The College of Wooster welcomes Dan Griffis ’94 to present James R. Wilson lecture

The College of Wooster will welcome Dan Griffis ’94, the president of Global Partnerships and co-founder of Oak View Group, who will be giving the Wilson lecture in Lean Lecture Room on Oct. 25th at 6 p.m. The lecture, “A Positive Disruption in the Sports and Entertainment Industry,” will include details about his journey through 25 years of experience in marketing and sales in the sports and entertainment sector and his advice on how to be a positive disruption in the industry. 

Griffis is the co-founder of Oak View Group (OVG), a global sports and entertainment company. He started OVG in October of 2015 with industry veterans Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff and has helped grow the company from three people to over 40,000 employees, and from $0 in annual revenue to over $1.5 billion in annual revenue in less than eight years. As president of Global Partnerships for OVG, he currently leads all revenue across the company including OVG’s arena development projects of Seattle, Washington; New York City, New York; Austin, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada; Palm Springs, California; Savannah, Georgia; Phoenix, Arizona; Baltimore, Maryland; and Manchester (UK).  

In the last three years, Griffis has been instrumental in creating and building the Seattle Kraken, the 32nd NHL franchise, and has sold over $4.9 billion in sponsorship, including naming rights to 22 sports and entertainment venues across the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLS, and NCAA. OVG’s Global Partnerships team recently won the Sports Business Journal Sports Business Award for best in Sales, Consulting and Client Service among agencies in the sports industry. 

Before OVG, Griffis was officer and the “Curator of Pop Culture” for the Target brand for many years, running marketing across fashion, sports, entertainment, Corporate Social Responsibility, grocery, and home. He also spent a decade as the head of marketing and sales for Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, where he won seven championships and 135 races across IndyCar, NASCAR and Sports Cars, including three Indianapolis 500’s and one Daytona 500. Griffis started his career at KPMG, a company that provides audit, tax, and advisory services to organizations, as a management consultant and profitability expert.  

At Wooster, Griffis earned his degree in history with honors, and he completed an MBA with high distinction from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. He also serves on two University of Michigan boards, the Sport Management Advisory Board and the Board of the Ross School of Business, as well as the board of advisors at Grambling State University. Griffis is a member of the Alumni Board at Wooster. 

From leading one of the world’s most popular brands, to building an NHL franchise from scratch, to becoming an entrepreneur and building a company in sports and entertainment, Griffis will share his journey and what he has learned—which all started with his degree at Wooster. 

For more information about the lecture, contact 330-263-2302 or mspencer@wooster.edu. 

Image: Dan Griffis ’94, photo provided by Griffis.

Posted in News on October 16, 2023.