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When Jessica Muir joined Comcast’s sports marketing team in 2014, she knew the difficulty she faced: Cable companies are infamous for their poor reputation with customers. Six years later, that knowledge makes the hard work all the more rewarding.
“This was an opportunity to really make a change for the brand side, so bring on the challenge,” she recalls thinking. “Sports are such a great way to break down those barriers and legacy perceptions to really showcase what the Xfinity brand is about.”
Jessica Muir
Director, Partnerships and Amplification, Comcast
Born: Lawrenceville, N.J.
Education: Penn State University, B.S., marketing
After stints with Octagon and GMR Marketing, Muir joined a company whose sports strategy was managed locally despite its vast size and impact on consumers. In six years, Muir has effectively managed a sports rights portfolio to cement the Xfinity brand — adopted by Comcast in 2010 — in the minds of consumers while also convincing them it’s evolving with the times. She’s also managed rapid growth; her portfolio now hits $60 million in rights and $143 million in annual advertising.
Xfinity’s biggest deals are in NASCAR, the U.S. Olympic movement and gaming, but the brand works across the big four leagues in key markets. The scope of her work requires extraordinary attention to detail and collaboration across a massive company, which also helps make the case that Xfinity has moved beyond being a “cable company” to becoming a “connections company,” Muir says.
For all she’s accomplished, Muir foreshadows more big plays for the brand. “I’m just feeling a little bit like we’re just getting started,” she said. — Ben Fischer
More about Jessica
Biggest work/life adjustment in quarantine: We got a puppy! Kona is keeping us very busy and entertained!
Guilty pleasures: Eating ice cream (daily!), watching “Below Deck Mediterranean” or sitting completely still on the beach. It’s the only place I can turn my brain “off”!
Attributes I look for when hiring: Grit, curiosity and culture fit.
Woman in sports business I’d most like to meet: Indra Nooyi. Not only is her résumé remarkable and she is open about the challenges of work-life balance, but she is the architect of Performance with Purpose.
Sports can grow its role in the social justice movement by: Let’s collectively continue to shine a light on sport around the world and separately ask “how can I help?” because there isn’t a “one size fits all” answer for you or your organization.
