Markus Jennings - Deputy Athletics Director & Chief Revenue Officer<br><em>Sport supervisor for: Softball</em> - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Markus Jennings

Title:
Deputy Athletics Director & Chief Revenue Officer
Sport supervisor for: Softball
Email:
Phone:
994-1585

Markus Jennings was named Deputy Athletics Director for External Operations and Chief Revenue Officer on June 9th for the George Washington University's Department of Athletics. A highly respected intercollegiate athletics leader, Jennings brings nearly two decades of external operations and revenue generation experience to GW from stints at Akron, Sacramento State, Kent State, Valparaiso and New Mexico State.

"Markus is a talented and passionate administrator who brings a proven track record of excellence and revenue generation," said Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Lipitz. "He shares our vision to elevate GW Athletics by embracing this transformative time in college athletics. He will play a valuable role as a thought partner and key member of our leadership team."

Jennings leads all external operations and strategic initiatives, including ticket sales, corporate partnerships, communications, marketing, creative services, licensing and branding, student-athlete revenue sharing, and have a significant hand in annual, scholarship, and capital campaign fundraising. He will serve on the athletics leadership team and provide oversight for select sports programs.

"I am thrilled to bring my family to the Nation's Capital to join the team at GW," said Jennings. "DC is a destination city and to be a part of a world-class institution where students can both compete and study at the highest levels of athletics and academics will be an honor. Serving our students by properly resourcing them to achieve excellence in their lives is a privilege I do not take for granted."

Jennings comes to George Washington after four years at Akron as Deputy Athletic Director and Chief Operating Officer. At Akron, Jennings enjoyed day-to-day supervision, coordination, execution and evaluation of operations for Akron Athletics, serving as second in command within the athletics department and assisting the Director of Athletics in strategically organizing and directing all administrative and other related activities. He led multiple head coaching searches, and was responsible for budget oversight and coach evaluations for multiple sports as well. Also during his time in his native Ohio, Jennings led the process for campus and athletics pouring rights agreements, new ticketing management systems and negotiations with multimedia rights holders, while having oversight of all capital projects within the department of athletics.

His time in Akron was preceded by an eight-year run as Associate Athletic Director for External Affairs at Sacramento State, which included fundraising, marketing, branding, promotion, media relations, ticket sales and the corporate sponsorship program. He spearheaded the Hornets' relationship with the university's development office, directed the successful rebranding of Athletics, and led negotiations for both the department's all-sport apparel agreement with adidas and its ticketing management system agreement.

A former baseball student-athlete at New Mexico State, Jennings cut his teeth as a professional in the world of finance, before returning to athletics as a special assistant to the AD at his alma mater in 2007. He found his first full-time opportunity in college sports as the development director for athletics at Valparaiso University, which began a wide-ranging career in the industry that has also seen a stop at Kent State where he helped create and execute a donor-based seating program for men's basketball.

A former President in 2021-22 on the Executive Committee for the National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD), an organization which provides educational and networking opportunities for Intercollegiate Athletic fundraisers across the United States and Canada, Jennings is a two-time recipient of the NAADD Diversity Award.

Jennings earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from New Mexico State University in 1994 and added an M.B.A. with a concentration in finance from Clark Atlanta University in 2001. He and his wife, Brenda, have two children, Masud and Basiana, one in high school and the other a student-athlete attending West Point.