Staff Directory

Ryan Madden

Title:
Executive Associate Athletic Director/Chief Brand & Revenue Officer

Ryan Madden, a communications and marketing leader with broad experience spanning college athletics, the Olympic movement, and professional sports, was named Executive Associate Athletic Director/Chief Brand & Revenue Officer in July 2026.

In this role, Madden provides leadership for the communications, creative, Fan Experience, and sales units and serve as the chief spokesperson for Wake Athletics. As a member of the Athletics Executive Leadership Team (ELT), Madden works closely with Currie, Senior Deputy AD/COO Scott Garrett and Deputy Athletics Director/SWA Janeen Lalik, and other senior leaders on comprehensive brand and revenue strategy development.

Madden arrived in Winston-Salem following five years at Austin FC of Major League Soccer, serving as the organization's Vice President of Communications & Media before being elevated to the role of Senior Vice President of Marketing.

In his role, Madden served as Austin FC's lead marketer while overseeing the club's communications, media, creative, content, game experience, fan development, advertising, brand, and merchandise departments. Austin FC holds the longest active sellout streak in Major League Soccer, having sold out all 96 regular season and playoff home matches at Q2 Stadium since the club's inaugural home match in June 2021.

In 2025, Austin FC was named Best Fan Experience by the Austin American-Statesman and Q2 Stadium was recognized by Newsweek as one of the loudest home environments in MLS.

During Madden's tenure at Austin FC, the club was recognized as MLS Communications Team of the Year, MLS Marketing Team of the Year, and was a finalist for Sports Business Journal's Team of the Year in 2022. In subsequent seasons, Austin FC was named MLS Sponsorship Activation of the Year, and finished both the 2024 and 2025 seasons ranked top five in Major League Soccer for net new social media followership growth. Austin FC's 2026 "Rooted Kit" was named the top new jersey in MLS by Diario AS, and its 2024 "Armadillo Kit" was the first-ever new MLS jersey to be featured in a story in Rolling Stone.

During Madden's tenure, Austin FC and Q2 Stadium hosted the 2025 MLS All-Star Game, U.S. Men's and Women's National Team matches including a World Cup qualifier, in addition to multiple Gold Cup and Copa America matches.

During the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Austin FC's watch events drew more than 70,000 unique registrants, including over 46,000 fans new to the club's database.

Prior to Austin, Madden served in two roles for the United Soccer League's league office including being the Senior Vice President of Marketing, Communications & Community. While at the USL, Madden helped grow the league's earned media coverage and social followership while also playing a role in the launch of more than 25 new professional teams across the country.

Previously, Madden served as Director and later Senior Director of Communications for the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer, part of Kroenke Sports and Entertainment. Before Kroenke, he was Communications Manager at the United States Anti-Doping Agency. Madden began his career in college athletics, working in the athletics communications departments at the University of Missouri and the College of Charleston.

Madden currently serves as an adjunct instructor in Ohio University's Sports Administration program, where he teaches a special topics course titled "The Business of Soccer in a World Cup Summer." He also serves on the Advisory Council for the University of Texas Center for Sports Communication and Media.

Madden graduated from the University of Missouri with a BA in Political Science, before earning a Masters in Sports Administration from Ohio University and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University. He and his wife Heather have three sons: Atticus, Ashton, and Maddux.