Former Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins executive Adrien Bouchet was recently named the new director of the DeVos Sport Business Management Program at the University of Central Florida. Bouchet’s hiring follows the retirement of sports industry pioneer, author and activist Richard Lapchick, who helped put the 20-year-old program on the map. Bouchet, who spent 12 years at the University of Tulsa, takes over a globally ranked program that provides a pipeline of talent into the sport business industry.
“I was aware of Richard Lapchick, of course. We were reading his books in class,” Bouchet says, “and I knew this was a well-respected program.” Over the years, DeVos has been recognized as a top Sports Business Program in America by the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Forbes Magazine. The program was just ranked eighth in the world by SportBusiness in its Postgraduate Rankings 2022.
The DeVos program offers students the opportunity to earn their master’s in sports business management and an MBA. A minor is also available. The program is also home to The Institute of Diversity and Ethics in Sports (TIDES), which releases the Racial and Gender Report Cards for professional, collegiate and amateur sports each year. The widely publicized report cards help to hold leagues accountable for their hiring diverse and inclusive staffs.
Before joining UCF, Bouchet was the Warren Clinic Endowed Professor of Sport Business at Tulsa. He was a Fulbright Fellow (Portugal) and a Research Fellow at the North American Society for Sport Management. In 2015, he received the MAYO Excellence in Research award from the University of Tulsa. He and a co-author were awarded a Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics grant to study the escalation in spending in NCAA athletics, and their conference paper was the basis of an article on ESPN.com. Prior to going into academia, he served as the manager of Marketing Partnerships for the NFL’s Dolphins and the senior manager of Marketing Partnerships for Major League Baseball’s Marlins. He also worked for SFX/Clear Channel Entertainment (now LiveNation) and ISP/Learfield College Sports.
Bouchet’s industry experience and academic background made him an ideal candidate for the position.“We are very fortunate to have Dr. Bouchet join us to lead the DeVos program. He embodies the same combination of academic and industry experience that has been the hallmark of its success,” says Paul Jarley, dean of UCF College of Business, which houses the DeVos program. “I am sure he will work with a wide variety of people in industry and at UCF to ensure our graduates have the perspective and skills they need to become the next generation of leaders in managing sports enterprises.”
Bouchet says his aim is to ensure the DeVos Sport Business Management Program prepares students to compete in the ultracompetitive sports industry while ranking among the top programs in the world.
“It is my goal to continue DeVos’s world class reputation and be an asset to the students and alumni,” says Bouchet, who will headline the Dean’s Speaker Series on Thursday, Oct. 20, at the Citrus Club. Bouchet will be talking about UCF’s move to the Big 12 and the impact conference realignment will have on UCF athletics and the college football landscape. Breakfast and parking are included. Register today.
