The Aspire Group Elevates Bill Fagan to President and CEO

ATLANTA, GA – The Aspire Group (Aspire) is thrilled to announce that CEO, Bill Fagan, has been promoted to President and CEO effective immediately.

“I’m humbled by the announcement,” Fagan said. “Thank you to our Chairman & Founder, Dr. Bernie Mullin, and our Board for their vote of confidence in me and our leadership team. This move is a reflection of how we’ve evolved our business to meet the needs of the rapidly changing sports and entertainment industry. I’m as passionate and committed today as I was over 13 years ago to serve at the highest level through our A-Team, the Aspire F.A.M.I.L.Y.”

Fagan, a 2017 Sports Business Journal 40 Under 40 selection, was Aspire’s first employee and currently leads a team of 150 full-time personnel, who serve more than 40 different collegiate and professional sports and entertainment organizations across the globe. Bill joined The Aspire Group as the manager of the first ever Fan Relationship Management Center (FRMC) at Georgia Tech in 2009 and has since earned 5 promotions, most recently to CEO in January of 2020.

Bill has led Aspire to tremendous success during his two and a half year tenure as CEO. Since the start of 2020, Aspire has generated nearly $90 million in revenue for its partners and added 45 properties across 9 leagues, including the company’s first sales partnerships within Major League Baseball. This rapid expansion under Fagan is largely due to his focus on diversification across the sport and entertainment landscape. Partnering with AEG to host the USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate Championships, introducing sponsorship and non-sport sales, and investing significant resources into Aspire’s award-winning Strategy, Analytics, and Marketing (SAM) department show Fagan’s commitment to evolve to meet and exceed partners’ needs.

Aspire benefits from a significant focus on internal development and training. Fagan, named by Poets & Quants as a ‘Best and Brightest’ award winner during his Executive MBA program at Emory’s Goizueta Business School, meets one on one with over 50 managers and senior sales staff each year to provide individualized career guidance. He has mentored and promoted more than 75 entry-level employees to leadership positions and overseen the development of more than 1,200 Sales & Service Consultants. Bill’s commitment to his team led to Aspire’s selection as a Best Employer in Sports by Front Office Sports in 2021.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fagan showed up for his employees and partners, spearheading initiatives to maximize staff retention, leading by example with a proactive approach to Social Justice, and taking as much time as possible to provide 1:1 guidance and engagement with all employees.

Fagan has been proactive in regard to social justice, forming working groups, hosting guest lecturers, and modifying internal diversity policies. Aspire created an incentivized minority referral program, implemented diversity training, and officially recognized Juneteenth as a paid holiday.