Bernard J. Mullin, PhD, is currently president and chief executive officer of Atlanta Spirit, LLC. In this role he is in charge of guiding all facets of the Spirit's operations, including overseeing all team and business operations for the NBA's Hawks and NHL's Thrashers and management of the world-class Philips Arena.

Mullin has nearly 30 years of experience in the sport management industry, involving executive positions with professional teams and leagues where he specializes in start-ups and turnarounds, breaking numerous all-time league ticket sales and attendance records. Before coming to Atlanta, Mullin served as the NBA's senior vice president of marketing and team business operations. Mullin has also served as president and general manager of a minor league hockey team, the IHL's Denver Grizzlies; senior vice president of business operations for the Colorado Rockies; and senior vice president of business for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He has also acted as the owner's representative on major design and construction projects, including Coors Field and University of Denver's award-winning athletic facilities.

Before and during his career in professional sports, Mullin spent several years in intercollegiate athletics and higher education. He served as vice chancellor of athletics for the University of Denver and as professor of sport management at the University of Massachusetts.

Mullin holds a PhD in business, an MBA, and an MS in marketing from the University of Kansas, where he coached the varsity soccer program, and a BA business studies from Coventry University in England, where he played soccer semiprofessionally for the Oxford City Football Club.

Stephen Hardy, PhD, is professor of kinesiology and coordinator of the sport studies program at the University of New Hampshire, where he is also an affiliate professor of history. At UNH since 1988, he serves as faculty representative to the NCAA and chairs the president's Athletics Advisory Committee. In 2003-2004, he served as interim vice provost for undergraduate studies.

Hardy has also taught at the University of Massachusetts (where he earned his PhD), the University of Washington, Robert Morris College, and Carnegie Mellon University. Over three decades, he has taught courses in sport marketing, athletic administration, and sport history, as well as a popular introduction to the sport industry. Besides Sport Marketing, his publications include How Boston Played (1982, 2003) and numerous articles, book chapters, and reviews in academic presses. His reviews and opinions have also appeared in popular outlets such as the Boston Globe, the New York Times, and the Sports Business Journal. From 1995 to 1999, he was coeditor of the Sport Marketing Quarterly. In 1997, he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education. In May 2001, he won the Lifetime Research Award from UNH's School of Health and Human Services.

Hardy has extensive experience in college athletics. He played hockey for Bowdoin in the late 1960s and cocaptained the 1969-70 team with his twin brother, Earl. After coaching stints at Vermont Academy and Amherst College, he joined the Eastern College Athletic Conference in 1976, where he served as assistant commissioner and hockey supervisor until 1979. During this time, he supervised collegiate championships in venues such as the Boston Garden and Madison Square Garden, and he worked closely with the NCAA Ice Hockey Committee and its affiliated championships. He served on the board of directors of the America East Athletic Conference from 2000 to 2002. In 2003, he was selected by the Hockey East Association as one of 20 special friends to celebrate the league's 20th anniversary.

William A. Sutton, EdD, joined the University of Central Florida's DeVos sport business management program in January 2004 as associate director and professor. Before joining the DeVos program, he was a professor in the department of sport studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and also served as vice president of team marketing for the National Basketball Association. As principal of Bill Sutton & Associates, Sutton continues his industry involvement on a consulting basis, assisting professional sports teams and other sport organizations with marketing-related functions including sales, revenue enhancement, promotional activities, market research, advertising, customer service, strategic planning, and staffing.

Sutton is acclaimed for his extensive expertise in sport marketing and sales. He is a regular contributor to Sport Business Journal and Gigant del Basket, an Italian basketball publication. Sutton has also authored more than 100 articles (journal and practitioner) and has made more than 100 presentations to national and international audiences. He is past president of the North American Society for Sport Management and is a founding member of the Sport Marketing Association. Additionally, he was coeditor of Sport Marketing Quarterly and served on the editorial board of the International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship.

In addition to his work with the NBA, Sutton's professional experience includes service as vice president of marketing and information systems for DelWilber + Associates, an international sports marketing firm; commissioner of the Mid-Ohio Conference; City of Pittsburgh special events coordinator; and YMCA executive director.