Aspire takes on additional responsibilities in Santa Clara extension

ATLANTA, GA – The Aspire Sport Marketing Group and Santa Clara University Athletics announced a contract extension through 2020 that includes added staff and responsibilities. Beginning July 1, the Santa Clara Fan Relationship Management Center (FRMC) will oversee all box office and ticket operations.

Aspire was originally brought to campus in July 2015 to oversee all ticket marketing, sales and service for the Broncos.

“As we continue to strengthen the Santa Clara brand, having The Aspire Group as a loyal teammate has contributed to our recent success in name recognition and revenue generation,” said Jeff Mitchell, Senior Associate Athletic Director, External Operations. “We are fortunate to extend our association with an organization whose espoused values are consistent with ours, and we are grateful for the dedicated and engaging support that The Aspire Group provides us.”

Starting its third year, the Santa Clara FRMC has achieved its annual revenue goal each year while maintaining 100% staff retention. The FRMC saw a 147% increase in revenue across all ticketed sports in Year 1, and incremental increases in net revenue for six sports in Year 2 (Figure 1).

In the past year, the FRMC also added the responsibility of soliciting stand-alone donations, which resulted in $247,000 in new revenue.

The FRMC is managed by Director Chad Cardinal who was nominated and selected to Santa Clara’s Staff Senate as a representative for Athletics and most recently asked by the Bronco Bench Foundation to join the Bronco Network, a program designed to prepare student-athletes for post-graduate opportunities.

“With the consistent support of Director of Athletics Renee Baumgartner, Jeff and other SCU difference makers, we’ve been able to take part in a collective success these past two years,” said Chad Cardinal, FRMC Director of Sales & Service. “You can’t really describe how special of a place Santa Clara University is. We’re excited to be able to extend our partnership and increase Aspire’s scope of work and will continue to work to grow our fan base one relationship at a time.”

 

About Bronco Athletics

With 20 intercollegiate sports that compete on the NCAA Division I level, the Broncos are perennial leaders in the West Coast Conference. Bronco student-athletes compete in the following sports: baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, beach volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s rowing, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s track, volleyball, and men’s and women’s water polo.

About Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California’s Silicon Valley, offers its more than 8,800 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, theology, and engineering, plus master’s and law degrees and engineering Ph.D.s. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master’s universities, California’s oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more information, see www.scu.edu.

About The Aspire Group

The Aspire Group is a global sports and entertainment marketing firm specializing in providing partners with the most innovative ticket marketing, sales and service solutions in the sport industry.  Aspire created the outsourced ticketing niche, revolutionizing the Intercollegiate Athletics space with the first Fan Relationship Management Center (FRMC) at Georgia Tech in 2009.  Over 200 collegiate and professional sports properties 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 at 404-389-9100 or aj.smith@theaspiregroupinc.com.