Kraft Named deputy AD at Temple

PHILADELPHIA - Dr. Pat Kraft, who served on the senior athletic staffs at Indiana University and Loyola University Chicago, has been named Deputy Director of Athletics at Temple University.

“Pat Kraft brings a wealth of knowledge in athletics administration to Temple University,” said Interim Director of Athletics Kevin Clark.  “I witnessed firsthand his efforts in branding and marketing Indiana Athletics as we served together on IU’s athletics senior staff.  His business acumen and his ability to engage fan bases will be critical as Temple is poised to enter a new era in its athletics program in 2013-14 with the move to the American Athletic Conference.”

Kraft spent the past two years as the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director at Loyola University Chicago.  At Loyola, he had direct oversight of all aspects of the department’s external operations, including the marketing, ticketing, media relations and fundraising components.

In his two years at the school he was able to grow the men’s basketball season ticket base by 30 percent with an overall increase of 51 percent in ticket revenue.  Additionally he generated an increase of 400 percent in cash sponsorship to the department while also growing the department’s annual giving by 75 percent.

Not limited to just external operations at Loyola, Kraft was responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the department’s $12+ million budget.  He also served as the sport supervisor for men’s and women’s basketball and was responsible for handling all of the department’s business contracts.

At Indiana, Kraft was responsible for the branding and marketing efforts for all of the Hoosiers' programs. He oversaw game production for all of IU's varsity sports and coordinated group, season and single-game ticket sales for football, men's basketball, men's soccer, women's basketball and women's volleyball. In addition, Kraft managed the promotion, marketing, brand enhancement and enforcement of the school's Adidas contract and the Big Ten Network partnership as well as the Learfield Sport Properties multi-media rights agreement with the Hoosiers.

His efforts at Indiana helped increase home football attendance to its highest mark in 17 years, with it also being the third largest football attendance increase among all Division I schools.  He also instituted a strategy that saw a 20 percent increase in student ticket sales and the overall highest season ticket base in 13 years.

The Libertyville, Ill. native began his career in 2001 as the corporate sponsorship and promotions coordinator with the Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League.  He then spent three years as the business development director with United States Synchronized Swimming (2001-04).  He then served four years in higher education, the first three at Indiana (2005-08) as an associate instructor for sports marketing and management and the last as a clinical professor in the school of business administration at Loyola Chicago (2008-09).

 Kraft, who played football as an undergraduate at Indiana, has three degrees from the University. He earned a bachelor’s degree in sports marketing/management (2000), a master’s degree in sports marketing/administration (2005) and a doctorate in sports marketing (2008). 

“I want to thank President Neil Theobald and Interim Athletic Director Kevin Clark for this wonderful opportunity,” said Kraft.  “My wife Betsy and I are thrilled to be joining the Temple Owls family. It is an honor to be part of such a proud and storied program, and I am excited to play a role in the next great chapter of Temple athletics.”