Statesville, N.C. (Oct 17th, 2022): Founder Sport Group, a leading youth uniform and collegiate fanwear manufacturer, announced today that Samantha Stevens has joined the company as Senior Director of Licensing and Business Development. In this newly created role, Stevens will be responsible for identifying and pursuing new licensing opportunities, expanding existing licensing and retail partnerships, and be a key overall member in growing the Licensed Sales division via Founder Sport Groups’ collegiate licensed brands ProSphere, Gameday Greats, and Badger Sportswear.
Stevens joins Founder Sport Group from GFX, a dynamic direct-to-consumer collegiate commerce business, where she forged various commercial paths for the tech company in the sports, media, and entertainment licensing industries. Prior to joining GFX, Stevens served as Director of Licensing at Michigan State University, where her responsibilities focused on growing licensing revenue to support student scholarships and programming. During this time, she also served on the Board of Directors for the International Collegiate Licensing Association (ICLA) from 2013 to 2021, and served as president from July 2019 through June 2020. Steven’s other stops along the way include roles in trademarks, licensing, athletics, and marketing at Miami University, Appalachian State University, and Wright State University.
Founder Sport Group’s VP of Sales and Strategic Partnerships, Patrick O’Neill, describes Stevens to be a “perfect match” for its deep ambitions in the collegiate licensing market, especially in its early successes within Name, Image, Likeness (NIL). “We feel very fortunate to have Samantha joining our team,” says O’Neill. “Samantha’s people-centric approach, coupled with her deep industry knowledge and experience, has enabled her to have success during every step of her career and we expect nothing less here at Founder Sport Group.”
Stevens is a two-time graduate of Wright State University with a B.S. in Business Marketing (2003) and a Master of Education in Health, Physical Education & Recreation (2006).
“I am honored and tremendously excited to join the Founder Sports Group leadership team,” says Stevens. “I always enjoyed my working relationship with Founder Sport Group while I was a licensor in the college space. Over the last year I have watched them elevate their game substantially with their commitment to CSR, successful entrance into the NIL space, and advancements in technology supporting a high-quality product offering accessible to all individuals."
