Jason Booker - Deputy Athletics Director for External Affairs and Revenue Generation - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Jason Booker

Title:
Deputy Athletics Director for External Affairs and Revenue Generation
Email:
Phone:
864.1934

Booker arrived at KU in 2021 after serving as the Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships and Broadcast Sales for the Kansas City Royals for eight years. Booker has nearly 30 years of experience in the sports business serving in various revenue roles related to, marketing, corporate partnerships, licensing as well as premium, season and single-game ticket sales strategies.

Booker has been an integral part of developing the marketing campaign, sales strategies and overall branding elements of the reimagined David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium which includes an overall investment of $445 million dollars in Phase I. In addition, he served in a critical role of rebranding, marketing, premium space development and overall sales strategy for the recently completed $55 million dollar renovation to Allen Fieldhouse.

Over the past four years Kansas Athletics has seen unprecedented revenue growth under Booker’s leadership. Over the first four years since he returned to The Hill, Kansas Athletics has seen growth of 47% in ticket revenue with overall variable revenue growth of 40%. Along with the assistance of Legends and the external team, he helped develop a new per seat donation model strategy for both football and basketball, strategic licensing partnerships as well as the overall research, build and sales process for 3,000 new premium seats in the reimagined David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.

In addition to revenue driving strategies, Booker helped redesign the external departments creating an in-house agency, Jayhawk Creative Services, that helps support creative content, graphic design and social media strategies for all Kansas Athletics programs.

Booker also serves as the sport administrator for the Kansas Women’s Soccer program and led the hiring committee for head coach Nate Lie who won the 2024 Big XII soccer tournament championship in his first year.

In his role with the Royals, Booker oversaw the day to day functions of the corporate partnership sales and activation teams and was instrumental in developing premium ticket sales strategies. During his time at the Royals, he signed the single largest corporate partnership deal in organization history with Price Chopper and signed the first ever official craft beer partnership in Major League Baseball. He also led sales strategy for the 2015 World Series champions to strategically drive revenue and develop a national sales strategy to align with brands outside of the Kansas City region. In addition, he organized and planned the 2015 World Series celebration parade that is widely recognized as the largest single event celebration in Kansas City history bringing 600,000 + fans to Union Station in Kansas City to honor the team.

Prior to joining the Royals, Booker served as the Executive Director and General Manager for Jayhawk IMG Sports Marketing for seven years. In his role with Jayhawk IMG Sports Marketing, he oversaw the day to day corporate partnership program and operation functions with the University of Kansas including the Jayhawk Radio and TV Networks, in venue, digital, print sponsorships and endorsement rights for Kansas Athletics head coaches.

Before joining IMG College, Booker was the General Manager for Action Sports Media at the University of South Carolina and the Colonial Life Center. He previously also worked as an Account Executive for Learfield Sports at the University of Oklahoma and served as the Assistant Director of Marketing in the Athletic Department at TCU. In addition to his role with IMG, Booker served as an adjunct professor in the sports management program at the University of Kansas.

Booker also has dedicated time to serving on several impactful community and sports related boards. Booker recently served as the Chair of the Board for the Kansas City Sports Commission and Foundation. As a part of his 8 year tenure on the board, he has worked closely with their President and CEO Kathy Nelson to bring the 2023 NFL Draft, the 2026 FIFA World Cup and several NCAA championships to the Kansas City region. In addition, he has served the past 4 years on the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce board developing important and meaningful relationships with the business community in Lawrence.

Booker received his undergraduate degree in Sports Management from the University of Kansas and his Master’s in Sports Administration from Wichita State University.