Olympian to Partnerships Exec with Jeff Porter

Meet Jeff Porter.

It's not too often that you meet an Olympian, with a doctorate degree, who is building a career in sports. But that’s Jeff.

Jeff ran track at the University of Michigan, where he developed into one of the best hurdlers in the country. But when he first arrived in Ann Arbor, his plans beyond competing were a lot less clear.

He knew he loved sports. He just didn't know what a career in sports could actually look like.

After his freshman track season, Jeff walked into the athletic department's marketing office and asked if they had any internships available (being an athlete made that pretty easy). That fall, he found himself working sponsor activations at Michigan football games.

At the time, Jeff had no idea what an activation was. He just knew he was getting the chance to work football Saturdays at the Big House. That was cool enough for him.

It was his first exposure to the business happening behind the games, but even though he enjoyed it, it would still take some time before Jeff figured out where exactly he fit within it.

After graduation, he initially thought strength and conditioning might be the answer and landed an opportunity with Michigan football under Lloyd Carr. Then Carr retired, the new coaching staff came in, and Jeff was back to figuring out what came next.

His decision? Moving to Florida to train professionally with the goal of making the Olympics while also starting graduate school and exploring careers in higher education and athletics. Eventually, he returned to Michigan, where he continued training while earning his master’s and taking on temporary roles within the athletic department.

Between training, studying, and working, Jeff was also continuing to build relationships in athletics and learning about the different paths available to him. He continued those efforts until an opportunity opened in Michigan Athletics focused on alumni relations and development. As a former Michigan student-athlete with relationships throughout the athletic department, it felt like a natural fit.

He applied and got the job, but there was just one problem.

Jeff had also just qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games.

So before starting his first full-time role in athletics, he had to tell his new boss he wouldn't be available until after he got back from London.

Thankfully, they were willing to wait.

That September, Jeff returned from representing Team USA and began what would become nearly a decade-long career inside Michigan Athletics. His role expanded from alumni relations into fundraising, major gifts, sports administration, premium seating, and eventually work alongside Michigan's corporate partnership team.

And just to pile on, he was also still training for the next Olympics.

For the next four years, Jeff balanced a full-time job with workouts, weight room sessions, classes, schoolwork, and competitions around the world. Some summer weekends meant flying out on Friday, competing Saturday, returning Sunday, and showing up for work Monday morning.

His secret? A very detailed calendar.

In 2016, the work paid off when Jeff finished third at the U.S. Olympic Trials once again, claiming the final qualifying spot and earning his second trip to the Olympics.

Around the same time, his career at Michigan was beginning to point him toward another area where he excelled: sales.

Through his work with Michigan's corporate partnership business, Jeff found that he enjoyed learning what brands were trying to accomplish and figuring out how the athletic department could help. One of his mentors told him he had a natural ability for sales, something Jeff had never really considered. The way his mentor explained it changed his perspective.

People buy from people they like and trust. Whether you're fundraising, marketing, or selling a sponsorship, you're ultimately trying to build a relationship and get someone to believe in what you're offering. That became Jeff’s bread and butter.

Brands invest in sports teams, leagues, athletes, and events to connect with their fans and use the power of sports to accomplish their marketing goals. In return, they can receive access to assets like signage, hospitality, naming rights, jersey placement, social content, fan experiences, and the ability to use the property’s name and marks in their own marketing (IP).

There are two major sides to the business. Partnership sales works for the sports property to identify potential partners, build sponsorship packages, and negotiate deals. Partnership activation focuses on bringing those partnerships to life once they are signed, helping brands use their assets effectively and get value from their investment. Jeff's career has given him experience across both sides, with his current role primarily focused on sales.

By 2021, he had spent most of his adult life at Michigan, first as an athlete and then as an employee. When an opportunity came to join Miami University as Assistant Vice President of Development and Associate Athletic Director, leaving wasn't an easy decision, but Jeff was ready for the next challenge.

At Michigan, the Block M carried weight. The stadium held more than 100,000 people. Brands wanted to be associated with the university. Jeff wanted to know how much of his success came from representing Michigan and how much came from the professional he had become.

So he left.

The move lasted less than two years, but it helped lead Jeff to his next opportunity.

While in Oxford, a former boss encouraged him to attend the Women Leaders in Sports conference in Kansas City, where a connection introduced him to an executive with the Kansas City Current. That introduction turned into conversations with the organization and eventually owners Chris and Angie Long.

Their vision caught Jeff's attention immediately.

The Current were preparing to build the first stadium in the world specifically for a women's professional sports team, and they needed partners willing to buy into that vision before it became a reality.

It was the kind of project that doesn’t come around often, so in January 2023, Jeff joined the Current as Vice President of Corporate Partnerships.

While Jeff was bought in from that very first conversation, he quickly learned that the rest of the world was still going to need some convincing. Women's sports were growing, but many brands were still hesitant to invest. The stadium was under construction, the commercial opportunities were still being created, and Jeff and his team were asking companies to believe in what the Current could become, not what they could currently offer.

Soon the pieces started coming together. Crowds continued to grow, major partners signed on, and in March 2024, CPKC Stadium officially opened its doors.

