Michael P. Waddell
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Mike Waddell is an American professional sports executive who is the
founder Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...
of Brentwood Partners, LLC, a sports consulting firm, in which he is currently the principal, along with managing director Keith Tribble. Previously, Waddell was president of the
ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...
Allen Americans The Allen Americans are a professional ice hockey team headquartered at the Allen Event Center, Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas, which currently plays in the ECHL. The team was founded in 2009–10 CHL season, 2009 in the Centr ...
for two seasons during the global pandemic, and the
Orlando Apollos The Orlando Apollos were a professional American football franchise based in Orlando, Florida, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The team played its home games at Spectr ...
of the
Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan area ...
. Following the AAF's folding, Waddell also worked with
World TeamTennis World TeamTennis (WTT) was a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973. The league's season normally took place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA would ...
to provide counsel to the
Orlando Storm The Orlando Storm was a World TeamTennis (WTT) franchise founded in 2019, owned by the league. The team was one of two expansion teams to enter the league in 2019 alongside the expansion Vegas Rollers. The Storm plays their home matches at the UST ...
in advance of the team's second season in 2020.


Early life, education, and family

Waddell was born in
Hickory, North Carolina Hickory is a city in western North Carolina primarily located in Catawba County, North Carolina, Catawba County. The List of municipalities in North Carolina, 25th most populous city in the state, it is located approximately northwest of Charlot ...
and graduated from The Asheville School in 1988. He went on to play football at
Guilford College Guilford College is a private liberal arts college in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Guilford has both traditional students and students who attend its Center for ...
where he earned his bachelor's degree in sports management in 1991. Waddell continued his education later in his career at
Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...
where he completed a master's degree in sports administration in 2010.


Career

Waddell began his career in college athletics as a radio and television broadcaster at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...
from 1991 to 1994, the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
from 1994 to 1997,
Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (), or App State, is a Public university, public research university in Boone, North Carolina, United States. It was founded as a normal school, teachers' college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and th ...
from 1997 to 2000, and the
United States Military Academy at West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as commissioned officers in the United States Army. The academy was founded ...
from 2000 to 2001. Waddell served in executive positions in the athletics departments at the
University of Akron The University of Akron is a public university, public research university in Akron, Ohio, United States. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM fields, STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advance ...
from 2001 to 2006, the
University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...
from 2006 to 2010, as the director of athletics at
Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its foundin ...
from 2010 to 2013, the
University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...
from 2013 to 2014, and the
University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...
from 2014 to 2016. Waddell relocated to Orlando in 2018 after serving as vice president at
Richmond Raceway Richmond Raceway (RR) is a , ''D''-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in unincorporated Henrico County, Virginia, Henrico County. It currently hosts one NASCAR Cup Series race weekend and the NASCAR Craftsman Tr ...
in
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
from 2016 to 2018, where he oversaw the reformation of the ticketing, marketing and communications units, and founded the first-ever NASCAR track owned eSports team. Waddell made the transition to pro sports in 2018 when he was named president of the
Orlando Apollos The Orlando Apollos were a professional American football franchise based in Orlando, Florida, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The team played its home games at Spectr ...
of the
Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan area ...
(AAF) on August 4, 2018 and remained in this position until the AAF ceased operations in April, 2019. On March 25, 2020 Waddell agreed to terms with the
ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...
's
Allen Americans The Allen Americans are a professional ice hockey team headquartered at the Allen Event Center, Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas, which currently plays in the ECHL. The team was founded in 2009–10 CHL season, 2009 in the Centr ...
to become the club's president and alternate governor. He was elevated to governor in March 2021. In April 2022, Waddell was named senior associate athletic director at
Campbell University Campbell University is a private Christian university in Buies Creek, North Carolina, United States. Campbell's main campus in Buies Creek is home to its College of Arts & Sciences, College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, Divinity School, Scho ...
.


References


External links


Brentwood Partners Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waddell, Mike Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Akron Zips athletic directors NASCAR people Towson Tigers athletic directors Guilford College alumni Ohio University alumni Orlando Apollos