Case Studies Intercollegiate Athletics

A high school counselor in New Jersey once accidentally enrolled a sophomore in a junior/senior sports marketing class. The student was Brian Araujo, a teenager of Portuguese descent with a lifelong obsession with soccer. He could have been moved to another class. Instead, he stayed — and something clicked. Sitting among older students, absorbing the […]

Brock Rydecki does not define his career through titles, but through the evolution of Murray State University’s athletics footprint and the pressures shaping collegiate sports today. As senior associate athletic director for facilities and capital projects, he operates at the intersection of infrastructure, revenue strategy, and student-athlete experience, navigating a landscape reshaped by name, image, […]

Facilities used to be built on a simple premise in college athletics. Construct the biggest locker room, add the flashiest player amenities, and recruits would come. Bryan Stiles has watched that model fade in real time. In his view, the modern era of NIL, revenue pressure, and constant roster and coaching turnover has forced a […]

Auburn University’s athletic facilities rarely sit still. Renovations, repurposed spaces, new technology rollouts, premium seating concepts, and expanded event programming now define the operational rhythm across campus. At the center of that activity is Brent McNeely, Auburn’s Assistant Athletic Director for Facilities and Operations, who has spent more than two decades helping guide the physical […]