Jeff and his team had helped build the partnership business around something that had never existed before and not surprisingly, people around sports started paying attention.

Later that year, executives from AMB Sports and Entertainment came to Kansas City to learn more about what the Current had built. Jeff helped show them around and ended up having a long conversation with one of the executives about what had worked, what hadn't, and what they had learned along the way.

Before the group left, Jeff handed over his business card.

Every few months, Jeff was intentional about checking in. If he saw something interesting happening with the Falcons or Atlanta United, he'd ask about it. If he was dealing with a challenge in Kansas City, he'd ask how they had approached something similar. Never looking for a job, but genuinely wanting to build the relationship and learn.

But when a couple years later, a position opened up to help lead partnerships with Atlanta’s new NWSL team, Atlanta City FC, Jeff was the one they called.

Earlier this year, in September of 2026, Jeff joined AMB Sports and Entertainment as Senior Director of Corporate Partnership Sales, where he now works across Atlanta City FC, the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and the rest of the organization's growing portfolio in sports.

More than two decades after Jeff first walked into an office at Michigan and asked if there was any way he could help with football games, he's still doing many of the same things that helped him get started.

Asking questions. Staying curious. Meeting people. Following up.

Only now, he knows exactly where those conversations can lead.

Q. How did you manage pursuing an Olympic career while simultaneously building your professional career in sports? What advice would you give athletes trying to prepare for what comes next while they’re still competing?

A. The only way I managed to pursue an Olympic career while building my professional career in sports was by being deliberate about how I used my time. In addition to work meetings and projects, I put everything on a weekly and monthly calendar: practices, weight training, travel, and rehab therapy. My days started at 5 a.m. and ended around 10 p.m. Everyone has the same 24 hours, but I treated every one of them as though it counted, because I had none to spare. A calendar and the willingness to delegate were what got me through.

Q. Walk us through the art of following up. Why do you believe it’s one of the most important parts of networking, and how can someone stay in touch without always asking for something?

A. Following up is one of the most important aspects of networking, if not the most important. It shows attention to detail, initiative, and that you're someone who won't let things slip through the cracks. Plenty of people can have a good conversation at a networking event, but far fewer take the next step. That's what makes the difference.

Following up doesn't mean asking for something. Early-career professionals often assume it does, that a follow-up is really a request for a job. The art is in giving the other person a reason to hear from you that has nothing to do with what you need. If you met someone at lunch, you might send a short note when something reminds you of your conversation, or when an idea sparked by it comes to mind. You could also share news about their organization or comment on something they posted on LinkedIn. Small, thoughtful touches like these keep the relationship warm, so that when you do eventually have a request, it comes from someone they know and trust.

Q. How is selling partnerships in collegiate athletics different from selling in professional sports? And what did your time with the Current teach you about selling women’s sports specifically?

A. Collegiate and professional partnership sales share many fundamentals. In both, you're selling things like attendance, national reach, and in-venue assets such as LED signage. The structure is where they diverge. In collegiate athletics, many of the largest partnerships are packaged and sold alongside the rights of other universities. In professional sports, deals are more customized and largely shaped by the local market, so success depends on understanding what a specific business wants from that community.

My time with the Current taught me how to talk about women's sports with prospects. Women's professional teams are often compared to men's teams, especially in markets with several major men's franchises, and that comparison can undersell the product. I learned to stop competing on those terms and instead make the case for women's sports on its own merits: women's sports brings out different fans and fans groups and those fans are more engaged and loyal compared to other men's teams. That experience sharpened my storytelling and gave me a clearer way to connect women's sports to a partner's business goals.

1. Find a mentor
You don't have to figure out your career on your own. Jeff sought out people who could expose him to new opportunities, make introductions, and teach him things he didn't know he needed to learn.

2. Stay connected
Networking is about more than meeting new people. Jeff consistently followed up with the relationships he had already built, often without asking for anything, which kept those connections strong over time.

3. Get comfortable being uncomfortable
From leaving Michigan to selling a stadium that didn't exist yet, some of Jeff's biggest opportunities required stepping into situations without knowing exactly how they would turn out.

Junior Roles

-Partnership Marketing Specialist | Sacramento Kings

-Partnership Solutions Coordinator, University of Minnesota | Learfield Sports Properties

-Coordinator, Partnership Development | Monumental Sports & Entertainment

-Corporate Partnership & Activation Intern | Lake Country DockHounds

-Internship, Partnerships | D.C. United (Spring 2027)

-Coordinator, Partnership Activation | Nashville SC

Senior Roles

-Manager, Partnership Sales & Marketing | ECHL League Office

-Director of Partnership Development | Florida Panthers

-Director, Partnership Marketing | Gotham FC

-Sr. Manager, Partnership Development | Columbus Blue Jackets

-Manager, Partnership Sales | New Orleans Saints & Pelicans

Thank you for reading this week’s edition of So You Want to Work in Sports. I appreciate you being part of this community.

If you have ideas, feedback, or future guest suggestions, feel free to reach out at [email protected].

If you want more hands-on support as you navigate the start of your career within sports, book a 1:1 session with me here. The sooner you start preparing, the more confident you will feel when opportunities come your way.

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