Spurs COO Brandon Gayle is resigning, effective Nov. 30, after a four-year stint increasing the team’s presence in Mexico and negotiating prominent jersey patch and naming rights deals. Gayle is calling the decision a voluntary "sabbatical" in order to "recharge personally and spend more time with my family."
After arriving in 2019 from Facebook -- where he served as director of global sports partnerships and solutions -- Gayle leveraged San Antonio’s popularity in Mexico to close sponsorship deals with the airline Viva Aerobus and Hijole! Tequila over the past 20 months. With the draft selection of France’s Victor Wembanyama, he is currently leading efforts to accrue partnerships in Europe and has been behind the launch of an upcoming Spurs global membership program modeled after Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Manchester United.
"We've been laying the groundwork for that program really over the last six to 12 months," Gayle told SBJ in June. "We've got a ton of data already. We've also already pulled a list of 200 plus companies that are headquartered in France, have business operations here in the U.S. and specifically here in Texas. So that'll certainly be an initial key focus for us as we think about our fan base and how we keep folks engaged."
The Spurs also credit Gayle with broadening the team’s brand in Texas -- particularly Austin -- and for spearheading its jersey patch deal with Self Financial and recent arena naming rights agreement with Frost Bank. Named to SBJ’s Forty Under Forty class of 2018, Gayle also previously ran the global sports partnerships team at Instagram, was Dir of Strategic Partnerships at Groupon and held a strategy and finance position for the N.Y. Jets. With the Jets, he helped create MetLife Stadium’s suite pricing model and facilitated the team’s move to its newer training facility in Florham Park, N.J.
Although Gayle is exiting his full-time role at the end of November, he will remain as a strategic advisor to the franchise through Jan. 31, 2024. Spurs Sports & Entertainment CRO Frank Miceli has been named CCO and will head revenue generation and brand engagement for the Spurs, their G-League affiliate Austin Spurs and USL club San Antonio FC.
