marketing initiatives, NIL solutions, and advanced digital platforms. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed Learfield Directors’ Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions.