Matthew Martin is in his first year as the Director of Athletics/Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics at USC Upstate, a role he assumed on August 14, 2023.
Martin joins the USC Upstate athletic department following three years serving as the Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Operations at the University of Idaho. In this position, he held direct oversight of the athletic department’s marketing, ticket sales and operations, communications and digital strategy, multimedia rights, broadcast production, and trademark licensing while serving as sport supervisor for the Vandals’ women’s soccer, men’s tennis, and women’s tennis programs.
While at Idaho, he served as the lead fundraiser for the Idaho Central Credit Union (ICCU) Arena, a $51 million basketball and events facility that opened in October 2021. The 62,000-square-foot, 4,200-seat arena is a one-of-a-kind engineered wood structure that highlights Idaho’s wood products industry. Martin also secured a 10-year, $5 million naming rights partnership for the Kibbie Dome, partnering with P1FCU, a Northwest-based credit union. In addition to naming rights of the P1FCU Kibbie Dome—home of Vandal football and women’s soccer—the partnership also provides Idaho student-athletes financial success programs through financial education through the department’s Better Education About Money for Students (BEAMS) program and through the Elevate Idaho Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) program.
Additional facility upgrades under Martin’s purview include renovations to the Lauren McCluskey Track, one of the largest indoor tracks in the nation housed inside the P1FCU Kibbie Dome. The project also included the creation of four competition tennis courts inside the track, providing Vandal tennis with a new home and the largest indoor tennis facility in the NCAA. Other upgrades and renovations include the creation of the “Field Club,” a unique premium seating and hospitality space in the P1FCU Kibbie Dome, and a centralized football tailgating area known as the “Vandal Village.”
Martin was responsible for the development of Idaho’s “Elevate Idaho” NIL program, collaborating with the university’s entrepreneurship program within the College of Business, the College of Law, and other internal partners. The program aims to help Vandal student-athletes find NIL opportunities and manage their business successfully and responsibly with the initiative featuring partnerships with INFLCR and OpenDorse.
Other initiatives overseen by Martin at Idaho aimed to increase the department’s total ticketing revenue, growing revenue in each of the past two seasons. The increased ticketing revenue stems from growth in average attendance at Vandal football, women’s soccer, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball with a new season ticketing plan for basketball—spearheaded by Martin—creating an increase of 358% and 259%, respectively, in purchases of season tickets for Vandal men’s and women’s basketball. A rebranded student section in partnership with Associated Students of the University of Idaho also helped grow student attendance by 165% in 2022.
Prior to returning to the Palouse, Martin spent one year as the Vice President/Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at Concordia University – Portland. Cavalier student-athletes also helped bring the department the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Academic All-Sports Championship and maintained a cumulative department GPA of 3.49. Unfortunately, four months into his tenure with the Cavaliers, the university announced it would close its doors at the conclusion of the Spring 2020 semester.
Before returning to the Pacific Northwest, Martin spent three years serving as the Associate Athletic Director for External Operations at fellow Big South Conference member Winthrop. At Winthrop, he oversaw the department’s major gift fundraising and athletic development, marketing, ticket sales, sports information and communication, multimedia rights, and corporate sponsorships, broadcast services, and trademark licensing while serving as the sport supervisor for volleyball, softball, men’s golf, and women’s golf.
At Winthrop, Martin was instrumental in implementing a comprehensive major giving plan for Eagle athletics, resulting in record donations in 2017-18, an increase of 84% over 2016-17, and a 133% increase over 2015-16. Martin also revamped the athletic department’s corporate sponsorship model, increasing annual cash sponsorships by over 88% from 2016-17 to 2018-19. As part of the new model, he personally secured the two largest corporate sponsorships in department history, signing partnerships with Atrium Health and Founders Federal Credit Union. He also overhauled the operations of the Eagle Club—the department’s athletic fundraising arm and booster club—resulting in an increase of 105% in annual scholarships and growing over $500,000 in annual scholarships for the first time ever in 2018-19 with the Eagle Club also increasing its membership by 94% in 2018-19, growing to over 600 members.
With an eye towards the future, Martin helped lead the development and execution of the department’s seven-year strategic plan, “The Drive to ’25,” a plan designed to align with specifically and purposefully “The Winthrop Plan,” the university’s strategic plan. He developed and launched a varsity Esports program, the first Division I program in the nation to report through athletics, a program that was a key element to the university's enrollment initiatives. He also established several partnerships with key campus partners to provide practicum and work opportunities for Winthrop students.
In partnership with the City of Rock Hill and the York County Visitor’s Bureau, Martin led efforts to secure a bid to host the 2020 NCAA College Basketball Academy, a development boys basketball academy for prospective student-athletes. Winthrop was chosen as one of four sites, joining Utah, Connecticut, and Wichita State.
Ahead of his time at Winthrop, Martin spent a year as the Assistant Athletic Director for Major Gifts at the University of South Dakota. In the position, he was responsible for soliciting, cultivating, and stewarding both corporate and individual major gift donors on behalf of the athletic department, maintaining a portfolio of over 120 donors and prospects.
Martin helped complete fundraising efforts for three new facilities, including the $74 million Sanford Coyote Sports Complex, the First Trust & Bank Soccer Complex, and the Lillibridge Track & Field Complex, all of which opened during the 2016-17 academic year. In addition to his fundraising efforts towards new facilities, he personally secured over $1.2 million for a variety of athletic initiatives, including student-athlete scholarships, sport-specific enhancement funds, and other general athletic initiatives.
Martin joined South Dakota following a two-year stint with Learfield Sports, serving as the Manager of Business Development with Idaho Vandals Sports Properties and as a Brand Management Representative with Learfield Licensing Partners. With Idaho Vandals Sports Properties, he managed a portfolio of approximately 50 clients and over $400,000 worth of marketing efforts while with Learfield Licensing Partners he managed day-to-day trademark operations for over 30 university partners in the Western United States.
Before joining Learfield Sports, he spent two years at his alma mater Eastern Washington University, serving as an External Revenue Coordinator. He was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Eagle Athletic Association, the fundraising arm of the athletic department, and helped rebrand the EAA to the Eagle Athletic Fund.
A native of La Crosse, Wash., Martin graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with a Finance Major and Economics Minor and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies from Eastern Washington in 2011 while earning a Master of Science in Physical Education, Health & Recreation with an emphasis in Sport Administration from Eastern Washington in 2013.
At Eastern Washington, Martin was a five-year member of the Eagles football program, serving as a team captain on the program’s lone NCAA Football Championship Subdivision National Championship team in 2010. At the time of graduation, he held the program record for games played, competing in 51 games, including all 15 games en route to the national championship.
He and his wife, Nikki, and two daughters, Chandler and Camden, reside in Spartanburg.
