Kelly Evans

Kelly Evans, Ph.D., is a sports management associate professor in the Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She also served as the 2024 Presidential Faculty Fellow and the deputy chief of staff in the Office of the President at MSU. Evans teaches a variety of courses, including sport promotion/marketing, sport enterprise/finance and intro to sport management.

As a practitioner, Evans was an integral member of a summer collegiate baseball team in the Coastal Plain League in South Carolina. She worked her way to become the league’s first female general manager within seven years. Evans also worked closely with MiLB, MLB, NFL and NBA teams in the areas of marketing, operations, sales, event management and finance. Her other work included helping plan local festivals, charity events and concerts in South Carolina.

Her research interests include sport and entertainment marketing, sport sponsorships and consumer behavior. Evans has presented her research at national and international conferences where she won research grants to continue her work in sport sponsorships.

Evans earned her doctorate, master’s and bachelor’s degrees in sport management and sport marketing from University of South Carolina in 2019, 2014 and 2010 respectfully.