Ohio Athletics announced the hiring of its new senior associate athletics director for external operations, Michael Stephens, on Wednesday.
At Ohio, Stephens will oversee Athletics’ marketing, ticket operations, media operations, multimedia marketing and broadcasting, while also being a liaison with IMG Sports Marketing.
He is replacing Dan Hauser, who is set to assume North Carolina’s High Point University’s athletics director role on July 1, according to a previous
article. Stephens spent the past 12 years with Nebraska Athletics and served as its assistant athletic director for marketing and licensing since the fall of 2008.
“There is great momentum right now on campus and I look forward to working with Jim (Schaus), the athletics team, University administration and Bobcat fans as we work together to reach even greater heights,” Stephens said in a press release.
In his role at Nebraska, Stephens oversaw the marketing department, including ticket marketing, promotions, concessions and the program’s authentic team store. During his tenure with the Huskers, he was responsible for more than $20 million in revenue and the season ticket campaign he developed this past season resulted in sellouts for all home games.
Prior to his tenure with Nebraska, Stephens spent time with the Kansas City Royals and its minor league affiliate the Omaha Royals. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Nebraska and a master’s degree from Western Illinois.
“Michael has a wealth of experience from his years coordinating marketing at Nebraska and work in professional baseball,” said Director of Athletics Jim Schaus in the same press release. “He is very energetic, creative and personable. He is a tremendous addition to our management team.
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