Syracuse athletic director Bryan Blair has a message for Orange fans: There is no time to waste.
In a recent interview with Brent Axe of Syracuse.com, Blair described this as a moment of urgency for Syracuse athletics. In a college sports landscape changing at breakneck speed, the Orange need to win and maximize their opportunities right now.
His latest hire offers a glimpse of how he intends to do it.
Syracuse announced Tuesday that Chris Presson will become its deputy athletic director and chief commercial officer. Presson comes from Rock Entertainment Group, whose portfolio includes the Cleveland Cavaliers. His newly created Syracuse position is focused on growing revenue through sponsorships, ticketing, premium seating, merchandising, marketing and other commercial opportunities.
In other words, Syracuse just hired an executive with NBA business experience to help make Orange athletics more money.
And in modern college sports, the ability to generate money is inseparable from the ability to compete.
Consider what Syracuse fans are watching. Fran Brown’s football team is off to a disappointing 0-2 start in conference, despite a respectable (middle tier) payroll in the ACC. Gerry McNamara is preparing for his first basketball season with the enormous task of restoring a program that hasn’t reached the NCAA Tournament since 2021.
Both coaches need talent. Attracting and keeping that talent requires resources. And those resources cannot come from simply hoping donors will write bigger checks every year.
That’s where Presson enters the picture.
He won’t call plays, recruit a quarterback or develop a point guard. But if he can grow Syracuse’s commercial revenue, he can help strengthen the financial foundation supporting the athletic department. The university has also identified expanding its presence in New York City as part of his assignment — an intriguing opportunity for a school with a substantial alumni base there.
The timing matters.
Blair’s urgency isn’t just about the next football game or basketball season. Conference affiliations, media deals and the structure of college athletics continue to evolve. Syracuse cannot assume that its history, its ACC membership or the size of the JMA Wireless Dome will guarantee its place in whatever comes next.
It needs successful teams. It needs engaged fans. And it needs the revenue to keep investing in both.
That makes Presson’s arrival more than an administrative hiring announcement. It’s an indication that Blair is trying to build the business operation Syracuse will need to support its competitive ambitions.
Of course, hiring a commercial executive doesn’t guarantee more wins. Presson still has to deliver results, and the coaches still have to turn their resources into victories.
But Blair has made his timeline clear: Syracuse can’t afford to wait for the college sports landscape to settle before deciding how seriously it wants to compete.
The Orange need to build for the future while winning in the present. Chris Presson’s job is to help make sure they can afford to do both.
