DePaul University Athletics
MEN'S TENNIS
Taylor Stapleton
- Title:
- Associate Vice President & Deputy Athletics Director
ADMINISTRATOR–Men's Tennis, Women's Tennis
- Email:
- taylor.stapleton@depaul.edu
Taylor Stapleton serves as Associate Vice President and Deputy Athletics Director at DePaul University, where he directs the department's strategic, business, and revenue-generating operations. Since joining DePaul Athletics in November 2020, he has steadily expanded his leadership responsibilities, rising to Executive Associate Athletics Director in 2022 and to Associate Vice President and Deputy Athletics Director in 2025. He was appointed to DePaul's Joint Council in 2026.
As a member of DePaul's executive leadership team, Stapleton oversees a broad portfolio spanning business and financial operations, capital planning, ticketing and data strategy, corporate partnerships, NIL and revenue-sharing strategy, information technology, merchandise and licensing, event operations, and brand development. He also leads the department's strategic planning, guiding the development and execution of Beyond the Dream, DePaul Athletics' five-year strategic plan, and serving as the department's liaison to DePaul's Board of Trustees and the BIG EAST Conference.
Under Stapleton's leadership, DePaul Athletics has made meaningful, measurable progress across its business and external operations. He helped revitalize the department's brand identity, including the return of the iconic Billy Blue Demon vintage logo, which has contributed to record merchandise sales and an 88% increase in royalties since 2021. He has championed major capital projects totaling over $65 million, highlighted by a modernization of the Sullivan Athletic Center that gave every varsity program its own dedicated locker room for the first time in school history and added a health, wellness, and recovery wing. The investment also includes a new state-of-the-art training facility and broadcast production studio, along with new turf at Wish Field, renovated softball dugouts, and a new video board at Cacciatore Stadium and McGrath-Phillips Arena.
Stapleton has led a comprehensive, data-driven modernization of DePaul Athletics' ticketing and revenue strategy, reshaping pricing, seating configurations, and benefit structures and building a robust data ecosystem that allows the department to prospect and qualify leads more effectively. The results include record ticket sales and revenue across every ticketed sport, the first-ever sellout at Wintrust Arena, the highest season ticket renewal rate in the venue's history, the largest regular-season crowd for women's basketball, the first capacity crowd for men's soccer, and a 118% increase in men's basketball student attendance during the 2025-26 season.
He has also expanded DePaul's partnership portfolio, negotiating and implementing key agreements with Nike, the Marquee Sports Network, the NASCAR Chicago Street Race, and select corporate partners. In 2024, he inked a groundbreaking partnership with Wilson and Luxilon, Wilson's first-ever collegiate tennis team sponsorship, and in 2026 he brokered the BIG EAST's first jersey patch partnership between DePaul men's basketball and Chicago-based Desert Cactus.
Stapleton has guided a broad digital transformation, including a redesigned athletics website, a new mobile app, a move to fully digital ticketing, and an expanded digital marketing and automation strategy. He has also strengthened community engagement and deepened DePaul's connection to its city through partnerships with the Chicago Park District and Chicago Public Schools (CPS), and collaborations with Chicago's professional sports teams, including the Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Sky, Fire, and Stars.
Stapleton also serves as sport administrator for DePaul's men's and women's tennis programs and is active in conference and national governance as a member of the BIG EAST Conference Tennis Advisory Committee and chair of the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Tennis Committee, which oversees national governance, rulemaking, and championship administration, including selection and seeding.
In 2026, Stapleton was named to Silver Waves Media's Top 100 Future Athletics Directors list, which recognizes rising leaders whose vision, innovation, and impact are shaping the future of college athletics.
Before joining DePaul, Stapleton worked in strategic partnerships with Healthcare Business Media and spent nearly nine years with the University of Kentucky Athletics Department, where he helped lead ticketing strategy, analytics, pricing, digital marketing, and venue reseating initiatives for Kroger Field and Rupp Arena. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Athletic Ticket Sales & Operations (NAATSO), helping shape best practices in ticketing, sales, operations, and pricing across collegiate athletics.
Stapleton holds a bachelor's degree in marketing from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Science in Athletic Administration.
As a member of DePaul's executive leadership team, Stapleton oversees a broad portfolio spanning business and financial operations, capital planning, ticketing and data strategy, corporate partnerships, NIL and revenue-sharing strategy, information technology, merchandise and licensing, event operations, and brand development. He also leads the department's strategic planning, guiding the development and execution of Beyond the Dream, DePaul Athletics' five-year strategic plan, and serving as the department's liaison to DePaul's Board of Trustees and the BIG EAST Conference.
Under Stapleton's leadership, DePaul Athletics has made meaningful, measurable progress across its business and external operations. He helped revitalize the department's brand identity, including the return of the iconic Billy Blue Demon vintage logo, which has contributed to record merchandise sales and an 88% increase in royalties since 2021. He has championed major capital projects totaling over $65 million, highlighted by a modernization of the Sullivan Athletic Center that gave every varsity program its own dedicated locker room for the first time in school history and added a health, wellness, and recovery wing. The investment also includes a new state-of-the-art training facility and broadcast production studio, along with new turf at Wish Field, renovated softball dugouts, and a new video board at Cacciatore Stadium and McGrath-Phillips Arena.
Stapleton has led a comprehensive, data-driven modernization of DePaul Athletics' ticketing and revenue strategy, reshaping pricing, seating configurations, and benefit structures and building a robust data ecosystem that allows the department to prospect and qualify leads more effectively. The results include record ticket sales and revenue across every ticketed sport, the first-ever sellout at Wintrust Arena, the highest season ticket renewal rate in the venue's history, the largest regular-season crowd for women's basketball, the first capacity crowd for men's soccer, and a 118% increase in men's basketball student attendance during the 2025-26 season.
He has also expanded DePaul's partnership portfolio, negotiating and implementing key agreements with Nike, the Marquee Sports Network, the NASCAR Chicago Street Race, and select corporate partners. In 2024, he inked a groundbreaking partnership with Wilson and Luxilon, Wilson's first-ever collegiate tennis team sponsorship, and in 2026 he brokered the BIG EAST's first jersey patch partnership between DePaul men's basketball and Chicago-based Desert Cactus.
Stapleton has guided a broad digital transformation, including a redesigned athletics website, a new mobile app, a move to fully digital ticketing, and an expanded digital marketing and automation strategy. He has also strengthened community engagement and deepened DePaul's connection to its city through partnerships with the Chicago Park District and Chicago Public Schools (CPS), and collaborations with Chicago's professional sports teams, including the Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Sky, Fire, and Stars.
Stapleton also serves as sport administrator for DePaul's men's and women's tennis programs and is active in conference and national governance as a member of the BIG EAST Conference Tennis Advisory Committee and chair of the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Tennis Committee, which oversees national governance, rulemaking, and championship administration, including selection and seeding.
In 2026, Stapleton was named to Silver Waves Media's Top 100 Future Athletics Directors list, which recognizes rising leaders whose vision, innovation, and impact are shaping the future of college athletics.
Before joining DePaul, Stapleton worked in strategic partnerships with Healthcare Business Media and spent nearly nine years with the University of Kentucky Athletics Department, where he helped lead ticketing strategy, analytics, pricing, digital marketing, and venue reseating initiatives for Kroger Field and Rupp Arena. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Athletic Ticket Sales & Operations (NAATSO), helping shape best practices in ticketing, sales, operations, and pricing across collegiate athletics.
Stapleton holds a bachelor's degree in marketing from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Science in Athletic Administration.
Friday, September 11
Friday, September 11
Friday, September 11
Friday, September 11
