Portland Pilots become Aspire’s fourth West Coast Conference partner

ATLANTA, GA – The Aspire Sport Marketing Group announced an agreement with the University of Portland for outsourced ticketing support through an on-site Fan Relationship Management Center (FRMC)^SM. The Portland Athletics’ FRMC will be responsible for new sales, service and retention and the solicitation of stand-alone athletic donations for the Pilots.

“The deal with Aspire is another step in the growth of University of Portland athletics,” said Scott Leykam, Portland Vice President for Athletics. “With the excitement and success surrounding so many of our sports right now, the opportunity to bring on an established partner to help with growing our fan base was essential. Aspire has a proven track record in our industry and showed great interest in joining our team. We think the extra manpower and expertise in fan engagement will reap great rewards for our teams and the department.”

In addition to best-in industry fan relationship management support, Aspire will be conducting its proprietary Yield Management workshop. The research team will lead Portland through an engaging seat inventory valuation, ticket packaging and pricing process that incorporates sophisticated research and sales analytics, competitive benchmarking, and venue heat mapping.

“Aspire is very excited about launching this partnership with Portland,” said Bill Duffy, Chief Executive Officer for The Aspire Group. “Our strategic approach to ticket pricing coupled with our dedication to superb customer service will allow the Pilots to reach new heights in revenue, attendance, and customer satisfaction.”

Tony Garrett, VP of Fan Relationship Management, will act as the liaison between Aspire and Portland. Garrett currently manages 18 of Aspire’s 36 FRMCs, including the 3 other West Coast Conference members Loyola Marymount University, Pepperdine University and Santa Clara University.

Portland Athletics is the 17^th property of 2017 to join Aspire’s portfolio of over 200 professional and collegiate properties in its nine years of operation.

 

About Portland Athletics

The University of Portland is an NCAA Division I member institution of the West Coast Conference which fields 16 varsity athletic programs. The Pilots feature a strong tradition on the soccer pitch, claiming two national titles on the women’s side and several WCC titles and College Cup visits by both programs. Portland’s cross-country programs have been among the nation’s elite for the past 25 years, winning a combined 34 WCC titles. The men have been to 17 NCAA Cross Country Championships, finishing as high as third. Portland athletics has seen a recent resurgence among all its programs, including men’s basketball, which is led by head coach and Portland Trail Blazer icon Terry Porter.

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 Intercollegiate Athletics with the first Fan Relationship Management Center (FRMC^SM) 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 more information, visit www.theaspiregroupinc.com.