Syracuse University Deputy Athletics Director for External Operations Chris Fuller will become the Charlotte 49ers’ Deputy Athletics Director for External Affairs, beginning in July.
“We’re adding an absolute superstar to our team in Chris Fuller,” said Mike Hill, director of athletics, in announcing the hire for this newly created position. “He is nationally respected as one of the brightest minds in college athletics, and his commitment to Charlotte is an enormous achievement for our program. As we align our efforts in branding, marketing, communications and resource development, Chris’s strong leadership and experience will be invaluable. It’s truly a ‘Gold Standard’ hire.”
Fuller, who has more than 25 years of experience within college athletics, worked at Syracuse, Tennessee and North Carolina and was previously vice president for collegiate marketing with Cavs/Gund Arena Company in Cleveland, Ohio, and worked with key college athletics support partners such as ACC Properties and the FANSonly website network; he also served as a consultant to the Mid-American Conference.
Fuller stated, “I’m very impressed with the foundation and the leadership team built by Chancellor (Philip) Dubois and Judy Rose. Charlotte’s rising. Lori and I are fired up to be part of the 49er family.”
At Charlotte, Fuller will oversee external affairs, which will include but are not limited to, the 49ers marketing, media relations and ticket operations departments. He will oversee revenue generation, working closely with the 49er Club, and also oversee the 49ers partnerships with multimedia rights holder IMG College and ticket solutions provider IMG Learfield.
He has served as Syracuse’s deputy AD for the last two years. As such, he partnered with University Development for the cultivation of major donors, developed the Athletics Department’s External Relations Operations plan, was responsible for all facets of Syracuse’s relationship with the ESPN ACC Network and collaborated with campus partners on student engagement. He negotiated the extension of the department’s multimedia agreement with IMG College and the Ticketmaster agreement for ticket operations. He was the liaison for merchandise sales and licensing and participated in negotiations for the all-sports apparel agreement. He oversaw marketing plans for all sports as well as ticket and group ticket sales.
Previously, he worked at Tennessee for 13 years, the last seven of which were spent as the senior associate AD for external operations, where he oversaw Athletics Development, Sales and Marketing, Ticket Operations, IMG Network and Broadcasting, Communications and Video Services. He negotiated multimedia and all-sports apparel agreements; planned and funded a $10 million digital studio; keyed a $160 million, three-year fundraising campaign; launched ticket sales solution with IMG Learfield; and served as the department’s representative with the SEC Network.
A 1988 political science graduate of Shepherd College, Fuller completed a Master of Science in Sport Management from West Virginia in 1992. He has served on the United Way Board of Directors and is involved with both the Big Brothers/ Big Sisters program and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. He, his wife, Lori, and their two pugs, Rooney and Madigan, will relocate to the Charlotte area in July.