heather mcginnis photography
Deputy Commissioner and Chief Financial Officer, Business and Legal Affairs, Atlantic Coast Conference
Age: 39
Born: Sacramento
Education: Florida State University, B.S., sports management, and M.S., sport administration; Nova Southeastern University, J.D.; Elon University, MBA
Family: Wife, Marissa; daughter, Sienna (2½)
I get fired up … : Winning, whether it’s with my adult fast-pitch softball team or a big nonconference victory for an ACC team.
Advice to my 20-year-old self: Keep your rejection letters (or emails). Take the imperfect job. Keep chipping away … and the wins will follow.
Guilty pleasure: Roaming Lowe’s in the early morning looking for a DIY project.
Cause supported: Greensboro Cerebral Palsy Association, an amazing school dedicated to 0-3-year-old special education, on which I’m honored to be on the board.
Person in the industry I’d most like to meet: My great-grandfather, who was a manager of a semi-professional baseball team in the 1930s.
Sports industry needs to do a better job of … : Promoting the unity that sport competition facilitates across society.
Sports business leaders should be more mindful of … : Bridging the important generational perspectives of those working and competing in athletics.
An adventurous day for Ben Tario might be negotiating the ACC’s media rights, bowl contracts or even, on a rare occasion, launching a new TV network. The conference’s deputy commissioner, who has gradually taken on more responsibility in his 13 years in Greensboro, N.C., has risen into one of the most influential positions at league headquarters and now oversees finance, business and legal affairs.
But Tario seeks a different type of adventure when he’s out of the office. He and his wife, Marissa, once climbed a mountain in Peru and spent the night on the side of a cliff 1,200 feet above Sacred Valley. They’ve also hiked in South Africa, China, Turkey and Greece.
Tario confesses that he likes to take the unbeaten path in his quest to learn more about a particular region. His natural curiosity has aided his professional career as well. He joined the ACC in 2007 after earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Florida State and law degree at Nova Southeastern in South Florida.
“I always wanted to work in athletics,” Tario said. “I never knew in what capacity. I always thought it was important to learn what you like, but maybe even more importantly what you don’t like.”
That approach served Tario well. He learned conference operations from Michael Kelly early in his time at the ACC and still counts the USF athletic director as a mentor. Tario later worked with the recently retired Jeff Elliott to get better acquainted with the league’s finances. Those two experiences positioned him to take on Elliott’s responsibilities in 2018, as well as launch the game-day operations center where replays are monitored.
