Pac-12 Enterprises Names David Aufhauser VP/GM for Digital Media

Pac-12 Enterprises continues to build a seasoned senior management team by naming longtime digital media executive David Aufhauser vice president and general manager of digital media.

Aufhauser has more than 17 years of business development, product, marketing, and sales experience across the Internet and media industry, including many years at the nexus of Sports and Digital Media. With Pac-12 Enterprises, Aufhauser will oversee all aspects of the Pac-12’s digital business as well as the creation and management of the Pac-12 Digital Network, an innovative new platform that will help provide unprecedented exposure for the Conference’s athletic and academic programs.

“We have an exciting opportunity to create a meaningful and lasting digital media platform to enrich our fans connection to the Pac-12 Conference and David’s knowledge, creativity and experience will serve him well as our leader in this space,” Pac-12 Enterprises President Gary Stevenson said. “His entrepreneurial spirit and deep understanding of the Pac-12 and our storied athletics traditions and successes make him a great choice for us.  We are delighted to have him join our team.”

With a groundbreaking digital network, Pac-12 Enterprises is creating the first-ever collegiate website portal that will feature hundreds of live Pac-12 athletic events and other original programming across all 12 campuses. With live streaming, mobile technology and social TV capabilities, the Pac-12 Digital Network will allow consumers to watch Pac-12 events on any device from anywhere in the world. By introducing a conference controlled website portal, Pac-12 Enterprises will provide a common digital platform that all member universities will be able to leverage long term. This forward thinking approach will let the Conference foster innovation across a common technology platform, with an aggregated audience, while member schools can focus on developing engaging digital content chronicling the accomplishments of their talented student-athletes.

“This is an exciting time to be part of the Pac-12 as we create an innovative content and media property from the ground up that will be at the intersection of sports and technology,” Aufhauser said. “Sports, media and technology are all passions of mine and being in a position to bring all of those things together and build a team around it is an amazing opportunity.”

Aufhauser, a Stanford University graduate and former collegiate water polo player, joins Pac-12 Enterprises after serving as Vice President, Media at Say Media where he managed the global ad network and launched Say’s category strategy in key verticals. Prior to SAY, he was the Chief Business Officer at Justin.tv, heading up business development and strategy.  From 2003-06, Aufhauser led business development and operations at Yahoo Sports where he helped build the leading digital sports property. Additionally, he has led various business, sales, and marketing functions at growth companies including Bebo, Citizen Sports, Evite and Netscape.

Pac-12 Enterprises was created earlier this year to develop and launch the Pac-12 Networks and Pac-12 Digital Network and to control the distribution of the Pac-12 intellectual property rights in sports, education and other Conference and membership initiatives. In addition to expanding the reach and exposure for all 12 member institutions across the country, Pac-12 Enterprises is developing a strategy to extend Pac-12 programming to international audiences, especially in the Pacific Rim, where the Conference already enjoys wide recognition for the quality of its athletic competition and for the prestige of its member universities’ academic and research programs. With a nation-leading 445 NCAA titles, the Pac-12 has earned the distinction as the “Conference of Champions.”