Frank Pucher hired as Fresno State's senior associate athletics director for external relations

FRESNO, Calif. – Fresno State director of athletics Terry Tumey announced on Thursday that he has hired Frank Pucher to serve as the department's senior associate athletics director for external relations. Pucher comes to Fresno State from Southern Utah, where he was the deputy director of athletics.

"I'm really excited about the addition of Frank to our team," said Tumey. "Frank brings a wealth of experience not only on the external side, but in brand activation. He will be a real asset as we position and grow the Bulldog brand within our community and outward."

Under Tumey's supervision, Pucher will be tasked with assuring an effective, consistent and progressive approach to advancing the image and notoriety of Fresno State Athletics within the San Joaquin Valley, the state of California and the nation. This includes direct supervision of marketing, merchandising, ticket operations and media services as well as key interactions with partners both on and off campus.

"I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity and would like to thank Terry Tumey and the search committee for their warm welcome to Fresno State," said Pucher. "My family and I are beyond excited to join the Bulldog family and I cannot wait to get to know the great people who comprise the Valley community and the Red Wave. I am thrilled to join the team and build upon the proud tradition and unmatched passion that has been established over the years. We will work tirelessly to be the best external unit in the Mountain West and to help put our coaches and student-athletes in positions to be successful."

Pucher joined Southern Utah's staff on March 1, 2016 as their associate athletics director for development, and since that time served as the associate athletics director for external affairs before being named the deputy director of athletics.

Pucher oversaw all external functions at Southern Utah, which included all fundraising efforts, corporate sponsorships, marketing and promotions, strategic communications, ticket operations and graphic design. In addition, he was the sport supervisor for SUU's men's basketball team.

During Pucher's time at Southern Utah, he helped grow football ticket revenue 42 percent between the 2015 and 2016 seasons. SUU football ticket revenue grew an additional 59 percent from 2016 to 2017, and the 2018 ticket revenue projects to outpace the previous record set in 2017. During that span, SUU set its all-time single game attendance record in 2016, and then again surpassed it in 2017.

On the hardwood, the men's basketball program saw attendance grow 29 percent during the 2016-17 season and then grew an additional 19 percent during the 2017-18 season, good for the fourth-highest average attendance figure in the Big Sky Conference that season.

Pucher also helped set Southern Utah's all-time high records in development revenue, corporate sponsorship revenue and ticket sales revenue.

He led negotiations to secure a $1.5M arena naming rights deal (the largest cash agreement in SUU athletics history), led efforts to secure the funding for a new $2M sports performance center, including securing the two largest gifts in SUU Athletics' history. He led the creation of the Thunderbird Athletic Foundation, a new athletics annual fund and increased corporate sponsorship revenue.

Before SUU, Pucher was an assistant athletics director for development at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. While there, he oversaw fundraising campaigns totaling more than $13 million including the construction of a $9 million basketball practice facility, $2.5M to renovate Drake Stadium's fieldturf, track surface, sound system and videoboard, and over $1M to construct the Bright-Beckwith Boathouse for Drake's rowing program.

Prior to Drake, Pucher was an account executive for Aggie Sports Properties at Utah State. At USU he oversaw more than $400,000 in corporate sponsorships and generated over $200,000 in new business in his two years in Logan. He performed new client prospecting and solicitation as well as idea generation, content creation and sponsorship fulfillment duties. He handled similar duties for the Hawkeye Sports Properties at the University of Iowa in 2010.

Pucher earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's degree in public administration from Drake University, where he also competed as a member of the school's football program from 2005-09 and was named a first-team All-Pioneer Football League performer.

The Skokie, Ill. native is married to Sadhaf Pucher and they have a son, Zane.

"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160.

Fresno State Athletics

Frank Pucher hired as Fresno State's senior associate athletics director for external relations

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