McCormack Department of Sport Management Appoints Jeffrey Pollack as First-Ever Professor of Practice

Sport business executive Jeffrey Pollack has been appointed to an initial two-year term as professor of practice for the McCormack Department of Sport Management. Pollack will co-teach the graduate-level professional development seminar in the fall semesters with Graduate Program Director Will Norton and assist in sourcing and managing the MBA sport consulting projects during the spring semesters.

Pollack, the department’s first-ever professor of practice, will also provide mentorship of McCormack students and assist the department with industry engagement initiatives.

“We are incredibly fortunate to be able to add Jeffrey to our distinguished faculty,” said Steve McKelvey, chair of the McCormack Department of Sport Management, which is housed in the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst. “Jeffrey brings to our top-ranked program a wide range of sport industry experiences and an extensive network. We look forward to having him share his professional insights and career advice with our students.”

“I am beyond honored to join the McCormack Sport Management faculty as the school’s first professor of practice,” said Pollack, a 2003 alumnus of the McCormack Department of Sport Management master’s program. “Personally, this is a dream realized and, professionally, I look forward to working with the school’s talented students and helping them grow as leaders and prepare for careers filled with meaning and purpose. The adventure in the classroom begins this fall and I can't wait."

The McCormack Department and Pollack have collaborated on a number of experiential learning opportunities during the past two academic years, offering UMass students the opportunity to learn from the C-suite and access a unique outlook on the fast-moving global sports industry. Consulting projects tied to Pollack’s current advisory, investment, and entrepreneurial pursuits have offered students invaluable, real-world educational enrichment.

“For our department, it’s inspiring to see students plug directly into Jeffrey’s unique experience, perspective, and insights,” noted Senior Lecturer and Graduate Program Director Will Norton. “I can’t wait to see Jeffrey bolster our in-class sessions and I am confident our mentorship services will be elevated with Jeffrey’s presence in the halls of Isenberg.

Pollack is an Emmy Award winner with more than 25 years of leadership experience driving catalytic change, growth, and innovation for family-owned, private equity-backed, and corporate-based ventures. He most recently served as President and CEO of the XFL and has been lauded for helping businesses and brands rethink, recalibrate, and evolve. He has served as Special Advisor and Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer for the Los Angeles Chargers, President and Commissioner of the World Series of Poker, Executive Chairman of the Professional Bull Riders, Managing Director of Broadcasting and New Media for NASCAR, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications for the NBA, and Strategic Advisor to former NBA Commissioner David Stern.

Pollack is the founder of The Sports Business Daily, the original and leading daily trade publication for the sports industry. Through his vision and direction as founding President and Publisher, “The Daily” pioneered a new genre of sports journalism in 1994, becoming an industry standard and must-read for sports executives and giving rise to a proliferation of sports business news and information services around the world.

Pollack received the department’s highest alumni honor, the Harold J. VanderZwaag Distinguished Alumnus Award, in 2022.