Virginia Tech will propose at a June Board of Visitors meeting the creation of a non-profit corporation headed by a soon-to-be-hired CEO that will work to enhance the business operations of the athletic department, according to open session materials posted publicly shortly after midnight on Saturday.
The corporation, Hokie Ventures, LLC, will work as a strategic partner with the athletic department, aiming to boost the program's bottom line by maximizing existing revenues and securing new lines.
It will be overseen by a CEO and governed by an independent board. The affiliation agreement has an initial term of four years with automatic renewal and follows in the footsteps of schools that have jumped on the LLC trend recently in various forms, including Clemson, Kentucky, Michigan State and Texas Tech.
The plan, which will be voted on by the Board when it meets on Virginia Tech’s campus June 1-2, includes a $15.2 million loan approval for capital to be used by the corporation. That funding will come from the bridge loan approved during the September 2025 BOV meeting, which greenlit the $229.2 million “Invest to Win” plan for athletics.
The move to form an LLC comes in conjunction with that cash infusion and will be structured as a parallel track to an athletic director the Hokies plan to put in place soon for the retiring Whit Babcock.
Its creation and the hire of a CEO is an acknowledgement that college sports in the current landscape, with multi-million dollar sponsorships and annual budgets soaring past $200 million, is not a one-person job. Separately, Virginia Tech is also hiring a new school president to replace Tim Sands and a new head of the Hokie Club, a nearly complete overhaul to leadership that affects athletics.
The new Virginia Tech AD and CEO of the LLC will work together to advance the goals of the athletic department, the former managing traditional athletics duties, including oversight of coaches, and the latter overseeing the commercial side of the enterprise, like pursuing sponsorships, multimedia rights and naming rights.
The June 1 presentation about Hokie Ventures will be given by Amy Sebring, Virginia Tech’s chief operating officer, and Brandon Hall, the athletics CFO. Hall served as Clemson’s CFO from 2020-24, around the time it created a similar arm for the athletic department, Clemson Ventures, in August of 2024.
The presentation acknowledges that traditional athletic departments are suited to manage student-athletes and general operations but stresses that a business venture with a CEO can focus on revenue generation, new business opportunities and donor engagements.
The plan also gives the corporation some flexibility, with the option to create a for-profit structure that could manage future NIL opportunities or secure private capital, should Virginia Tech go that route.
Additionally, Hall plans to give an update on “Invest to Win” resource allocations totaling $33 million, $14 million of which for facility enhancements like the new Lane Stadium videoboard and LED lighting, plus upgrades to the lobby and hallways at the Merryman Athletic Facility.
Danny White, who moved from the Hokie Club to a role as deputy athletics director, will give the athletics director’s update in place of the retiring Babcock, who moves into an emeritus role on June 30. According to the open session materials, White will speak on facility upgrades in the Merryman and Jamerson buildings and outline differences between revenue-sharing and NIL.