Marc Williams, Ph.D.

Adjunct Faculty of Esports Business Program

Headshot of Marc Williams

Contact Info

About Dr. Williams

Marc is the new author of “The Art of Networking: It is not who you know but who knows you.” Marc is also regarded as one of the top college motivational speakers in the United States and his insights have been featured in media outlets such as Forbes, Billboard, Wall Street Journal, Source, Ad Age, AdWeek, and USA Today. Marc has appeared on ESPN, CNN, BET’s 106 & Park and MTV. He was on the cover of Black College Sports Today, The Network Journal—and named to their annual Top 40 Under 40 issue. Marc was selected to Sports Illustrated’s Top Minorities in Sports and Man of The Year” by Black Men’s Magazine.

Marc is the former Brand Director for athletic retailer Champs Sports, a division of Foot Locker with over 9,000 employees and one of the largest Athletic Retailer in the world. Williams was in charge of global marketing and helped spearhead marketing and promotional strategies to help Champs Sports become a $1 billion footwear and apparel brand. Marc negotiated sponsorships for the company’s sports and entertainment properties, including the National Football League Super Bowl Experience, National Basketball Association All Star Balloting, Major League Baseball All Star Balloting, Arena Football League sponsorship with NBC Sports, EA Sports Arena Football Game, 20th Century Fox, Universal and Atlantic Records. Williams managed team and athlete sponsorship agreements; entertainer/music contracts; grassroots initiatives and the Champs Sport television programming. Marc led a team that created College Football’s Champs Sports Bowl that featured teams in the ACC and the Big East that had a bowl game payout of $4.25 million. Williams also negotiated Champs Sports product placement in music videos, movies and Oscar winning film “Sideways.”
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Throughout Williams’ stellar career, he initiated many ground-breaking deals in the sports retail industry. As the Senior Marketing Manager at athletic retailer Footaction USA, Marc was instrumental in negotiating sports retail’s first global campaign for the hip hop industry by signing a deal with Ruff Ryder Records and Grammy award winning artist Eve. Williams was instrumental in helping to start the most successful grassroots basketball tours; the And 1 Mix tape tour. He successfully was able to have the Footaction brand featured in Chris Rock’s movie “Head of State and in the 2003 Street Hoops Basketball game by videogame company Activision.

Marc has worked with many prominent sports and entertainment icons such as: Michael Jordan, Will Farrell, Jay Z, Beyoncé, Shakira, Maroon 5, Chris Brown, Dwayne Wade, Bon Jovi, Venus Williams and Allen Iverson.

In 2007, Marc launched his own award-winning brand management consulting firm, Williams Communications, LLC. Some of the high-profile clients Marc has worked with are: NBA Hall of Famers Rick Barry, Dominique Wilkins, Nate Thurmond, Artist Gilmore; Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers, ESPN Sports anchors Jay Harris and Jay Crawford. Some of the stellar brands Marc has consulted with are: Disney Sports, Novartis Pharmaceutical, Abercrombie & Fitch, Molten Basketball, Converse, The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Universal Records, Hidden Beach Recordings, The Arnold Classic, USA 7’s Rugby and Konami. In 2009, Marc also became the Executive Director for the Circle City Classic, one of the nation’s top, Black college football events with guidance and support from the Circle City Classic’s Executive Committee, Organizing Committee, staff, and over 500 volunteers. In 2011 Marc received a NCAA grant for 2 years focused to empower Division 1-A student athletes at Historically Black Universities, providing them with personal and professional development.

Dr. Williams holds a B.S. in Sociology from William Paterson University and a Masters in Sport Management from the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Dr. Williams earned his Doctorate in Education at West Virginia University.

“Dr. Marc Williams spent the past 20 years as a “Marketing Guru”, Sports Marketing Pioneer and Pop Culture Expert. He worked for three of the largest sports brands in the world: Champs Sports, Footaction and Reebok. He is widely regarded as one of the nation’s foremost experts on branding, the art of networking, sports marketing, consumer behavior and hip-hop culture.”

Career & Accomplishments

Degrees

  • •West Virginia University, Ph.D.

  • •Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts, M.S.

  • •William Paterson University, B.S.