Scott Leykam
Athletic Director at the University of Portland
Regional Board Members
Scott Leykam was named Athletic Director at the University of Portland by then- UP President Rev. E. William Beauchamp, C.S.C., on May 4, 2012. Leykam is charged with oversight of the University’s 16 varsity athletic programs, 285 student-athletes, and all campus recreation and intramural programs.
Upon his arrival on The Bluff, Leykam has focused on three goals for the University of Portland Athletic Department: delivering a premier student-athlete experience, enhancing the fan and alumni experience, and maximizing the department’s campus impact.
In 2013-14, UP Athletics continued to place a focus on facility development/renovation and both annual and capital fundraising. Two long awaited capital projects broke ground in 2014 with baseball renovations to Joe Etzel Field and the groundbreaking of the 70,000-plus square foot Beauchamp Recreation & Wellness Center. Improvements at Etzel Field include conversion from a grass to synthetic playing field, new scoreboard, perimeter fencing, and additional grass seating down the first base line. The Recreation & Wellness Center, which opened in the summer of 2015, includes a varsity practice facility for the men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball programs. The department saw a 32% increase in donors and 16% in dollars to the Pilot Athletic Annual Fund in FY 14, while also completing facility renovations to the Chiles Center ticket office, equipment room and Hall of Fame Room.
In the summer of 2014, UP Athletics agreed to an eight-year agreement with NIKE to be the school’s official footwear and apparel provider for all varsity programs. As part of the agreement, NIKE also partnered with UP Athletics on a brand refresh for the department that will rolled out in the fall of 2014. The department also saw its soccer season ticket sales increase to its highest number since 2010 through a partnership with Peregrine Sports (the parent company of the Portland Timbers of the MLS).
The Pilots also enjoyed success both on the field and in the classroom in 2013-14 with NCAA Championship appearances in women’s soccer and men’s cross country. The men’s cross country program finished a program-best seventh at the 2014 NCAA Championships and the women’s soccer program was ranked as high as seventh in the nation on its way on a WCC Championship. In addition to the women’s soccer program, the men’s cross country, women’s cross country, women’s rowing and men’s tennis teams all finished in the top three in the WCC while the men’s basketball program upset nationally-ranked Gonzaga and picked up its first ever victory against BYU. The Pilots also once again excelled in the classroom with two programs earning perfect 1,000 APR’s, three teams earning Public Recognition Awards, and nine programs regarding the highest Division I APR in the state. The University of Portland also had 145 student-athletes qualify for the 2013-14 West Coast Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll, including a league-high 34 for recording GPA’s of 3.75 and above.
In his first year at UP, Leykam oversaw a 46% increase in fundraising to the Pilot Athletic Fund. As part of the University’s comprehensive “Rise” campaign, in 2012-13 alone, the department executed successful fundraising campaigns for a men’s basketball foreign tour, women’s basketball and men’s/women’s tennis video systems, the naming of one rowing boat and purchase of another, and secured major gifts toward planned baseball renovations to Joe Etzel Field. He was also actively involved in the final steps of locker room, training room and weight room expansion to the Chiles Center and the addition of incremental staff positions in academic support, marketing, video services and women’s rowing.
Leykam currently serves on the NCAA Championships & Sports Management Cabinet, the Oregon Sports Authority Board of Directors, the University of Portland Franz Center Leadership Advisory Board and the Playworks Pacific Northwest Board of Directors. He was also appointed as Chair of the West Coast Conference Basketball Cabinet in 2014.
Prior to coming to The Bluff, Leykam spent 13 years in the Stanford University Athletic Department in media relations and fundraising and four years as Senior Associate Commissioner for External Relations at the West Coast Conference.
At the West Coast Conference, Leykam oversaw the Conference’s comprehensive national and regional television packages, its annual basketball championship, and all strategic marketing and exposure-driven initiatives. He also managed championships, community service, marketing, corporate sponsorship sales, men’s basketball officiating, and scheduling, while serving as a conference liaison to WCC men’s basketball, baseball, men’s and women’s soccer, and men’s golf head coaches.
In 2011, Leykam played a key role in successful negotiations with both ESPN and regional television partners to command both the highest television rights fee and the most annual men’s basketball television exposures in Conference history. He was also an integral part of the WCC’s efforts to bring BYU and Pacific into the conference, marking its first membership changes in 30 years.
Under Leykam’s guidance, the WCC enjoyed unprecedented marketing and media relations success during its transition to a first-ever neutral site basketball championship at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. During his WCC tenure, the Conference set basketball championship revenue records, secured a basketball championship title sponsor, and launched a Hall of Honor.
Prior to joining the WCC, Leykam served as the Director of Annual Giving and Co-Director of Media Relations during 13 years in the Stanford University Athletic Department. During his five-year tenure as the Director of Athletic Annual Giving on The Farm, Leykam managed the third largest annual fund on the Stanford campus, the Buck/Cardinal Club, and increased revenue by 157 percent in four years. Under his direction, the Buck/Cardinal Club saw fundraising efforts increase from $2.653 million in 2004 to a record $6.826 million in 2007.
At Stanford, he was responsible for the development and governance of the athletic annual giving budget, and merging 35 Sports Improvement Funds and the football premium seating fund into the Buck/Cardinal Club. He also served as Staff Chair for the Stanford Stadium Seating Committee, a committee assembled by the athletic director to advise on seating, ticketing, and transition plans for the new Stanford Stadium. In addition, Leykam served as Chairman of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame Selection Committee and was a Stanford Athletics spokesman at advisory board meetings, Alumni Association functions, and local fundraising luncheons.
Leykam began his career at Stanford in Athletic Media Relations, where he served for eight years, earning the title of Co-Media Relations Director. He managed football media responsibilities for the Cardinal’s Rose Bowl, Sun Bowl, Liberty Bowl and Seattle Bowl teams, and supervised day-to-day media duties for the baseball, women’s basketball, baseball, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s tennis and wrestling programs.
Leykam began his career in athletics in the West Coast Conference, as he received his bachelor’s degree in Communications from Saint Mary’s College in 1995. He later returned to his alma mater as a professor in the Department of Communication with a focus in News Writing and Reporting.
Leykam and his wife, Amy, have three children: Austin, Tyler and Allison.