The Phoenix Regional Sports Commission (PRSC) has named Katie Brown as its new president and executive director.

Brown joins PRSC after serving as secretary, general counsel and a member of the PRSC Executive Board for the last six months, and serving as a board member for the past two years. She is a licensed attorney with more than a decade of diverse experience in athletic administration, with expertise in sports law, operations, fundraising and NCAA compliance.

“We are pleased to name Katie to this position,” said PRSC Board Chairman Garry Hays.  “Her experience and passion for sports will help her lead the Commission and its mission: grassroots sports tourism, youth athletic development and driving economic impact into the Phoenix community.”

Prior to joining PRSC, Brown served as an associate attorney for Polsinelli Shughart, PC in Phoenix, representing both individuals and companies in complex commercial litigation, contract negotiations and business transactions.  During her tenure, Brown was recognized by Super Lawyers as a “Rising Star” in 2012 and 2013.  Before that, she worked in the legal department at Mesa Airlines, Inc.  Her sports career includes ties to the athletic departments at both Arizona State University and the University of Arizona, for which she served as the Director of Women’s Basketball Operations and Camp Director.  She was also previously the Assistant Director of Football Operations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Brown earned her juris doctorate in 2008 from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University in Tempe.  While pursuing her degree, Brown served as president and Symposium chairman of the Sports and Entertainment Law Student Association, for which she organized various events discussing the legal issues that arise in sports, including an annual symposium that featured prominent sports executives from around the Valley.  She is a 2000 graduate of Trinity University in San Antonio, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance.  She was also a track and field athlete, and earned All-Conference honors both on the track and in the classroom.  She earned a master’s degree in Exercise and Sports Science with an emphasis in Sport Administration in 2003 from the University of North Carolina at

Chapel Hill.  While at the University of North Carolina, Brown received a research grant from the National Association of Basketball Coaches to complete her thesis, titled “An Analysis of the 2002 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Bracketing Procedures.” For this research she was awarded the 2003 John E. Billing Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award, and the research was discussed in Athletic Business magazine.

A native of Tucson, Brown was a three-sport varsity athlete at Catalina Foothills High School in track and field, basketball and tennis.  She currently resides in Phoenix.

The Phoenix Regional Sports Commission is a non-profit organization created in 1988 to “Enrich Our Community Through Sports.”  The Commission currently collaborates with hundreds of partners to help fulfill this mission, bringing national and international sporting events to the state, assisting in the promotion of existing events and Arizona sports teams, and developing youth sports programs throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area.  In 1999, it assumed oversight of the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2012, the Grand Canyon State Games.

For more information about the Phoenix Regional Sports Commission call (602) 258-6272 or visit www.phoenixsports.org.