Van Wagner’s College Division Announces Rebrand, Expanded Services and Promotions December 22, 2021
New York, NY– To capitalize on today’s rapidly changing college sports landscape and more closely align with the Company’s priorities for future growth, Van Wagner Collegiate Services is changing its name to Van Wagner College and along with it announcing a strategic reorganization of its businesses into three segments: the existing multi-media rights business for school properties; a new, more focused segment for conference partners; and an enhanced segment for the development of campus-wide partnerships. The reorganization will be effective January 1, 2022.
“The college athletics landscape, like most other sectors, has undergone significant changes since the start of 2020 and we wanted to be prepared for what is ahead of us in the coming years,” said Van Wagner College President Mike Palisi. Van Wagner CEO John Massoni added, “We have been fortunate to work alongside great partners since we launched our college multimedia rights business in 2014 but want to reaffirm our commitment and investment in the space for many years to come.”
Mark Donley will continue to head up all revenue initiatives for the company and has been promoted to Chief Revenue Officer. He will continue to count on industry veteran Jason Capel, who has been promoted to Senior Vice President, to lead its school properties in the East along with newly promoted Vice President, Julius Grant and Assistant Vice Presidents, Jessica Fallica, and Dave Demer. Ben Burke, Vice President, will also be expanding his duties and will now be a part of a team heading up the Van Wagner College school properties in the West.
Mark Massari, Vice President, who has been with the company since 2017 and most recently headed up all the western region properties, has been selected to head up the conference properties segment of the company. Alongside Mark will be newly promoted Assistant Vice President Ellen Harrington. The two of them will bring dedicated leadership to the conference partners while also focusing on growing regional and national partnerships that will benefit all Van Wagner College partners.
In addition, Van Wagner College is showing its belief and dedication to its campus-wide business model by adding one of their top senior leaders, Vice President Tim Curran, to an already existing and thriving team led by Executive Vice President Mark Devine. “While always originating with our core services to athletic departments, we believe that a holistic approach that includes scanning the entire campus is the optimal way to maximize revenues for Universities,” said Mike Palisi.
The reorganization also allows one of Van Wagner College’s original senior leaders and current Vice President Diana LePore to refocus her energies to some key areas that will be crucial to Van Wagner College’s success including marketing, communications, and culture. “Diana knows our organization better than anyone and having her lead our brand and where we are positioned in the industry is of utmost importance,” added Palisi.
Finally, Van Wagner College will add the in-house expertise of the industry-leading Van Wagner Insights division to its growing roster of specialties. Van Wagner Insights, a legacy division of Van Wagner Sports, provides teams, brands, and properties with the research and analytics required to maximize revenue. Clients will leverage Van Wagner Insights’ tremendous experience working on behalf of professional sports franchises and Fortune 500 brands to identify revenue-driving business solutions. Research and analytics industry veteran Kyle Folts will lead our offerings of exposure tracking, market feasibility studies, partnership pricing and strategy development, and more.
Palisi concluded by saying, “We are proud of what we have achieved for the last 7 years but also know that we needed to pivot in order to be among the leaders not only in the multi-media rights space, but among trusted service partners to college athletics industry leaders across the country.”
Since 2014, Van Wagner has become a leader in college sports marketing and was developed to represent the sponsorship or multimedia rights for multiple schools and athletic conferences, including the America East Conference, Big South Conference, Big West Conference, Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, Colonial Athletic Association, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Southland Conference, Sun Belt Conference, Western Athletic Conference, and the West Coast Conference, as well as Arizona State National Sales, Canisius College, Coastal Carolina University, East Tennessee State University, Furman University, Florida International University, Georgia State University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Liberty University, Loyola University Maryland, Miami University, Niagara University, Pepperdine University, Samford University, Rider University, Siena College, Saint Joseph’s University, Sam Houston State University, Santa Clara University, South Florida National Sales, Southern Utah University, Stony Brook University, The University of Texas at El Paso, Towson University, Valparaiso University and The College of William & Mary.
About Van Wagner
Van Wagner Sports, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Van Wagner Group LLC, creates, advises, and sells on behalf of world-class teams, leagues, brands, properties, and colleges. An innovator in the sports and media business, Van Wagner is a global leader in high-impact broadcast visible signage throughout the MLB, NBA, NCAA, and the highest levels of international soccer, sponsorships sales, college multi-media rights, and in-venue content production at the world’s biggest sporting events. www.vanwagner.com.
