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NCAA’s Lewis heads out of sports, to Montana

Mark Lewis, a high-ranking senior executive at the NCAA who guided the growth of the corporate partnership program and played an integral role in negotiations for an eight-year, $8.8 billion extension with Turner Sports and CBS, will leave the association at the end of the month.

The news came as a surprise to members of Lewis’ staff, who were informed of his impending departure last week.

Lewis has been executive vice president for championships and alliances since he was hired in April 2012 to essentially replace Greg Shaheen. Lewis’ decision to leave represents a sharp change in career path for the 49-year-old, who previously marketed the Olympics and the NFL, in addition to college sports. Lewis said he intends to go into private, nonsports business in Montana.

Mark Lewis’ decision to leave the NCAA came as a surprise to his staff.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
“I’m changing my life, basically,” Lewis said. “I’m not going to be in sports anymore. … It wasn’t like a lightning bolt hit me. It just evolved.”

The NCAA is in the midst of making interim plans until a replacement is found, but the current structure of the job is expected to remain the same with the executive vice president overseeing all championships, media and sponsorships.

In four-plus years, Lewis left his fingerprints on the NCAA’s championships. The former University of Georgia football player and son of a coach said he was proudest of the work he and his staff did to cover travel costs ranging from $3,000 to $4,000 for athletes’ families to attend the NCAA men’s and women’s Final Four and CFP championship starting last year. That had never been done.

He also led the decision to move players’ family members closer to the court at the Final Four by removing parts of press row. During Lewis’ time, the NCAA also expanded the corporate partner program from 14 sponsors to 17 and helped expand their marketing presence in the arena during the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.

“I feel really good about what’s been accomplished in the last four-plus years,” Lewis said. “I don’t feel like I’m leaving things in a bad state at all.”

Lewis said he first brought up the possibility of a career change to NCAA President Mark Emmert in July and from there they talked about the timing to make such a change. Lewis will be leaving at the end of the month, just as the NCAA’s fiscal year comes to a conclusion.

“Working on budgets and business plans and the end of the fiscal year, I’ve just been thinking about my life, my wife and my 7- and 8-year-olds,” Lewis said. “It wasn’t like one day I woke up and said I’m leaving. It’s just time for me to start doing things differently.”

Before joining the NCAA, Lewis was president of Jet Set Sports, a hospitality and event company that worked closely with Olympic organizing committees.

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