USA Track & Field CEO Max Siegel has "grown the 35-year-old organization with the speed of a world-class sprinter," and the "long-term relationships he’s forged -- including a 24-year deal with Nike inked last year -- have given Siegel and his organization the staying power of a marathon runner," according to Anthony Schoettle of the INDIANAPOLIS BUSINESS JOURNAL. USATF has signed "three corporate partnership deals in the last two months," and Siegel "doesn't look like a man leaning for the finishing tape just yet." Siegel since '13, has "inked 12 corporate partnership deals." He has "grown the organization’s sponsor roster from seven to 19, and increased the organization’s annual revenue" from $19M to $30M. The budget "could bulge" to more than $32M in '16 as the men's and women's teams take part in the Rio Games. Siegel has grown the organization by "being open about USATF’s past shortcomings -- including sponsorship deals made with competing companies and broken promises to corporate partners." Siegel said the key to signing so many corporate deals has been
"identifying what success means to our partners, proactively
collaborating with them and doing what we promise." Schoettle notes his
"outside-the-box thinking has led Siegel to sign several deals with
companies that seem unrelated to track and field." One such example is
the "multiyear deal with Rosetta Stone signed in December." USATF Chief Public Affairs Officer Jill Geer said that Siegel has made "more product-exclusive deals and diversified the sponsor base by bringing in such names" as Rosetta Stone and the Univ. of Phoenix. Meanwhile, Siegel said of Hershey, which signed a deal with USATF in '14, "The approach they took with us was very customized. They came in and took the time to understand what we were trying to accomplish" (INDIANAPOLIS BUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/23 issue).