Media Contacts:
Mike Palisi – mpalisi@vanwagner.com or (212) 699-8627
New York, NY– To capitalize on today’s rapidly changing college sports landscape and more closely align with the Company’s priorities for future growth, Van Wagner Collegiate Services is changing its name to Van Wagner College and along with it announcing a strategic reorganization of its businesses into three segments: the existing multi-media rights business for school properties; a new, more focused segment for conference partners; and an enhanced segment for the development of campus-wide partnerships. The reorganization will be effective January 1, 2022.
“The college athletics landscape, like most other sectors, has undergone significant changes since the start of 2020 and we wanted to be prepared for what is ahead of us in the coming years,” said Van Wagner College President Mike Palisi. Van Wagner CEO John Massoni added, “We have been fortunate to work alongside great partners since we launched our college multimedia rights business in 2014 but want to reaffirm our commitment and investment in the space for many years to come.”
Mark Donley will continue to head up all revenue initiatives for the company and has been promoted to Chief Revenue Officer. He will continue to count on industry veteran Jason Capel, who has been promoted to Senior Vice President, to lead its school properties in the East along with newly promoted Vice President, Julius Grant and Assistant Vice Presidents, Jessica Fallica, and Dave Demer. Ben Burke, Vice President, will also be expanding his duties and will now be a part of a team heading up the Van Wagner College school properties in the West.
Mark Massari, Vice President, who has been with the company since 2017 and most recently headed up all the western region properties, has been selected to head up the conference properties segment of the company. Alongside Mark will be newly promoted Assistant Vice President Ellen Harrington. The two of them will bring dedicated leadership to the conference partners while also focusing on growing regional and national partnerships that will benefit all Van Wagner College partners.
In addition, Van Wagner College is showing its belief and dedication to its campus-wide business model by adding one of their top senior leaders, Vice President Tim Curran, to an already existing and thriving team led by Executive Vice President Mark Devine. “While always originating with our core services to athletic departments, we believe that a holistic approach that includes scanning the entire campus is the optimal way to maximize revenues for Universities,” said Mike Palisi.
The reorganization also allows one of Van Wagner College’s original senior leaders and current Vice President Diana LePore to refocus her energies to some key areas that will be crucial to Van Wagner College’s success including marketing, communications, and culture. “Diana knows our organization better than anyone and having her lead our brand and where we are positioned in the industry is of utmost importance,” added Palisi.
Finally, Van Wagner College will add the in-house expertise of the industry-leading Van Wagner Insights division to its growing roster of specialties. Van Wagner Insights, a legacy division of Van Wagner Sports, provides teams, brands, and properties with the research and analytics required to maximize revenue. Clients will leverage Van Wagner Insights’ tremendous experience working on behalf of professional sports franchises and Fortune 500 brands to identify revenue-driving business solutions. Research and analytics industry veteran Kyle Folts will lead our offerings of exposure tracking, market feasibility studies, partnership pricing and strategy development, and more.
Palisi concluded by saying, “We are proud of what we have achieved for the last 7 years but also know that we needed to pivot in order to be among the leaders not only in the multi-media rights space, but among trusted service partners to college athletics industry leaders across the country.”
Since 2014, Van Wagner has become a leader in college sports marketing and was developed to represent the sponsorship or multimedia rights for multiple schools and athletic conferences, including the America East Conference, Big South Conference, Big West Conference, Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, Colonial Athletic Association, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Southland Conference, Sun Belt Conference, Western Athletic Conference, and the West Coast Conference, as well as Arizona State National Sales, Canisius College, Coastal Carolina University, East Tennessee State University, Furman University, Florida International University, Georgia State University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Liberty University, Loyola University Maryland, Miami University, Niagara University, Pepperdine University, Samford University, Rider University, Siena College, Saint Joseph’s University, Sam Houston State University, Santa Clara University, South Florida National Sales, Southern Utah University, Stony Brook University, The University of Texas at El Paso, Towson University, Valparaiso University and The College of William & Mary.
About Van Wagner
Van Wagner Sports, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Van Wagner Group LLC, creates, advises, and sells on behalf of world-class teams, leagues, brands, properties, and colleges. An innovator in the sports and media business, Van Wagner is a global leader in high-impact broadcast visible signage throughout the MLB, NBA, NCAA, and the highest levels of international soccer, sponsorships sales, college multi-media rights, and in-venue content production at the world’s biggest sporting events. www.vanwagner.com.
Media Contacts:
Mike Palisi – mpalisi@vanwagner.com or (212) 699-8627