July 5, 2012
DALLAS (SMU) - SMU has added two members to its Corporate Development & Sponsorship Services staff this week, adding Curtis Partain as Director of Corporate Development & Sponsorship Services and Christine Phelan as Manager of Sponsorship Services. The pair joins a department that has seen sponsorship revenues triple in the past five years.
Partain arrives on the Hilltop from the American Airlines Center, where he was Vice President for Corporate Sponsorships. In that role, he led the American Airlines Center to the No. 1 revenue ranking in both NBA and NHL sponsorship facility sales for six straight years. He took corporate sponsorships from $5.625 million in 2002 to just under $16 million. Partain has 18 years of experience in sports marketing, ticket sales, sponsorships, event management and activation in three of the major sports leagues - NBA, NHL, and MLS, having also worked with the Dallas Burn (now FC Dallas).
Phelan comes to SMU with over six years of experience in pro sports, having spent time with the Dallas Cowboys and the American Airlines Center. She spent three-plus years with the Cowboys, where she served as Manager of Client Services Corporate Partnerships and managed, executed, cultivated and promoted every aspect of corporate partner relationships and sponsorship agreements. She helped open Cowboys Stadium and managed several of the top grossing sponsorship deals in the organization, totaling upwards of $105 million dollars in revenue. Phelan has also served as Marketing Manager for both the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the FirstSouthwest Corporation.
"As a department, we must continue to increase our resources. Corporate Development is vital, and adding experienced individuals like Curtis and Christine from other top sports organizations here in the Metroplex will be a huge boost to our efforts," said SMU interim Director of Athletics Tim Leonard. "They have knowledge of the market and recognize SMU's potential in growing our sponsor base and we're excited to have them on board."
The two join Kevin Chandlee, Manager of Sponsorship Sales, on the SMU staff.
