New Arizona State athletic director addresses NIL

TEMPE, Ariz. — On Thursday, May 23, Arizona State officially announced Graham Rossini as the Sun Devils’ new athletic director. Rossini is an ASU alum with 20 years of experience working in sports. He graduated from ASU in 2002 with his bachelor’s degree in business management, and in 2011 with his MBA with Area of Emphasis – Leadership.

Rossini joined Sun Devil Athletics in 2021 (after the ASU football recruiting violations occurred) serving as Senior Associate Athletics Director and was promoted in Fall 2023 to Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director and Chief Business Officer.

Now Rossini has been promoted again, this time to athletic director.

Rossini inherits an athletic department during one of the biggest transitional periods in Arizona State history. The Sun Devils are moving from the Pac-12 conference, to the Big 12, as well as adapting to an evolving college athletics landscape. Both NIL and the transfer portal are as alive as ever, and ASU needs leadership that will adapt to these new circumstances.

At Rossini’s opening presser today, he discussed his NIL vision.

New Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini discusses NIL

“We are 100% committed to NIL, and, as Dr. Crow mentioned over the last six, seven months, we’re really reinvesting our focus in there,” Rossini began. “We have an unbelievable metropolitan area, we have emerging economies all around us.”

Arizona State’s location in the Valley provides a great opportunity for Sun Devil Athletics, given the correct leadership.

“We have incredible corporate support just being a large city and a large, dynamic, fascinating university. We want to plug those entities and companies into NIL.”

Rossini also borrowed Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham’s “Activate the Valley” slogan during the presser. The Phoenix metropolitan area holds many businesses, alumni, and more that could help shape ASU into a NIL powerhouse given the correct leadership.

ASU’s new AD also gave a shoutout to Sun Angel Collective, the official NIL collective of Sun Devil Athletics. This is the easiest way for fans to financially support ASU’s NIL with a monthly payment or a one-time donation. The monthly tiers are listed below.

• Member – $10 per month
• TB 16 (referencing ASU QB Trenton Bourguet) – $16 per month
• Sun Devil Membership – $25 per month
• PT $42 Membership – $42 per month

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