The Univ. of Maryland’s recent search for a new AD has “illuminated just how professionalized the college sports landscape has become” as the hiring of Braves SVP/Business Strategy Jim Smith “didn’t simply poach an executive from the world of professional sports,” according to John Ourand of PUCK. Almost “all the finalists were senior business leaders,” including SVP/NBC Sports Digital and Emerging Businesses Damon Phillips and Roc Nation Sports International President and CEO Michael Yormark. Ourand: “As recently as a few years ago, any list of A.D. candidates would have been dominated by college sports administrators. This started to change two years ago, however, when Notre Dame brought in Pete Bevacqua from NBC Sports as its new A.D.” Several sources said that they “see Maryland’s talent search as part of the same trend.” Given the realities of NIL compensation packages, and the “seemingly constant threat of conference realignment,” large universities “realize they need business builders in those chairs.” Schools increasingly “aren’t looking at the A.D. position as a chummy fundraiser whose main talent is prying money out of well-heeled alums.” Ourand: “Colleges want their athletic departments to more closely resemble pro sports franchises -- since that’s what they’ve become, essentially” (PUCK, 5/15).
STANDING OUT: In Baltimore, Taylor Lyons cited a source as saying that Smith “performed well in interviews” with Maryland’s search committee and “separated himself from a pool of candidates that included executives inside and outside of college athletics.” It was reported last month that Air Force AD Nathan Pine, Georgia Tech AD J Batt, George Washington AD Michael Lipitz and former Charlotte FC President Joe LaBue were “among the initial candidates identified by the search process.” Smith will inherit an athletic department “at a financial crossroads, trying to keep up as college athletics is reshaped around it” (BALTIMORE SUN, 5/15).
NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN: In D.C., Gene Wang noted Smith will oversee an athletic department with “more than 250 full-time staff members and 550 athletes competing in 20 men’s and women’s varsity sports in the Big Ten.” Smith takes over at Maryland after “leading initiatives focused on growing revenue and brand marketing, expanding fan and alumni engagement and upgrading facilities.” During his five seasons with the Braves, Smith “directed a team that produced an increase in ticket sales, concessions and retail, and he was the point person for July’s All-Star Game at Truist Park” (WASHINGTON POST, 5/15).
