New BBOC Episode: Arizona AD Desireé Reed-Francois on Fiscal Discipline, AI Integration & Control and Revenue Capture

New BBOC Episode: Arizona AD Desireé Reed-Francois on Fiscal Discipline, AI Integration & Control and Revenue Capture

On the latest episode of JohnWallStreet Presents: Big Business on Campus sponsored by Short’s Sports Travel Logistics, a college sports podcast powered by Playfly Sports, JohnWallStreet founder Corey Leff (making his BBOC debut) and Playfly Sports chairman Michael Schreiber sit down with University of Arizona Athletics Director Desireé Reed-Francois.

In this 40-minute deep-dive conversation Reed-Francois opens up on:

• Fiscal discipline - How she is running a $150mm enterprise and fixed a $39mm budget deficit.

“If you can’t justify spending it for your own family, don’t spend it here,” Reed-Francois said.

• AI Integration - How Arizona Athletics is leveraging advanced technology to uncover “hidden incremental dollars in existing revenue streams,” like ticketing and donor engagement. 

“We literally went line by line… even something as simple as facilities scheduling or donor stewardship, AI is helping us find efficiencies we just couldn’t see before,” Reed-Francois said.

• Control and Revenue Capture - Arizona has taken back ownership of its multimedia rights, a move that has provided the athletics department with greater autonomy and new levers to expand revenue.

“We created a 501(c)(3) with an LLC underneath it to bring our rights in-house—and in year one we hit 114% of goal. By August this year, we’d already reached 100%,” Reed-Francois said.

📺 Watch the full video on JohnWallStreet’s YouTube channel.
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

We’ll be back with the next episode of JohnWallStreet Presents: Big Business on Campus in two weeks (September 17). Baylor University Vice President and Director for Intercollegiate Athletics Mack Rhoades and Deputy AD and COO Jovan Overshown will join us.

University of Maryland AD Jim Smith (October 1) and American Conference Commissioner Tim Pernetti (October 15) will follow.

Make sure to check out our sponsor, Short’s Sport Travel Logistics—the fastest-growing company in collegiate athletics travel, and the trusted choice for over 108 athletic departments nationwide. Short’s simplifies every aspect of team travel (think: air charters, commercial flights, buses, and hotels) and turns complex logistics into a competitive advantage.

If you missed the first episode of BBOC, Mike sat down with Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman. Video versions of that podcast can be found on JohnWallStreet and Playfly Sports’ YouTube channels. Audio versions can be downloaded on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Thanks in advance for listening. Let us know what you think. We welcome the feedback.