College athletics knows Fred Glass as the AD for 10+ years as an alumnus of Indiana University. But before IU, he had an incredibly successful career in government working for a mayor, a governor, a senator, and a president. Glass spearheaded a project for Indianapolis to build Lucas Oil Stadium and simultaneously create a massive convention center connected to the stadium. This was done to not only keep the Colts in Indianapolis, but to also bring major conventions and sporting events like the Men’s Basketball Final Four, the Super Bowl in 2012, and the College Football Playoff national championship game in 2022.
Fred shares his strategy in convincing Mark Cuban to make a major donation for what is now known as the Mark Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology. And he discusses the process of pitching to NFL owners to host the Super Bowl and how that 1st experience helped them with their eventual successful bid to host on the city’s 2nd attempt.
Glass talked with the Sports Innovation Podcast Intercollegiate Athletics Special Series about these experiences, in addition to his upbringing as a self-described “knucklehead,” in his new book – Making Your Own Luck: From a Skid Row Bar to Rebuilding Indiana University Athletics. This book was the perfect blend of authenticity in understanding and embracing your entire library of life experiences, and full of strategic career advice for major deals and balancing politics and governing issues. Check out more details about the book, published by Indiana University Press, here: https://www.fred-glass.com/.
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