Steve Sullivan, a Pacific Northwest native, returned to Oregon in January to 2007 to become the general manager of Beaver Sports Properties and direct the athletics department sports marketing sales and multi-media assets. He is a member of the senior management team and assists the athletic department with their strategic endeavors.
Beaver Sports Properties is a joint-venture between Learfield Communications, Inc. and Oregon State University. In addition to OSU, Learfield currently has partnerships with 29 other universities; Alabama, Army, Clemson, Colorado, Fresno State, Georgia, Kansas State, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Maine, Memphis, Miami (FL), Minnesota, Missouri, Montana State, North Carolina, Penn State, Purdue, Oklahoma, San Jose State, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Tulsa, Utah State, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Prior to joining Oregon State, Sullivan was the general manager of Bulldog Sports Properties at Fresno State where he also managed the multi-media rights. He negotiated and directed the $1.6 million football video board project and grew corporate partnership revenue by 50% during his 2-plus years.
Before Fresno State and working for Learfield Communications, He was the Director of Marketing Partnerships for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. He developed and executed commercial naming right opportunities and sold cooperative marketing partnerships nationally generating over $3 million in revenue and value-in-kind during his tenure from 2002-04.
Sullivan spent 12 years working for four intercollegiate athletic institutions; Texas Tech University, The University of Arizona, University of Connecticut, and University of Miami (FL). He was Associate Athletics Director for External Operations at Texas Tech University from 1999-2002 where he managed and directed the marketing, sponsorship sales, ticketing and media relations departments. From 1992-1999 he worked at The University of Arizona as the Director of Marketing and Corporate Partnerships where he increased sponsorship revenue from $75,000 to $2.1 million. Sullivan also spent two years at The University of Connecticut and The University of Miami (FL), as the Assistant Director of Marketing and Promotions and as a graduate assistant.
Sullivan earned his undergraduate degree from The University of Arizona in Business Administration in 1987. He received a Master of Science in Sports Administration from St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida in 1990.
He and his wife Carleen, also an Oregon native, live in Corvallis and have four children, Kelsie (7) and three year old triplets Kellen (3), Kylie (3), and Karsten (3).
