David Checketts, chairman and owner of the new Salt Lake City Major League Soccer team, Wednesday announced the hiring of David Allred as the team's vice president of business operations. Allred assumes responsibility for the team's communications, marketing, sales and event operations, and staffing the team's front office.
"I am pleased to have David join the organization," Checketts said. "He brings with him a wealth of knowledge of both the market and the operation of a professional sports team. Bringing David on as our first hire shows our commitment to staffing our front office and team with the best and the brightest in sports and building a championship-caliber organization from the very beginning."
Allred is the former vice president of communications for the Utah Jazz, leaving the team after 23 years in December of last year. Most recently, Allred has been director of public relations at Richter7, a Salt Lake City-based advertising and public relations firm. Allred started at the team's offices on Monday.
"The opportunity to be part of the development of Utah's second major league sports franchise and contribute to the growth of Major League Soccer is absolutely thrilling to me," said Allred. "I have great respect and admiration for Dave Checketts and Dean Howes and know that under their leadership, this team will be an incredible success."
"The announcement of David Allred as the team's vice president of business operations is the first in a lineup of significant announcements about the team we will be making over the next 30 to 60 days," said Dean Howes, CEO of Utah Soccer LLC, the MLS team's parent company. "Over the next four to six weeks, we will announce a team name and unveil the team's logo and colors, name a general manager and coach, and continue to build the team's core staff in preparation for Major League Soccer's expansion draft in November."
Fans desiring more information on the new Salt Lake City Major League Soccer team or season ticket availability should visit www.iloveutahsoccer.com or the league's official web site, www.MLSnet.com.
ABOUT DAVID ALLRED
During his tenure at the Jazz, which began as an intern during the 1980-1981 season, Allred rose through the ranks in the Jazz public relations department and was named as the team's vice president of public relations in 1987. In that role, Allred directed all public and community relations programs, media services, publications, web sites, youth programs, government and civic relations and special events. Allred oversaw media relations for an NBA All-Star Game (1993) and the NBA Finals (1997 and 1998). Under Allred's direction, the Jazz developed nationally recognized community relations programs and partnerships with Jazz sponsors, schools, libraries, recreation centers and youth service organizations.
As well as his duties with the NBA team, Allred also served as vice president of public relations for the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies, a billion dollar corporation with interests in the automotive industry, movie theaters and restaurants, broadcasting, arena management and professional basketball. Allred organized media events surrounding the announcement and subsequent openings of numerous auto dealerships, Jordan Commons theatre complex, Mayan Restaurant, Jordan Commons Office Tower and other Miller holdings. He was also President of Larry H. Miller Charities, the employee and corporate giving arm of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies.
In 1984, under the director of then-Jazz president David Checketts, Allred founded the Utah Pro-Am Summer league, which later became the Reebok Rocky Mountain Revue. For 19 years, Allred directed overall operations of the league, the NBA's largest and most successful summer basketball league. Allred also served as the editor and publisher of HomeCourt magazine and as vice president of public relations for both the Utah Starzz of the WNBA and the Salt Lake Golden Eagles minor league hockey team.
Allred is a graduate of the University of Utah with a degree in public relations. He also holds a certificate in Community Relations from Boston College. He currently serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Utah, is the Faculty Advisor to the University of Utah's Public Relations Student Society of America Chapter and is Co-Chair of the Friends of Service Board at the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center at the University of Utah. He also serves on the Advisory Board for Prevent Blindness - Utah.
