Amber Cox (born 1972) is a sports executive and current

chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

(COO) and General Manager of the

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Fever compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was founded for ...

since October 4, 2024. Before joining the Fever, Cox had various sports positions at

William Woods University William Woods University is a private university in Fulton, Missouri. Founded in 1870, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Expanding its mission to address the need for graduate and adult-oriented programs, the instit ...

and Columbia College from the 1990s to 2000s. Cox went on to join the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

in 2004 and began working as the director of marketing and promotions for the WNBA team. During her tenure with the Mercury, Cox became the team's

and president in the 2010s. She also was an interim general manager for the team in 2013. After leaving the Mercury, Cox was a college basketball commissioner for the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

in 2013. Years later, Cox went to the

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

in 2015 and became chief marketing officer for the

Houston Dash The Houston Dash are an American professional soccer team based in Houston, Texas, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Dash began play in the 2014 season. The team plays its home games at Shell Energy Stadium. His ...

and the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

. The following year, Cox was selected as the vice president of the

New England Black Wolves The New England Black Wolves were a professional box lacrosse team based in Uncasville, Connecticut. They were members of the East Division of the National Lacrosse League and began play in the winter of 2014–2015 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in U ...

and

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Sun compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team i ...

. While part of the Black Wolves, Cox won the 2017

National Lacrosse League Executive of the Year Award The Executive of the Year Award is given annually to the National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The ...

Early life and education

In the early 1970s, Cox was raised in

Monett, Missouri Monett is the most-populous city in Barry and Lawrence counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. The city is located in the Ozarks, just south of Interstate 44 between Joplin and Springfield. According to the 2024 census population estimate, th ...

. Growing up, Cox began to play basketball at the age of five and worked with her family at a greenhouse until she was a teen. For her post-secondary education, Cox was on the women's basketball team at

from 1992 to 1996. Her 1,283 points with the Owls placed her in the top 15 career points for the university during the late 2010s. For her studies, Cox focused on communications and physical education for her

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1996. A few years later at William Woods, Cox received a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

in 1998. While completing her education, Cox was a

trombonist The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the air column inside the instrument to ...

Career

While completing her post-secondary education in the 1990s, Cox worked at the

Missouri Department of Conservation The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and the Missouri Conservation Commission were created by Article IV Sections 40-42 of the Missouri Constitution, which were adopted by the voters of the state in 1936 as Amendment 4 to the constitut ...

as an assistant in the forestry department and the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

as an intern photographer. During the late 1990s, Cox held additional assistant positions at William Woods coaching basketball and working as a

sports information director A sports information director is a type of public relations worker who provides statistics, team, and player notes, as well as other information about a college or university's sports teams to the news media and public. Abbreviated as "SID," sports ...

. At Columbia College, Cox held assistant positions in

media relations Media relations involves working with media for the purpose of informing the public of an organization's mission, policies and practices in a positive, consistent and credible manner. It can also entail developing symbiotic relationships with medi ...

and sports directorship from 1996 to 2000. While at Columbia, Cox led the media relations for the college's sports teams between 2000 and 2005. During the late 2000s, Cox worked for the Phoenix RoadRunners in the hockey's team marketing department. She later continued her sports information career primarily with the

American Midwest Conference The American Midwest Conference (AMC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) with 12 member institutions located in Arkansas and Missouri in the United States. History The ...

before becoming the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

of William Woods in 2011. After becoming part of the

in 2004, Cox was the Mercury's director of marketing and promotions until 2010. While with the team during the 2000s, Cox also worked in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

. Cox began her position as

(COO) of the WNBA team in 2010. After becoming president of the team in 2011, Cox was named the interim general manager of the Mercury in August 2013 after

Corey Gaines Corey Yasuto Gaines (born June 1, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He played five seasons in the NBA, and was a four-time Israeli Premier League Assists Leader, in 1999 and in 2001 to 2003. He was also a for ...

was fired. Cox remained with the Mercury until October 2013. After her tenure with the Mercury, Cox went to work in college basketball when she became a commissioner for the

in late 2013. At the beginning of 2015, Cox moved from basketball to

when she was named chief marketing officer for both the

and the

. In October 2016, Cox became the vice president of both the

and

. While with the Black Wolves, Cox received the 2017

. Cox continued her soccer career in 2021 when she was selected by the

Kansas City NWSL The Kansas City Current are an American professional soccer team based in Kansas City, Missouri, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded as an expansion team in 2021. The team plays its home games at CPKC Sta ...

to become their COO. On October 4, 2024 it was announced that the Indiana Fever had hired Cox as their COO and General Manager, replacing the legendary

Lin Dunn Lin Dunn (born May 10, 1947) is an American women's basketball executive and former coach, who is currently a senior advisor with the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association, WNBA. She was recently the general manager of the ...

Honors and personal life

In 2012, Cox was named one of the 40 Under 40 by the ''

Phoenix Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...

''. In her personal life, Cox played guitar in the 2000s and 2010s. Cox is married.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Amber Basketball executives Women's National Basketball Association executives Women's National Basketball Association general managers Houston Dynamo FC non-playing staff Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Barry County, Missouri People from Lawrence County, Missouri People by populated place in Missouri

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...