Furman names Drew Ingraham Senior Associate AD for External Affairs

GREENVILLE, SC. – Drew Ingraham has been named Furman’s new senior associate athletics director for external affairs, it was announced today by director of athletics Jason Donnelly.

Ingraham, who emerged from a field of high caliber candidates developed through the assistance of Carr Sports Consulting, comes to Furman following four years at Texas Tech University, where he served as associate athletics director for marketing, communications, and creative services.

“Furman Athletics is excited to introduce Drew Ingraham as our new senior associate athletics director for external affairs,” said Donnelly. “Drew brings a wealth of knowledge, experience with several collegiate athletics programs, and a vital skill set that will support the continued growth of our department. We are excited to hire a candidate of Drew’s caliber and appreciate the commitment of the university to continue to grow the Furman Athletics brand by investing in revenue generation, increased fan engagement, and a first class student-athlete experience.”

“I am truly grateful and honored for the opportunity to join Furman,” said Ingraham.  “I would like to thank Jason and the staff at Furman for the opportunity to lead such a talented external team.  I look forward to contributing to the enhanced growth of the Furman Athletics brand locally, regionally and nationally.”

A key member of the director of athletics’ executive leadership team, the senior associate athletics director for external affairs will assist the department in providing strong vision, leadership, management, coordination, and oversight of athletics external operations. These responsibilities will include oversight of athletics revenue generation, marketing, communications, promotions, game day experience, athletics ticket sales, corporate sponsorships, licensing, and branding with a focus on Greenville, Upstate South Carolina, and national growth and recognition.

A large of part of Ingraham’s role will be to build upon the success of Furman Athletics during the past few years. Athletics has demonstrated remarkable growth in external affairs with its Furman Family culture, connection to the community, and emphasis on engagement with students, faculty, staff, alumni, and fans.

During the past year, Furman Football experienced a 60 percent increase in pre-COVID attendance due to significant changes in the game day experience and facility upgrades at Paladin Stadium. Athletics has focused its strategy on being “Greenville’s Team” by returning men’s and women’s basketball games to downtown Greenville at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena for its “Weekends at the Well” series. Furman has increased corporate partnerships though Van Wagner Sports Properties and strategic partnerships throughout the Upstate with partners such as ESPN Upstate Radio, which broadcasts all Furman Football and Men’s Basketball via FM Radio. Furman Athletics, along with the Southern Conference, will also co-host the NCAA Basketball Tournament in Greenville in 2022, 2023, and 2026.

At Texas Tech Ingraham oversaw three operations within the Red Raider athletics department — communications, promotions & fan engagement, and recently created creative services — with a combined staff of 16 full-time employees.

He coordinated the planning and execution of Red Raider football and men’s basketball game day, as well as year-round promotional efforts for all 17 programs.

Ingraham directed marketing efforts in football that generated $16.7M in revenue for the 2018 & ’19 seasons and constructed and implemented marketing/ticket sales plans that added 8,837 new season ticket accounts over those two campaigns.

In 2020 he designed the implementation and education plans for Texas Tech’s transition to mobile ticketing.

For basketball, Ingraham led marketing and outreach that netted a 12 percent increase in student attendance and 16 percent increase in overall attendance for Red Raider hoops during the 2018-19 season, and a 2019-20 basketball campaign that averaged 14,057 fans.  For the 2021-22 season, Texas Tech netted a program record 8,150 season ticket holders.

He also crafted marketing and sales strategies that played a vital role in a four-year, season ticket sellout for Red Raider baseball.

A member of Texas Tech’s senior athletics team, as well as the department’s “Beyond Verified” committee overseeing Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), Ingraham has played a central role in the tremendous growth in Texas Tech’s social media accounts that recently topped 1.3 million combined followers, including the fifth highest TikTok college athletics account in the nation with over 100,000 followers.

Through his social media initiatives, the Red Raiders netted over eight million interactions and almost 30 million video views across Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

In addition, he managed Texas Tech’s Athletics strategic fundraising relationship with CaringCent College Athletics.

Prior to his tenure at Texas Tech, Ingraham served as associate athletics director of marketing & fan engagement at the University of New Mexico from 2014-17, where he was heavily involved in all aspects of ticket sales, marketing, and social media strategy development and execution.

He spent over six years (2007-13) as associate athletics director for marketing & operations at Montana State University, in Bozeman, his hometown.

He began his collegiate administrative career as an external athletics marketing manager at Colorado College in 2005.

Ingraham majored in English and secondary education at Boston College, from which he earned his bachelor’s degree in 2001.  He added a Master of Science in physical education/sports administration from Springfield (Mass.) College in 2004, and is a 2017 graduate of the Sports Management Institute.