Pracht named marketing Assoc. AD
FAYETTEVILLE – Brian Pracht, who has 15 years of collegiate marketing and promotions experience at the institutional and conference level, is joining the University of Arkansas Athletic Department staff as associate athletic director for marketing, Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long announced on Wednesday.
Pracht, a native of Emporia, Kan., has worked at Wichita State, Long Beach State and the Southland Conference. His responsibilities at Arkansas include overseeing marketing, promotions, ticket sales, licensing in addition to serving as the staff liaison with International Sports Properties (ISP) and Razorback Sports Properties (RSP).
"We are pleased to add Brian Pracht to the senior administrative team of the athletic department at the University of Arkansas," Long said. "His experiences in intercollegiate athletics at both the institutional and conference levels will be an asset to our marketing and licensing department. Brian will also be instrumental in guiding our ticket sales efforts, promoting our program and working with our multi-media rights holders. Brian is a great addition to our department and we are glad to welcome him to the Razorback program."
Pracht joins the Razorback staff following seven years at Wichita State where he was the senior associate athletics director for external operations.
"My family and I are very excited about joining the Fayetteville community," Pracht said. "Obviously, the University of Arkansas has a passionate fan base which makes this opportunity very attractive. I’m certainly looking forward to working with a great team of administrators and coaches to enhance the student-athlete and fan experiences and continue the growth of Razorback Athletics."
As a member of the senior staff at Wichita State, he managed the marketing, development, media relations and ticket offices, and helped generate more than $11 million in annual revenue. He was the sport administrator for men’s basketball, managed corporate sponsorship accounts, licensing and merchandising programs, and directed advertising, promotional and community outreach efforts.
A guest speaker for Wichita State’s sports administration program, he also coordinated television arrangements over a statewide cable system and served as the staff liaison for WSU’s radio broadcasting rights holder.
While at WSU, marketing programs helped the Shockers sell out 47 consecutive men’s basketball games in a 10,502-seat facility, helped the men’s basketball team record a streak of 90 consecutive regular season home games with an attendance of 10,000 or more, increased the average attendance of baseball to more than 4,000 per game and increased the average attendance of volleyball to more than 3,000 per match.
He helped direct a $4.7 million fundraising campaign for an indoor baseball practice facility, increased corporate sponsorship revenue by 90 percent since 2003 and negotiated television contracts with cable partners.
As assistant commissioner for marketing and business at the Southland Conference from 1997-2003, he secured sponsors and directed marketing for 11 NCAA institutions throughout Texas, Louisiana and Alabama; managed the league’s television appearances on Fox Sports Net, negotiated and managed the SLC’s licensing program, and wrote and executed marketing plans for select championships.
At Long Beach State from 1995-97, he served as the director of corporate relations. He solicited corporate sponsorship, assisted with the 49er Athletic Association’s gift-in-kind program, supervised game day personnel, and produced and placed print and electronic media advertising for season ticket campaigns and game day events.
Under Pracht’s supervision, Wichita State earned several awards from the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators, including Gold recognition for women’s basketball single-game attendance promotions in 2008 and 2006, and Silver recognition for a sponsorship program in 2006, television commercial in 2006 and best radio commercial in 2004.
He graduated in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Emporia State in Kansas. Brian and his wife Amy have two daughters, Caroline and Lily.
