New Episode of BBOC: SMU Director of Athletics Damon Evans

New Episode of BBOC: SMU Director of Athletics Damon Evans

On the latest episode of JohnWallStreet Presents: Big Business on Campus, a college sports podcast powered by Playfly Sports and sponsored by Short’s Sports Travel Logistics, JohnWallStreet Founder Corey Leff and Playfly Sports Chairman Michael Schreiber sit down with Southern Methodist University Director of Athletics Damon Evans.

In this 40-minute conversation, we touch on:

SMU’s Second-Team Strategy

SMU is a relatively small private school in a pro sports market. Evans laid out his plan to grow fandom for the program beyond its current student and alumni base.

“First and foremost, we have to develop partnerships with local businesses. That’s [the] small businesses [and] medium-sized businesses, to the [large] corporations that are here…We’ve [also] got to get out and talk about our brand more, get into parts of [the city] that we’ve never reached —[like] South Dallas— and become a little bit more visible in those particular areas,” he said. “The other thing that we have to do is leverage [high profile sports] opportunities that come to Dallas, like the World Cup, [and fanaticism for the local pro teams]. How do we leverage partnerships with FC Dallas? How do we leverage AT&T Stadium in partnership with the Cowboys?”

The goal is to turn the Mustangs into Dallas fans’ second favorite college team (i.e. their school being first).

Team Travel, Handled.

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Creating a New In-House Commercial Business Unit

SMU announced the formation of Mustang Partners in December. The school views it as a vehicle to grow the top line and facilitate potential financing and/or partnership opportunities.

“We needed to set up an entity that should we decide to go in a different direction one day —and I’m not saying this is what we’re doing— if you’re taking a look at private equity, private capital, or an entity like Playfly that might help you with stadium building, [could position us to pursue those deals]. That’s part of what this is about: we need an entity that’s not only going to help us drive revenue, but that’s going to position us should opportunities come forward that institutions of higher learning have been hands-off with. [We needed] to have a more business-type structure that allow us to do different things from a financing perspective, a spending perspective, and maybe take some of the pressures off of the institution.”

Fewer Tiers, More Donors

SMU recently made several changes to its Mustang Club (the official support organization for SMU athletics), including donor tier revisions. Evans framed the effort as part of a strategy designed to increase fundraising participation.

“Across college athletics, you’ll see all these giving levels, and it starts creating confusion. People start [wondering], what do I get invited to and what am I a part of? So, we’ve scaled [the program] back. We have taken our levels down from 14 or 15 to five or six,” he said. The goal is to “broaden our [donor] base…We need to bring in a younger demographic of donors and first-time donors at various levels because [if] you [can] move them along that donor spectrum, they will eventually become your major gift donors.”

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

We’ll be back with the next episode of JohnWallStreet Presents: Big Business on Campus in two weeks. Ohio State Athletics Director Ross Bjork will be our guest.

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

Previous episodes of BBOC, including sit-downs with Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman, Arizona AD Desiree Reed-Francois, Maryland AD Jim Smith, American Commissioner Tim Pernetti, Pittsburgh AD Allen Greene and Wake Forest AD John Currie, Kansas AD Travis Goff, Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris, and Big Sky Conference Commissioner Tom Wistrcill can be found on JohnWallStreet’s YouTube channel.

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