Rick Burton

Biography

Rick Burton is the David B. Falk Endowed Professor of Sport Management in Syracuse University’s David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and also teaches “Baseball in American Culture” in Syracuse’s Renee Crown Honors Program. He has frequently served as a visiting professor at Kufstein Tirol University in Austria as well as the International Olympic Academy (IOA) in Olympia, Greece. He was selected the Falk College Faculty Member of the Year for Teaching in 2011 and 2013.

During the last 25+ years, his scholarly research and commentary has been published in the Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness,Sport Marketing Quarterly, the International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, Journal of Applied Sport Management, Journal of Sport, Nine, SAIS Review, Marketing Management, Journal of Brand Strategy, Journal of Marketing Communications, Industrial Marketing Management, International Marketing Review, Football Studies and the Journal of Sponsorship.

Prior to his appointment as the Falk Professor at Syracuse in August 2009, Burton served as the chief marketing officer for the U.S. Olympic Committee at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics where he directed the USOC’s marketing partnerships at the world’s largest sporting event. From 2003-2007, Burton was the Commissioner of Australia’s Sydney-based National Basketball League (a two-continent league with teams in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore) and was responsible for every aspect of the NBL’s development and growth, including selling the League’s broadcast rights, naming rights, sponsorships as well as player and referee collective bargaining agreements and league profitability.

From 1995-2003, Burton led the University of Oregon’s Warsaw Sports Marketing Center to international prominence serving as both its director and executive director (1998-2003). During this time, he initiated Oregon’s engagement with Fudan University in Shanghai, China, and worked closely with Nike as it developed business efforts in China. While at Oregon, he created the Burton Marketing Group, working on league management and sponsorship projects. During the last 25+ years, he has been engaged by entities such as IMG, Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), Japanese Pro Soccer League (J-League), National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), Australian NBL, Visa, the Oakland Raiders, FedEx, Indianapolis Colts, Buffalo Bills, Professional Bull Riders, Sport Accord, and TSE.

During his varied career, Burton has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Ad Age, Sports Business Journal, SI.com, Sport Business International, Sportico and Stadia. He has provided national radio network commentary for the Sporting News Radio Network and is in frequent demand as a commentator on the sports industry for the national and international media and for podcasts. Burton began his career as a sportswriter for the Syracuse Post-Standard before moving to Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee, where he worked for 12 years in sports public relations and brand management. He served as national advertising manager for Miller Lite’s award-winning “Less Filling – Tastes Great” advertising campaign.

Burton has co-authored two books on sports marketing as well as “20 Secrets to Success for NCAA Student-Athletes” and “Forever Orange,” which highlighted Syracuse University’s first 150 years. His co-authored book, “Business the NHL Way,” was published by the University of Toronto Press in 2022. His WWII historical novel “Into the Gorge” was published by Subplot in 2023. Additionally, his newest historical novel (with Scott Pitoniak) entitled “Invisible No More” was published by Subplot in 2023.