Bill Fagan honored as SportsBusiness Journal’s 2017 Forty under Forty

The Aspire Sport Marketing Group’s Chief Operating Officer Bill Fagan has been selected for SportsBusiness Journal’s 2017 Forty under Forty, an award recognizing the best young talent for their achievements and success in the sports business. 

“Nice to see a quality individual like Bill Fagan recognized for his accomplishments in helping to grow Aspire into one of the most powerful and well-thought of companies in the ticket sales outsourcing space,” said Bill Sutton, Director of the Sport and Entertainment Management MBA program at USF.  “Bill is a young rising star helping to train and develop other young talented people into stars that will help form a constellation of talent for Aspire.”

Fagan oversees all business acquisitions, client partner development and retention for Atlanta, GA headquartered Aspire’s 47 active partnerships across the globe, achieving a 94% retention rate this past year.  In the past 2 years, Fagan’s efforts have led to many additions of best of brand partnerships to Aspire’s portfolio of 190 sport and entertainment properties, including the NFL Pro Bowl, University of Oregon, Auburn University, University of Texas, University of Connecticut, University of South Florida, the Orange Bowl & the College Football Playoff.

In 2016 alone, Bill’s oversite of Fan Relationship Management produced over $200 million in ticket & donation related revenue for client partners, along with an additional $50 million in annual revenue from strategic consulting & research work, particularly in yield management/ strategic pricing.

In addition to Fagan’s client success, remarkable work ethic, and ability to attract superb leadership talent, Fagan might be even better known for his passion for cultivating young leaders in the sports industry. Bill has oversite for recruiting and managing all Aspire’s 185 employees. Since being hired as Aspire’s first employee and manager for Georgia Tech Athletics ticket sales in 2009, Fagan has developed more than 50 employees from entry-level positions into managerial roles.

The Middletown, Connecticut native attended the University of Miami for undergraduate business education, cutting his teeth with the Orange Bowl Committee and Miami Dolphins before joining the Phoenix Suns in 2004.  After breaking sales records in Phoenix with the Suns and Phoenix Roadrunners, Fagan moved into leadership as Director of Sales & Service with the Moncton Wildcats in New Brunswick, Canada.  The diversity of experience set Fagan up well to join the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats as part of the ticket sales management team, until 2009 when he was hired by The Aspire Group.

Outside of his role as COO, Fagan is completing an Executive MBA in Business Administration with extra concentration in Leadership & Strategy from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. He is ranked in the top tier of his 2017 graduating class.

 

About The Aspire Group

The Aspire Group is a global sports and entertainment marketing firm specializing in enhancing client partners’ revenue streams while building lifelong fans through superb fan engagement and customer service. Aspire created the Ticket Marketing, Sales & Service (TiMSS^SM) niche, revolutionizing the Intercollegiate Athletics space with the first Fan Relationship Management Center (FRMC^SM) at Georgia Tech in 2009. Over 190 collegiate and professional partners have trusted Aspire to drive revenue, attendance and enterprise value growth through the combination of strategic consulting and research services, data insights and best-in-industry fan relationship management.

For inquiries, contact:
A.J. Smith: 404-389-9100 or aj.smith@theaspiregroupinc.com