Menu
Leagues and Governing Bodies

Hulman hires top marketing, sponsorship execs

Hulman Motorsports last week announced the hiring of former NASCAR team owner Jay Frye as chief revenue officer and former Ford marketer C.J. O’Donnell as chief marketing officer. The hiring brings an end to a nine-month search for an executive to oversee commercial operations for the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles began a search this year for a replacement for former IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard, who left the organization late last year. But Miles this summer decided to split the CEO job into two positions, one overseeing sales and one overseeing marketing, and hire two executives who would report to him.

“We felt we could find really strong people like the two we’ve got and be flatter and leaner,” Miles said.

Frye most recently served as general manager of Red Bull Racing’s NASCAR team. Prior to that, he spent 12 years at MB2 Motorsports, a Sprint Cup team he helped start in the late 1990s.

O’Donnell most recently served as the marketing manager for Ford’s electric vehicles. Prior to that, he worked on the marketing teams for the Lincoln and Jaguar brands.

“I like these guys for similar reasons,” Miles said. “They are seasoned pros who won’t require on-the-job training. Both have run businesses. They’ve had to manage resources, make payroll, build teams, set priorities.”

Frye will be responsible for sponsorship sales across both IndyCar and IMS. His most pressing job will be to find a new title sponsor for the IndyCar Series. Izod’s title sponsorship ended this season. O’Donnell will be focused on filling out Hulman Motorsports’ marketing staff and developing a marketing strategy for IndyCar and IMS.

“These guys complete the filling out of my executive leadership team,” Miles said. “They will oversee all the basic commercial functions. It provides the leadership for our racing enterprises in a consolidated way.”

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2013/11/11/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/Hulman.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2013/11/11/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/Hulman.aspx

CLOSE