Athletics Provides Key Employees Roles to Bolster NIL Efforts

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers Athletics has introduced the addition of two roles to assist its Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) infrastructure. Chris Chung was appointed Senior Associate Athletic Director, Revenue and Contract Management, whereas PJ Mullen has been elevated to Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director, Marketing, Fan Experience and Brand Strategy.
 
These newly created roles will improve the division’s rising efforts in supporting student-athletes by NIL and income share alternatives.
 
“Chris has played a key role for the department in managing revenue share agreements and we are excited to bring him on board in such an important role at this pivotal moment for Rutgers,” mentioned Athletics Director Keli Zinn. “His combination of legal acumen and business strategy is a major strength and will prove vital for our continued work to recruit and retain the best talent in the country.”
 
“PJ’s track record of building innovative marketing strategies and expertise in brand development will be instrumental in our NIL strategy,” mentioned Zinn. “He has demonstrated the creativity, work ethic and forward thinking necessary to lead in our rapidly evolving world of college sports. This promotion reflects the tremendous impact he’s already had and our confidence in his vision moving forward. “
 
In his position, Chung will handle institutional NIL agreements and lead contract negotiations whereas additionally serving as a liaison for exterior NIL alternatives, guaranteeing seamless course of growth. He will oversee the cap administration system and clearinghouse reporting to make sure compliance with allotted funds and NIL governance. Chung may also mannequin and forecast each brief and long-term projections for income distributions.
 
Chung joins Rutgers Athletics on a full-time foundation after serving as a contract lawyer to the division, the place he drafted, structured and negotiated income share agreements. He additionally suggested on Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) compliance and collaborated on inside insurance policies to control income share agreements.
 
“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to continue working alongside Keli and the Rutgers Athletics teams,” mentioned Chung. “It has been a privilege to support our student-athletes, coaches and staff as they navigate the evolving collegiate sports landscape. This is a defining moment to be joining Rutgers Athletics and I couldn’t be more excited to help build something special ‘On the Banks.'”
 
Previously, Chung labored as a company affiliate at Polsinelli PC, the place he suggested main shoppers throughout sports activities and leisure. His portfolio included supporting the Big 12 Conference by its commissioner search and realignment efforts, counseling the Kansas City Chiefs on partnership agreements and helping Cleveland Pro Soccer with its growth to MLS Next Pro. He additionally offered strategic steerage on media rights, conference-wide governance and growth agreements for a number of collegiate conferences.
 

Prior to his time at Polsinelli, Chung labored as a company affiliate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, the world’s highest-grossing legislation agency, the place he suggested non-public fairness sponsors on mergers and acquisitions and debt financing transactions primarily within the tech trade.
 
Chung earned three levels from the University of Notre Dame. He accomplished his undergraduate diploma in sociology and pre-medicine earlier than incomes each his Juris Doctor and MBA in South Bend.
 
In his expanded position, Mullen will lead Rutgers Athletics’ NIL branding technique with a deal with promoting and promotion that elevates student-athlete visibility, enhances fan engagement, and drives NIL alternatives. Mullen will work to amplify strategic partnerships and campaigns designed to broaden student-athlete model worth.
 
“There’s nowhere else my family and I would rather be than at Rutgers, especially under Keli’s leadership,” mentioned Mullen. “I’m incredibly grateful for her belief in our vision and the opportunity to keep building on what makes this place so special. This journey started with Coach Schiano and his staff believing in what we could bring to enhance The Rutgers Game Day Experience, and now we have an opportunity to carry that same energy and momentum into the strategy behind R NIL by making a meaningful and measurable impact. New Jersey Loud, Rutgers Proud.”
 
Mullen joined Rutgers Athletics in 2021 and has been instrumental in reworking The Rutgers Game Day Experience. He oversees the advertising and marketing, recreation presentation and fan expertise workers for all 24 sports activities. He and his crew function the division leads for the spirit and mascot squads, in addition to The Marching Scarlet Knights. Mullen additionally assists with males’s basketball sports activities administrator duties.
 
Under his management, Rutgers launched The Rutgers Boardwalk and The Rutgers Winter Village, signature experiences which have redefined fan engagement and turn out to be hallmarks of the Scarlet Knights’ house recreation environment. The Rutgers Blackout Game Day Experience has entered a brand new period, incomes nationwide recognition for its vitality, creativity, and fan engagement.
 
Before arriving ‘On the Banks,’ Mullen served as Penn State’s Director of Marketing for almost 5 years, directing and producing soccer gamedays at Beaver Stadium and overseeing advertising and marketing and fan expertise efforts for soccer and males’s basketball. Mullen acquired his begin in athletics as a member of the Penn State Football administration below Head Coach James Franklin, serving as Director of Player Development and Community Relations. In that position, he was closely concerned with on-campus recruiting visits, student-athlete life off the sphere, and the sport day expertise. He additionally served as an adjunct professor for Penn State’s College of Communications and spent greater than a decade in radio as an on-air expertise, program director, and nationwide talk-show producer.
 
In addition to his Rutgers duties, Mullen contributes to the Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Eagles reside gameday manufacturing groups.
 
A local of Media, Pennsylvania, Mullen graduated from Penn State with a bachelor’s diploma in communications in 2007 and lives in South Jersey together with his spouse, Alex, their two children and canine.