Steve Pederson


Management and Marketing Consultant, Previously Athletic Director at Pittsburgh and Nebraska


Greater New York City Area


Management Consulting


After leading one of the most amazing turnarounds in college athletics history, Steve Pederson has established himself as a leader with the clear vision and the unique strategic thinking necessary to move an organization to a championship level.

When Pederson took the reigns as Athletic Director at the University of Pittsburgh in 1996, few could have imagined what would take place over the next two decades. At that time, Pederson took charge of an athletic department that was perhaps at its lowest end both competitively and from an infrastructure standpoint.

Notable among the accomplishments during Pederson’s tenure was an amazing growth in the Pitt Athletic Department budget from $14 million to nearly $70 million. Fund raising rose from $900,000 to over $8.5 million annually. Corporate sponsorships, including the multi-million dollar agreement with footwear giant NIKE, rose from a mere $200,000 to $7.2 million annually. The school’s television revenue skyrocketed from $1.8 million to over $20 million annually. Equally impressive were the season ticket attendance number where football rose from 7,300 to 40,000 annually and basketball went from 3,700 season tickets to 12,500 (a sold out arena) and a waiting list of 15,000. Under his leadership, Pitt experienced $500 million in facility construction for its athletic teams without incurring any additional debt.

Led by Pederson, the invitation to join the prestigious Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), reinforced Pitt’s stature in the world of intercollegiate athletics and poised the Pittsburgh for greater heights in the future. In fact, the Panthers athletic fortunes elevated so dramatically on and off the field it prompted a Pittsburgh newspaper to dub Pitt “Comeback U.”