Brad Cygan becomes the newest member of the Spartan Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022 for his involvement in building one of the stronger brands in the NAIA. For seven years (2011-18), Cygan was responsible for developing and growing the Spartans’ social media presence, creating the first digital streaming platform –
Spartan Digital Network, and building an easy-to-navigate and robust
MBUSpartans.com, among other initiatives. He was instrumental in streaming four regular-season games and multiple NAIA Invitational contests to ESPN3. In addition, he served as the original voice of MBU Athletics, broadcasting nearly every sport. His innovation led to the first multilingual broadcast in Spanish and English for an MBU baseball game in 2015.
With limited personnel to begin his time at MBU, Cygan worked with several departments across campus to assist in shaping a professional gameday experience. Through the Broadcast Media program, Cygan made multi-camera video productions on the Spartan Digital Network a regular occurrence for football, men’s & women’s volleyball, and men’s & women’s basketball. He also led the efforts in a partnership with the Sport Management division to utilize practicum students in assisting with gameday operations. During his seven years at MBU, Brad grew the Athletics Communications staff from one Sports Information Director and one graduate assistant to two full-time positions and multiple GAs and interns.
In 2015, Cygan was awarded American Midwest Conference SID of the Year and won the national NAIA Sports Information Director of the Year honor as well. He helped develop the conference’s first Brand Style Guide and was elected to the NAIA-SIDA Board of Directors in 2017. He has also served as a panelist and presenter at multiple CoSIDA Conventions.
Other vital contributions under his direction included regular local media attention from KSDK, KMOX, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, national social media attention on numerous occasions, and serving as the media director for multiple National Championships hosted at Missouri Baptist, including Women’s Wrestling (WCWA) and Men’s Volleyball (NAIA) as well as the Pujols Family Foundation Albert’s Celebrity All-Star Basketball Game.
After moving on from Missouri Baptist, Brad was hired as the Director of Communications at the NAIA National Office. He has led video streaming efforts to gross profits of $200,000+ annually (16% increase in Year 1), increased NAIA website traffic, and new relationships with key national partners, including BoxOut Sports, and video highlight producer REELY, among others.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT BRAD:
“The NAIA is so fortunate to have Brad Cygan leading our athletics communications efforts. Brad is passionate about telling the stories of NAIA members and their student-athletes, and it shows in his work. Much of his commitment to the NAIA comes from his many years at MoBap, and it is a well-deserved honor that he will be inducted into the MBU Athletics Hall of Fame.” –
NAIA President & CEO Jim Carr
“Brad is someone who sees the big picture, and because of that, he has continually found ways to move both Missouri Baptist (in his time there) and the NAIA forward in the world of athletics communications. As a testament to his work, since I first started working with Brad, many have teased me about having to work with him, but they always followed up with how good he is at his job.” –
Former MBU Women’s Volleyball Student-Athlete & Athletics Communications Graduate Assistant, Current NAIA Manager of Athletics Communications and Media
