Northern Kentucky University Names Mike Odom Athletic Director
The NKU Athletic Director search came to an end on July 8, 2026 as the Norse announced that Mike Odom is the new Vice President and Athletic Director. As I mentioned during the Nati Report on Monday, NKU had come to a short list around 10 days ago. At that time, I was given 4 names, notably, Mike’s was on that list. Immediately, he stood out to me as someone who would be a great fit for NKU. The other candidates had their strengths, but based on the resumes, I preferred Mike’s in this role. For the sake of the other candidates, I will be leaving their names anonymous as they are still working with other D1 programs. Here are the opening statements from both NKU president Cady Short-Thompson, and then Mike himself:
“Mike stood out throughout this national search because of his strategic leadership, authentic communication, record of revenue generation and commitment to student-athlete success, College athletics is evolving rapidly, and we have a dynamic leader who understands both the opportunities and the challenges ahead. We are excited to welcome Mike and his family to NKU and are confident he will build strong relationships on campus and throughout our community as he leads Norse Athletics forward.” – Cady Short-Thompson, NKU President
Picture C/O NKU Athletics
“I am deeply honored and grateful to President Cady Short-Thompson and the search committee for the opportunity to serve as the next director of athletics at Northern Kentucky University, Throughout this process, I was inspired by the university’s vision, its commitment to building meaningful connections throughout the region and its unwavering dedication to providing an exceptional experience for student-athletes. I am excited to work alongside the talented coaches, dedicated staff and outstanding student-athletes as we pursue excellence in every aspect of the collegiate experience—from competition to the classroom to service in the community. Together, we will build on the proud tradition of Norse Athletics while embracing new opportunities to grow and succeed. My family and I are thrilled to join the NKU community and are excited to call northern Kentucky home.” – Mike Odom
Mike Odom’s Career Path:
Mike departs from Creighton University where he served as the deputy AD for external operations and will begin his tenure as the AD for the Norse on August 3, 2026. In this role, he led the external operations unit which includes ticket sales, marketing, licensing, creative services, sports information, broadcast operations and corporate partnerships. While he was at Creighton, his team generated $8 million in annual revenue from MBB, WBB and Volleyball. He was a part of the group that led the MBB team to sell out season tickets for the first time ever and was 6th nationally in attendance. As you know, I cover Xavier as well; the Chi is no doubt one of the best environments in hoops and fans have only good things to say about the work he’s done there. He also won 7 NACMA awards in 2023-24 for marketing and fan engagement.
Picture C/O Creighton Athletics
Mike started his career at his Alma Mater NC State University where he obtained his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a Marketing concentration in 2001 before going on to get a Master of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, Sports Management from NCSU in 2004. While obtaining his master’s, he was a graduate assistant on the Sports Marketing and Promotions team, eventually becoming assistant director of Marketing & Promotions at NCSU in 2004. During his tenure at NCSU, he led partnerships for group ticket sales plans for men’s basketball that resulted in a $200K profit while simultaneously increasing men’s basketball attendance from 16th to 13th nationally with a focus on fan engagement.
He remained in the NCSU role until Feb 2006 when he took over at Wake Forest. During his 14 years at Wake Forest, he started as the Director of Marketing and Promotions before moving all the way up to the Associate Athletic Director, Strategic Communications and Championships. He made a variety of stops on the proverbial Marketing ladder between the two stops, helping drive $7 million in revenue, winning numerous awards, and breaking records for football season attendance and specifically a $200K revenue increase in MBB revenue during 2008-09 with ticket packages and group sales. During his time, he also found ways to get creative with his marketing and driving people to attend games not only for the major sports, but all sports. Finally, when he was the Associate AD over Strategic Comms and Championships, he managed budgets north of 1.2 million dollars, giving him the expertise to lead entire athletic department budgets.
In 2020, Mike took a Gameday Consultant job with MO Consulting, marking his first step away from college athletics. While there, he coordinated game day evaluations for high majors (Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, Cincinnati, Clemson and more), helping to improve operations and fan engagement, and elevating the fan experience.
After this, he moved to the American Baseball Coaches Association where he was the Assistant Executive Director for Corporate Partnerships. He managed corporate partners, including generating more than $1 million in revenue, and a 30% increase in official corporate partners, which was a record.
This is a really fun list of accomplishments, but what do they mean?
I tried extremely hard to pull different stats and achievements related to the fan engagement piece of his sports administration journey. When you look at Mike’s career path, it’s clear that he prioritizes growing a brand, and while he’s been doing this at large high major programs, those principles stay the same. At practically every stop, he’s doing things that give back to the community, make things more accessible, and affordable. He’s also done an exceptional job at doing those things while still turning a profit at the schools. Let’s be honest, Wake Forest isn’t known as a massive sports school, so being able to help grow attendance there to make them nationally ranked is a significant achievement. After that, he was entrusted with some of the biggest brands in the country to help elevate fan gameday experience and to ensure a profit was still achieved. Finally, at Creighton, he helped continue elevating a great brand while breaking records, hiring a great baseball and a great women’s soccer coach.
*Mike’s history comes from LinkedIn and bios at NKU and Creighton
NKU is at a bit of a crossroads in athletics overall, as is much of the country. However, one thing that has stood out to me since returning to the program is just how few fans are in attendance most nights. When I was a student (2015-2020), students were involved, and while Truist (BB&T) wasn’t sold out, there were always people in the arena. Now, NKU’s pulling in around 2,000 people per game, which is a solid 3rd in the Horizon League. However, they are almost 1,500 people lower than Wright State who held the lead at just over 3,550 average. NKU has the opportunity to push towards the top of the Horizon League in all facets of athletics, and with Mike in front, there’s a reason to be optimistic NKU can get there.
As a reminder, NKU did DECREASE season ticket prices this year, so if you haven’t, I’d recommend getting into Truist Arena this winter as this team should be good!
There will be an introductory press conference on Thursday afternoon. Sansom Sports Media is hoping to attend, but work life makes it challenging on short notice, but you can watch the full presser here:
