BILOXI, Miss. � Mississippi Sea Wolves general manager Jesse Martin announced today that Brad Smith has been promoted to director of ticket sales and marketing, while two new additions to the front office are Chris Birch as senior account executive and Thom Emerson as account executive.
Smith enters his third season with the Sea Wolves. He has created an extensive program geared toward the high school market entitled the Empress Audio, �Empress Your Ride High School Challenge� where eight high schools and over 4,000 students participated. A native of Brookhaven, Miss., Smith has also coordinated a �Youth For Christ� program, which has led to over 3,000 �Youth of Tomorrow� attending Sea Wolves hockey games and has raised over $26,000 in scholarships for the Southern Miss Alumni to benefit future Golden Eagles. He is also responsible for selling season and group tickets as well as mini-packs and corporate sponsorships.
Smith graduated in May, 2003 with a bachelor�s degree in marketing and a minor in sports administration from The University of Southern Mississippi. Before joining the Sea Wolves, Brad completed internships with I.S.P. Sports, which handles Southern Miss marketing and the Forrest County Multi Purpose Center. In addition, he worked the 2003 NCAA Men�s Basketball Final Four in New Orleans.
Brad and his wife, Melanie, who is from Laurel, Miss., reside in Gulfport.
Birch joins the team after serving as director of ticket operations for the Memphis RiverKings of the Central Hockey League. A native of Chicago, Birch also has hockey experience as the director of ticket sales with the Jacksonville Barracudas of the World Hockey Association 2, now known as the Southern Professional Hockey League. A graduate from the University of Florida with a bachelor�s degree in Sport Management, Birch was active with the hockey program as a player, team president, and league coordinator. He also served as vice president of the Gators� Club Sports Council.
Chris resides in Biloxi.
Emerson retired from the U.S. Navy in October, 2004 after 20 years of service. A native of Berrien Springs, Michigan, Emerson was most recently employed as manager of Subway sandwich shop in Biloxi.
Thom and his wife, Jo, and son, Trey, reside in Biloxi.
�Brad will be heading up the ticket sales and marketing efforts,� Martin said. �Brad is a self starter that has done a tremendous job over the past two years beginning successful projects and he is very worthy of this promotion. Chris comes to team with past hockey experience on the business side and Thom has been navy recruiter that is very personable. We look for great things from all these guys.�
The Sea Wolves 10th Anniversary season gets underway on the road at Pensacola on October 22.
Mississippi�s home opener will be played October 28 against Texas at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Reserve your piece of the exciting, hard-hitting Sea Wolves hockey action by purchasing 2005-06 season tickets starting at $306 per seat for an adult, which is just $8.50 per game and $240 for a child, an average of $6.67 per game.
A 10 percent deposit will lock in your season ticket today by calling (228) 275-WOLF. Each season ticket also includes two free �Bring a Pal to the Pack� vouchers.
Group discounts are also available by telephone at (228) 275-WOLF. Individual game ticket prices will be released in October.
Information on sponsorship opportunities is available by calling (228) 388-6151.
