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s an associate commissioner for the Big Ten Conference, Andrea Williams knows big events.
It’s her job to manage the operations of both the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments for the conference, as well as the Big Ten’s football championship. All are significant revenue producers, but as a former student athlete, Williams has another goal in mind when managing the events as well.
Andrea Williams
BIG TEN CONFERENCE
“These are take-away memories of a lifetime,” Williams said. “For fans, you want to make sure that when they walk through the door, they want to come back, and for the student athlete, you want to create the best experience that they can have.”
It’s an approach Williams uses no matter the scale of the event — so whether it’s one of the basketball tournaments or something smaller, like the Big Ten’s annual football luncheon. That luncheon still brings in a host of coaches, TV executives and sponsors and serves to help boost the conference’s profile.
Through it all, Williams draws on her deep background in college sports, beginning as a basketball and volleyball player at Texas A&M and continuing professionally with stints working for the NCAA and the Southern Conference, in addition to the Big Ten.
“Each year, you are creating something,” she said, “and with every event, you go through what was good and bad and how do we take it to the next level.”
— John Lombardo
