Michigan State University Athletics
NACMA Honors MSU's Hollis
NACMA Honors MSU's Hollis
Spartan associate athletics director named National Marketer of the Year.
May 30, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State University Associate Athletics Director Mark Hollis has been named recipient of the National Marketer of the Year Award as selected by the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA). The award is presented annually to the collegiate administrator who provides the greatest contribution to the marketing and promotion of college athletics. Hollis will be honored at the NACMA Workshop June 14-16 in Dallas. The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) administers NACMA.
Hollis is being recognized for his significant contributions in the areas of promoting attendance, community enthusiasm, venue enhancement, licensing, fund-raising and corporate sponsorship relations. In addition, he also secured the $2 million lead gift for the construction of the Berkowitz Basketball Building, a state-of-the-art office and training facility for the men's and women's basketball programs.
"In short, his accomplishments have been instrumental to the success of Michigan State University's athletic department," MSU Athletics Director Clarence Underwood said. "Increases in sponsorships, television exposure and attendance at our events are a direct result of his dedication."
Michigan State is unique in that it is one of the few universities in the nation that has sold out venues in its three marquee sports. Football (72,027), men's basketball (14,659) and ice hockey (6,170) all play to capacity crowds on a seasonal basis. Hollis has also been instrumental in negotiating and securing football postseason bowl invitations, including the 2001 Silicon Valley Football Classic following the Spartans' 6-5 regular-season record.
"The Cold War" ice hockey game brought to focus his marketing capabilities. In February 2001, Hollis took an off-the-wall suggestion by MSU assistant ice hockey coach David McAuliffe and set out on a quest to make an outdoor hockey game - played inside a football stadium - a reality. Challenges included gathering bids, figuring out logistics and convincing practically the whole world that the event was feasible. "The Cold War", last October's ice hockey game was an unprecedented event featuring Michigan State and the University of Michigan in one of the most imaginative college sports events in years.
"Bringing together a world record crowd of more than 74,000 fans required an inspired vision along with a wide range of practical skills," Nike Director of College Sports Marketing Kit Morris said.
Overcoming many technical obstacles, tickets for the hockey game went on sale in July and the event was sold-out in eight working days. A world-record setting crowd of 74,554 smashed the previous attendance record of 55,000 set in Moscow at the 1957 World Championship Games. The success of the world-record setting event was based upon Hollis' extensive marketing analysis, through evaluation of production options and effective university staff execution and cooperation. The event was televised to more than 38 million homes on Fox Sports Net.
"I never would have imagined that a college hockey game could get world publicity," former hockey coach and incoming MSU Athletics Director Ron Mason said.
The American Hockey Magazine described the event this way: "A good word to describe the night college hockey took center stage, and the eyes of the sporting world cast a curious glance, wondering if this ambitious effort would be a boom or a bust. By all accounts, October 6 will go down as one of college hockey's finest hours".
"Mark's a guy that's driven and really wants to make us an elite program," MSU head basketball coach Tom Izzo said. "He's a jack of all trades. He's not just the guy that gets us corporate sponsorships but he's the one that brings ESPN GameDay here and fights to get us on national TV. Mark does a little bit of everything around here because he understands that it's all part of marketing this program."
Hollis became associate athletics director at Michigan State in 1995, returning to his alma mater where he once served as a student manager for head basketball coach Jud Heathcote. Prior to his return to MSU, Hollis worked as associate athletics director at the University of Pittsburgh for three years and was the assistant commissioner of the Western Athletic Conference where he worked for nine years under former MSU Athletic Director Joe Kearney. He earned his bachelor's degree from Michigan State in 1985 and his MBA from the University of Colorado in 1992. A native of Lexington, Mich., he graduated from Croswell-Lexington High School. Hollis and his wife, Nancy, have three children: T.R., Katy and Mike.