Blakely Hired as Director of Fan and Game Day Engagement

HARRISONBURG, Va - Assistant A.D. for Ticketing & Customer Relations Michael Carpenter has announced the hire of Taylor Blakely as James Madison's new Director of Fan and Game Day Engagement.

"We are excited to have Taylor join JMU Athletics and bring his diverse experience to help enhance our fan engagement and their experience at our athletic events," Carpenter said. "Taylor will be a great fit on our team and we can't wait to see the impact he makes on JMU."

Blakely comes to James Madison after working as the Director of Marketing and Sales at the University of Richmond since August 2016. With the Spiders, he assisted with the creation of all marketing efforts for football and basketball, while also being responsible for all on-field and on-court game day marketing operations.

He's also worked with Oakland University as the Director of Marketing and Promotions as well as stints with High Point University Athletics and Ohio University. At Oakland, he was responsible for marketing plans for men's soccer in which he pulled in the second, third and sixth largest crowds in program history, along with women's soccer, which resulted in the record for single-game attendance at 1,157.

"Working at so many different levels will allow me to bring my best skills to an athletics program that is doing so well," Blakely said. "It's such an exciting time to be here with the recent football and lacrosse national championships along with the men's soccer tournament success."

Working as the Assistant Director of Marketing with Ohio University Athletics, he was involved in the creation of marketing and sales plans generating an all-time ticket sales revenue record with a 31 percent increase for football and a 32 percent increase for basketball.

"I'm thrilled to be a part of the JMU family," Blakely said. "Things are peaking here from an athletic performance standpoint; I want to make sure we are doing that from a fan engagement standpoint."

Blakely has a bachelor's degree from Mississippi State University and Master's degree from University of South Carolina, the bachelor's being in physical education with a concentration in sport communication and the Master's in Sport and Entertainment Management, respectively.

Calendar