BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Former University of Richmond men’s water polo player and swimmer Ted Morris is giving back in a different sport as the Executive Director of U.S. Speedskating (USS).
Appointed in September of 2013, Morris has over 25 years of sports marketing experience. He has led significant growth at the organization including expansion of USS’ sponsor portfolio, fundraising efforts, and securing a long-term broadcast agreement with NBC Sports.
Morris also spearheaded a $12 million expansion at the Utah Olympic Oval that provides state of the art high performance support to USS athletes.
Prior to his work with USS, he was Senior Vice President of Van Wagner Sports Group where he led their Olympic Division, which included the company’s consultative relationships with U.S Sport Governing Bodies and International Sports Federations. The group also provided Olympic consulting services to many leading brands including MetLife, Proctor & Gamble, UPS Stores, and Kellogg’s, among others.
Prior to joining Van Wagner, Morris was Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at US Ski & Snowboard (USSA) for eight years. He was responsible for the organization’s revenue generating partnerships including sponsorships, media sales, TV programming, content distribution, marketing, and brand initiatives. In this role, he was a member of USSA’s Senior Management Team. Under his leadership, USSA had the most profitable eight-year cycle in the history of the organization.
Prior to his work in the Olympic Movement, Morris spent seven years with the advertising agency BBDO New York where he rose through the ranks to become a Vice President and Media Director handling the national TV expenditure for several Fortune 500 companies.
He is actively involved as a volunteer, including serving in board positions with the Winter Sports School in Park City, Utah, the Utah Sports Commission, the National Governing Body Council and the Federation of International Skiing’s Marketing Committee.
A 1991 graduate of Richmond, Morris recently completed a nine-month service tenure as a member of the Athlete & National Governing Body (NGB) Engagement Commission which was appointed by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to review the structure and governance of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic community. The commission was charged with delivering a series of recommendations to address how the USOPC can more effectively interact with and oversee its 50 diverse member National Governing Bodies, and support and engage with the athletes it serves.
