BSN SPORTS STRENGTHENS LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE TO BETTER SERVE COLLEGIATE PARTNERS 

 Veteran leaders to drive growth, brand alignment, and service excellence across the collegiate markets 

 

August 28, 2025 – DALLAS, TX – Today, BSN SPORTS, a leading marketer, manufacturer and distributor of sporting goods apparel and equipment, and a division of Varsity Brands, announced several key leadership appointments within its Collegiate Select Division to better serve its more than 1,100 current customers nationwide. These moves reflect the company’s ongoing commitment to strategic growth, enhanced brand alignment, and delivering exceptional service.

As the landscape of team sports evolves, BSN SPORTS is sharpening its focus on organizational alignment and market-specific expertise. These changes are aimed at expanding the company’s impact across collegiate athletics, ensuring that collegiate partners benefit from BSN SPORTS’ greater scale and innovative service models.

The evolution of the Collegiate Select Division is driven by strategic growth and innovation, highlighted by:

  • $150M+ in on-hand inventory from premier brands including Nike, Under Armour, adidas, PUMA and New Balance
  • BSN SPORTS was connected to several successful team moments earlier this year, including 25% of the MCWS Field and 29 total Men’s and Women’s teams competing in the 2025 NCAA Basketball tournaments
  • 900+ local sales representatives providing hands-on support across campuses nationwide
  • Expanded focus on brand integration, licensing, revenue generation and marketing integration, delivering value far beyond uniforms and gear

As a respected industry veteran with over 35 years of experience, Todd Northrop has been promoted to Senior Vice President of BSN SPORTS’ Collegiate Select Division. Northrop has been instrumental in BSN SPORTS’ growth within the collegiate market. In his elevated role, he will lead the expansion of the Collegiate Select Division, which provides comprehensive, campus-wide solutions to more than 1,100 colleges and universities, reaching approximately 300,000 student-athletes nationwide. His experience also includes working with key figures and organizations across the industry, including the Lebron James Family Foundation.

“Todd is a great partner to have in your corner,” said Michele Campbell, executive director of the LeBron James Family Foundation. “He’s responsive, dependable, and we always know he will deliver the best product for our team and our families. That trust and commitment is important to us. As a team, we dream big and think big, and whatever ideas we come up with, Todd always makes it happen.”

The team also recently hired Mark De Feyter, Director, who brings more than 20 years of experience with adidas to round out a team with significant experience serving collegiate customers with other major brands like Nike, Under Armour, PUMA and New Balance. Mark joins Bill Stote, Senior Vice President; Ray Buck, Vice President; and Erika Whyte, Director; to help best ensure BSN SPORTS can fully leverage its premier brand portfolio to meet the unique needs of each institution.

They are supported by a team of leaders with significant experience in each area of customer relationships, including:

  • Senior Director of Sales and Strategy – Lloyd Ribner
  • Client Relations Director – Ellen Brooks
  • Licensing Director – Cole Benson
  • Collegiate Marketing Manager – Bobby Ayers

“We’ve built a team that can provide support beyond delivering uniforms and gear,” said Dan Dickman, BSN SPORT’s senior vice president of Collegiate Select. “Our complimentary skillsets ensure we can tie all this support together through an “Across Campus” strategy that unifies each school’s athletic branding across the entire campus, helping build school spirit and stronger connections to other related departments like student life, club and rec sports, and admissions. This team allows us to provide the right technology and people to offer a ‘one-stop collegiate shop’ to simplify coordinating these efforts across a single campus.”

“Having now had the opportunity to work with Todd at two different institutions and experience his professionalism, I’m excited for him to be taking on this role within BSN SPORTS, as I know it makes BSN SPORTS a stronger organization through this bolstered division,” said Matt Roan, Director of Athletics at James Madison University. “While intercollegiate athletics continues to evolve, this organizational evolution will best allow Todd and those he leads to adapt and grow with so many of us who are partners.”

To learn more, visit https://www.bsnsports.com/programs/collegiate/athletics.

What Collegiate and Industry Partners are Saying About BSN SPORTS Collegiate Select

  • “Todd Northrop and BSN SPORTS have been great partners in continuing to elevate App State’s prominent national brand,” said Appalachian State University Director of Athletics Doug Gillin. “With the changing landscape of college athletics, App State and BSN SPORTS are positioned to be leaders in the student-athlete and fan experience.”
  • “We were fortunate to have recently announced a new, seven-year extension with BSN SPORTS, and this exciting organizational update will further enhance our partnership and align with our shared vision for excellence as we enter a new era of intercollegiate athletics,” Murray State Director of Athletics Nico Yantko said. “Since partnering with BSN SPORTS in 2020, the Racers have been committed to providing top-tier championship resources for our department, and we are thrilled to work with Todd (Northrop) and his team to continue to provide a world-class experience for our student-athletes for many years to come.”
  • “Todd Northrop’s leadership in the collegiate space has been a mainstay for over a decade,” said Kevin Saal, director of athletics at Wichita State University. “His expertise, care and genuine/authentic manner with which he approaches each and every one of BSN’s collegiate partnerships nationwide, has produced great results and launched Todd into a perfectly aligned leadership role with the BSN SPORTS Collegiate Select Division.”
  • “BSN SPORTS continues to set the bar for partnership—not just in service, but in values,” said Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. “Their long-standing support of Women Leaders in Sports reflects their deep commitment to advancing women and creating a more inclusive future for our industry. We are proud to partner with such a best-in-class brand.”

 

About BSN SPORTS

BSN SPORTS is a leading distributor and manufacturer of sporting goods apparel and equipment that serves more than 1,100 collegiate partners nationwide. With a focus on game-changing partnerships, one of the widest selections of private and leading brands, and a one-stop-shop model, BSN SPORTS has helped elevate team sports participation for more than 150,000 teams and organizations nationally at all levels of competition since 1972. The company also offers the BSN SPORTS Sideline Store and My Team Shop platforms to help collegiate customers offer new revenue-generating opportunities and relieve budgets. For more information, visit BSNSPORTS.com.

 

Media Contact: Brian Bianco, BBianco@varsitybrands.com