Learfield Sports Appoints Former NASCAR VP Marc Jenkins as COO

Collegiate marketer Learfield Sports have announced former NASCAR Vice President, advice Digital Media Marc Jenkins as its new chief operating officer.

ushers in the new year by naming former NASCAR Vice President, Digital Media Marc Jenkins its chief operating officer, as announced today by Learfield President and CEO Greg Brown.

Jenkins officially assumes the COO role on January 20 and will be relocating from Charlotte, N.C. to work in Learfield Sports’ Plano, Texas headquarters. Concurrent with this move, Learfield Sports’ Executive Vice President and COO Andy Rawlings, a core member of the senior leadership team, will remain as such but now assumes the newly created role of chief revenue officer, a critical position to the company’s continued growth across the entire operation with an emphasis dedicated to its core college business, national sales and digital.

“We’re excited about Marc joining our team and bringing with him the incredible insights he has gained from his years with NASCAR, a truly remarkable sports brand,” said Learfield President and CEO Greg Brown. “We have been candid about our ambitious future growth plans, and with that, comes a need to ensure we are providing the high quality of service our clients and partners deserve. Marc’s expertise and professionalism will allow us to continue to thrive in key areas of our business, while Andy assumes an incredibly valuable and integral role focused exclusively on revenue generation. We are simply setting the stage for what we consider to be another great year for our company and our partners.”

As COO, Jenkins immediately will play a critical senior leadership role with Learfield Sports’ collegiate relationships as the company owns multimedia rights to over 50 of the leading college programs in the country and has prominence in all of the major athletic conferences. Additionally, he will be integral to the further growth and development of Learfield’s digital business, focused on enhancing content and programming with Senior Vice President and Chief Content Officer Joe Ferreira. Jenkins also will be responsible for overseeing Learfield’s joint venture businesses in ticketing (IMG Learfield Ticket Solutions) and concessions (Learfield Levy Foodservice).

“Learfield has strongly positioned itself as a leader in the collegiate multimedia rights space, and I look forward to coming on board to work with such a dynamic company with excellent leadership,” said Jenkins. “I’m excited to get started and diligently look for unique ways to provide services to college athletic programs that may involve strengthening what Learfield already does, or seeking out new digital or social media enhancements that would significantly benefit our partners’ business.”

In Jenkins’ seven years with NASCAR, his most recent position of vice president, digital media involved overseeing more than 60 employees and leading the efforts of NASCAR across the entire digital media spectrum, including all distribution platforms and channels.

Before joining NASCAR in 2006, Jenkins served as general counsel for MLB’s Chicago White Sox, where he played a major role in the structuring of the stadium rights deal with U.S. Cellular; the formation of Comcast Sports Net Chicago; and the negotiation of the MLB Advanced Media rights agreements. Jenkins, a member of SportsBusiness Journal’s prestigious “Forty Under 40” class in 2012, also was recognized by Charlotte Business Journal as one of the region’s “Forty Under 40” in 2009.