FBA 2018 Media Guide FINAL

FBA Executive Director
Wright Waters
When the Football
Bowl Association’s
executive committee
went in search of the
organization’s first-ever executive director four years
ago, they were looking for someone who had been
successful in the world of athletic administration.
They were seeking someone who possessed hands-on
experience with the inside workings of a collegiate athletic department.
They wanted someone who had worked in a conference setting, one
who had been successful in developing policies and procedures for a group of
institutions with similar interests. In that realm, they also sought someone who
had worked extensively with media entities, specifically television, to further
that conference’s exposure and visibility.
Knowledge of the inner workings of a bowl game was critical. But, most of
all, the FBA wanted someone who was passionate about college football, and
committed to the idea that the welfare and well-being of the student athlete is
the most important task of everyone involved with intercollegiate athletics.
As it turned out, they didn’t have far to look to fill all those needs.
In June of 2012, the FBA announced that Wright Waters would serve as
executive director of the FBA, taking over leadership role of the non-profit
association that represents postseason college football bowl games.
A member of the NCAA Football Competition Committee, Waters' primary
task is to build upon college football’s rich tradition of bowl games, while
helping increase public and institutional knowledge of the bowl experience
and its benefits to the game and its student-athletes as well as all participating
educational institutions.
He is responsible for the overall management of the FBA in areas including
finances, administration, government relations, marketing, licensing and legal
issues, and also serves as official spokesperson for the organization.
Those duties fall in line with Waters’ vast experience in a lifetime devoted to
collegiate athletics, most recently as commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference
for almost 14 years before retiring in 2011. During that time, the Sun Belt made
strides that were unprecedented in the collegiate athletic realm, including
inaugurating football as a Bowl Championship Series conference and one of the
NCAA’s 10 Division I-A (now Football Bowl Subdivision) conferences. He also
was the guiding force in founding the New Orleans Bowl in the league’s very
first year of football play, giving the league champion an automatic bowl berth
against a Conference USA participant in the Sun Belt’s inaugural year.
During his time at the Sun Belt, the league also expanded to sponsorship of
19 sports, shifted geographically to create a larger regional presence, gained a
What they said:
“Given Wright’s long and genuine commitment to the collegiate
model, this is an opportunity for the NCAA and the FBA to address
a common interest in providing quality postseason experiences for
student-athletes. For more than a century, football bowls have helped
nurture the relationships between college football and communities
across the nation. That is a unique feature of the American sports
culture. Wright will make great contributions in these efforts.”
-- Dr. Mark Emmert, NCAA President
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