Pair of Bears make list of sports business’ rising stars

Every year, Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal recognizes some of the industry’s rising stars with their “Forty Under 40” list. Included among this year’s honorees were not one, but two Baylor Bears.

Colin Faulkner, BBA ’98, is the Chicago Cubs’ vice president for sales and partnerships. Faulkner worked his way up from an internship with the Waco Wizards (minor league hockey) to a vice president role with the Dallas Stars just six years after graduating from Baylor. He joined the Cubs in 2010, where he now oversees all marketing-related matters for the Cubs.

Ray DeWeese, MSEd ’04, is general manager at Ohio State for IMG College, overseeing radio, TV, publishing, corporate partnership programs and more for one of the nation’s largest collegiate athletic programs. DeWeese earned his master’s in sports management from Baylor in 2004, then served as director of athletic marketing from 2005-07 before heading to Ohio State.

How impressive is it to land two alumni on SBJ’s list? For context, only four schools — Harvard, Arizona State, Northwestern and Virginia — had more graduates honored than Baylor. Duke, Michigan, North Carolina and Stanford were among the schools that, like Baylor, had two alumni make the list. The two Bears were also the only representatives from the Big 12 and the state of Texas.

Sic ’em, Ray and Colin!