UCF Athletics Staffers, Projects Named Finalists for Industry Awards

UCF Athletics staffers and initiatives earned recognition this week as finalists in national award contests sponsored by professional organizations College Sports Communicators (CSC); National Association of Athletic Ticket Sales and Operations (NAATSO) and National Association of College Marketing Administrators (NACMA).

UCF is the only FBS school in the country to be represented as finalists by all three organizations.

CSC Designer of the Year Finalist
Graphic designer and illustrator Ava Buric ’21 was named as one of three finalists for the CSC’s Creative and Digital Designer of the Year (Portfolio) Award. She is in the running for the honor in the university division alongside the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Tim Hepler and University of Houston’s Cooper Lee.

Buric’s portfolio highlighted the illustration campaign she conceptualized and designed to celebrate UCF’s induction into the Big 12 Conference — which included stadium murals, a gameday commemorative cup series, and a fully wrapped campus shuttle bus.

The winner will be announced on June 12.

NACMA "Best Of" Awards-People's Choice
UCF was selected as a finalist in two people’s choice categories for NACMA’s “Best Of” Awards: viral social initiative and student engagement initiative.

Led by assistant director of #content Julian Bright ’23 and assistant athletics director of video #content Spencer Rubin, the #content team’s execution of the 2024 football schedule release is among eight finalists in the viral social category. 

The staff conceptualized a video featuring a “sales team” locking down opponents for the 2024 season, filmed in the style of the hit show “The Office” (featuring 19 actual staff members). The anchor piece was complemented by two additional videos, five graphics, custom digital wallpapers and a press release within a 7-hour span on Jan. 30. In total across X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook, two of the videos combined yielded more than 2.5 million impressions, 129,000 engagements and 53,500 reactions.

The other finalists include Baylor, BYU, Louisville, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Purdue and Western Kentucky.

Led by director of brand experience Tim Conner ’17 and assistant director of brand experience Lexi Campagna ’22, UCF’s “Fear the Fronds” initiative is one of nine finalists in the student engagement category.

As the flagship Big 12 institution in Florida, there’s nothing more Florida than palm trees — design elements are incorporated on our home court and uniforms — so we leaned into that with the most Florida-style free throw distraction imaginable.

The palms debuted in the Knightmare student section at the men’s basketball team’s inaugural Big 12 Conference home game/upset of No. 3 Kansas.

They became an instant fan favorite and staple for the rest of the Big 12 home games — effectively disrupted opponents’ free throws (opponents shot 7.7% worse in front of the student section than the other end with 40 total misses after the palm fronds were introduced), caught media attention, spawned a new catchphrase, new gear, fundraising initiatives and increased attendance.

The other finalists include Auburn, Georgia Tech, Kansas State, Maryland, N.C. State, Northwestern, Purdue and Virginia Tech. Winners will be announced in June.

NAATSO Ticket Team of the Year Finalists
Led by senior associate athletics director Brooke Smoley, the UCF ticket sales, service and operations team was selected as finalist Wednesday for the inaugural NAATSO Ticket Team of the Year award.

The news comes less than 24 hours after the department announced that 2024 football season tickets were sold out for the fifth time since 2019, marking the earliest date in program history season tickets have sold out.

UCF is clearly sustaining momentum. All of the football team’s Big 12 home games in 2023 sold out completely — the first three (Baylor, West Virginia and Oklahoma State) were announced as sell-outs more than three months before the games kicked off.

And the ticket team’s success in sales and service extends beyond football.

The Knights’ inaugural season in the Big 12 in 2023-24 saw season ticket sales records in all eight ticketed sports (football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, baseball and softball). Season tickets sold out for the first time for both the volleyball and softball teams.

At the conclusion of the 2023-24 regular season, the men’s basketball team broke a 13-year single season attendance school record. The Knights welcomed a combined 130,076 to its 18 home games.

The other finalists are Army, Boise State, Colorado, DePaul, Marquette, N.C. State and Providence. Winners will be announced in June.