Maryland hires Atlanta Braves executive James Smith as its athletic director

Atlanta Braves executive James Smith has been hired as Maryland's athletic director, the school announced Thursday.

Smith, the Braves' senior vice president of business strategy for five years, takes over two months after Damon Evans left to become athletic director at SMU.

"It is a great honor to be chosen to lead the athletics department at the University of Maryland and to guide UMD’s storied programs into the next era," Smith said. "I am highly motivated to build upon excellence and lead Maryland forward in a dynamic and pivotal time for intercollegiate athletics, with a sharp focus on student-athlete health, well-being and academic success."

Maryland opened a new football building four years ago and will open a basketball practice facility this year, and the Terrapins have won 49 conference championships and six national team titles since joining the Big Ten in 2014.

Women's basketball has consistently ranked among the top programs in the nation under Brenda Frese since she arrived in 2002. The men's basketball team reached the NCAA Elite Eight last season under Kevin Willard. Buzz Williams was hired away from Texas A&M after Willard left for Villanova in a messy breakup where he had questioned the school's financial commitment to the program.

But the Terps have struggled in football, the Big Ten's most high-profile sport. The Terps' average home attendance of 36,040 ranked 17th in the 18-team conference last season. They've never had a winning record in conference play. They were 4-8 overall and 1-8 in the Big Ten under Mike Locksley last season and are projected to finish near the bottom of the conference in 2025.

During Smith's time with the Braves, the team saw increases in ticket, concession and merchandising sales. He previously was president and CEO of the Ohio State alumni association and held several positions with the Atlanta Falcons and Major League Soccer's Atlanta United and worked on the design and development of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium project in Atlanta.

Smith is set to lead what has been a financially strapped athletic department into the era of revenue sharing, which would begin July 1 if the multibillion-dollar antitrust settlement with the NCAA receives final approval.

Maryland plans to share the allowable maximum of $20.5 million with its athletes in 2025-26. To help facilitate the payments, Evans announced in January that ticket prices would increase this year and operating expenses would be cut starting this fall.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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