Kieran Maher, BS ’16
Business Administration (Sports Business)
Assistant Manager, Global Brand Marketing Communications, adidas, Portland, Oregon
If I was to go back to my freshman self and say, “You’re going to work at events like the Super Bowl, winter and summer Olympic Trials, the NBA All-Star game, the World Series, and work directly with marquee athletes like LeBron, Kevin Durant, Shaun White, and Antonio Brown and do all this stuff within three years,” I would have laughed at myself.
I knew I wanted to study business. I didn’t necessarily know I wanted to study sports business. My interests were broader, and when I got to school I tried out a bunch of different things. Then I got heavily involved in the sports business concentration and the student-run Warsaw Sports Business Club through Whitney Wagoner, director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center. That honestly spring-boarded my passion for the entertainment industry and my career in sports.
Oregon’s network is so well connected. Pretty much every job I’ve had in my career—IMG, Track Town USA, and Game 7 Marketing, adidas—they all had at least one tie to the University of Oregon.
Today, I am having a blast working at adidas on global marketing campaigns. Before that, I was working on the accounts team at Game 7, running marketing campaigns for brands such as Nike and Beats by Dre—big experiential events you may have seen on social media with a favorite brand or athlete, such as an exclusive sneaker drop.
In sports and entertainment, it’s all who you know, and the University of Oregon’s networking and education is unmatched. When you’re in New York or Miami or Chicago or L.A. and you see someone else with the Oregon Ducks logo, you instantly have that connection. It’s really relatable, and you always want to help your fellow Ducks.
Connect with Kieran and follow the Lundquist College of Business on LinkedIn. #LearnByDoing