DETROIT -- The University of Detroit Mercy Associate Vice President and Athletic Director Keri Gaither is pleased to announce that Jason Horn – a Detroit native – will be joining the athletics staff as the Associate Athletic Director for External Affairs. Horn – who is currently an Assistant AD for Marketing & Promotions at Northwestern State (La.) – will begin his new assignment on Sept. 26 as he will be brought in to oversee the areas of event management, marketing, development and media relations.

“I am elated that Jason will be joining the Detroit Titan Family,” said Gaither. “His professional accomplishments are remarkable and he has extensive and successful experience in all areas of external operations. Jason will be a tremendous asset as we position all aspects of the Titan athletics program for enhanced success and he will play a vital role as a senior level staff member as we move forward.”

“I am looking forward to returning to metropolitan Detroit,” said Horn. “But more importantly, I'm thrilled to join a great team of people in the UDM athletic department and getting to know the Titan community.”

Horn's professional career expands nearly two decades in the field of marketing, promotions, ticketing and sales, holding positions including several universities, Palace Sports & Entertainment, the NBA Development League, and the Olympic Games.

Horn comes to Detroit from Northwestern State, where he was directly involved in marketing, event management, revenue generation, branding and licensing over the past two years. He also had oversight of the ticket office, equipment services and was involved in sport scheduling. He helped manage and heighten awareness, and redevelopment of NSU's athletic website, social media and licensing programs, setting new school records for revenue and customer and fan traffic. He also developed season and group ticket sales strategies resulting in overall revenue increases in all ticketed sports.

From 2006-08, he was with Central Florida as the Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing & Promotions, where the marketing and sales team's ticket strategies in 2006-07 led to revenue spikes for several sports, including over 7,000 new football season tickets in 2007.

That revenue output came after a two-year stint as Bowling Green's Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing & Corporate Relations. At BGSU, he created and planned season and group ticket sales strategies that created a 40 percent increase in football season ticket revenue and an overall all-sports ticket revenue increase of 21 percent. He developed and maintained corporate partnership program, event sponsorships and promotions.

He was also the Director of Marketing & Promotions for Conference USA from 1997-99. There he oversaw C-USA's marketing plan including website redesign, championship marketing, league-wide programs, merchandising, licensing and advertising programs. He spent time at Miami from 1993-1995 as an Events & Ticket Sales Assistant. With the Hurricanes, he coordinated event operations and promotions for select home contests, league and NCAA tournaments, while developing plans to increase attendance and ticket sales for a number of varsity sports.

Aside from his successful collegiate experiences, he has also held a number of positions in the professional field. He spent two years as a regional manager for the World Poker Tour's Amateur Poker League from 2008-10, developing and expanding the league in central and south Florida.

His stops have also included the NBA Development League for the Mobile Revelers (2001-02) as their Director of Marketing and Community Relations, the Detroit Pistons (1996-97) as an account executive for corporate sponsorships and the New Haven County Cutters (2004-05) minor league baseball team as the assistant general manager.

From 1999-2001, he was sales and marketing manager for the Salt Lake City-based Winter Olympics, the Winter Paralympics and Team USA. He was part of a sales staff that produced $850 million in revenue. He also worked for the Atlanta-based Summer Olympics in 1995 and 1996 as ticket and sales manager, assisting the vice president of operations with the development of the event operations plan for first and second round soccer games. He assisted with the development of a comprehensive marketing and ticket sales plan for the Olympic soccer matches hosted at the famed Orange Bowl in Miami.

A University of Michigan graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, Horn began his career as a U of M Basketball Operations Assistant. He was born and raised in the Motor City graduating from Southfield Lathrup Senior High School. He is an active member of the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators.

Horn replaces Daron Montgomery, who was named the Director of Athletics at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in June.

What They Are Saying About Jason Horn

“Jason had made a definite impact on the Northwestern State athletic department during his tenure here, most notably facilitating the first-ever apparel contract in program history. He is extremely industry-savvy and has a knack for finding ways to enhance or update operations in a way that make them more efficient. We appreciate his efforts on behalf of our athletic program and wish him all the best in this move which takes him back to his Michigan roots.” - Greg Burke, Director of Athletics at Northwestern State (La.)

“Jason will be an excellent addition to Detroit. He possesses a wealth of knowledge that allows him to efficiently and effectively advance the mission. He is a critical thinker and is and is well versed on ever changing theories and practices within his discipline. He has accomplished great things here at NSU and will be deeply missed.” - Drake Owens, Director of University Advancement & Executive Director, NSU Foundation at Northwestern State (La.)

"When we hired Jason Horn at Northwestern State to replace Ryan Holloway, who departed to take an Asst AD position at Rice, we knew we were getting a long-tenured marketing professional with a record of tremendous success across the spectrum of amateur and professional athletics. His work ethic, creativity, and unceasing commitment has grown NSU's brand considerably and he will be difficult to replace." - Dr. William Broussard, Director of Athletics at Centenary College

“The University of Detroit Mercy has made a great choice in Jason Horn. They will quickly learn that he is first and foremost a relationship builder and truly understands the importance of maintaining positive relationships with the university community. He is a talented administrator who makes the needs and experiences of the student-athletes his top priority.” - Janna Blais, Senior Associate Athletic Director at Northwestern