Jeff Richards begins his fifth season as a member of the Seahawks senior management team, serving in the role of Vice President of Marketing & Community Engagement. Richards is responsible for growing, evolving and communicating the Seahawks brand, as well as leading the team's community outreach efforts and youth and high school football programs.
Through data-driven fan engagement strategies, Richards leads cross-organizational groups to help internal and external partners connect with the NFL's seventh largest fan base (via 2019 ESPN Sports Poll) and the sixth most passionate fan base in all of American professional sports (Forbes America's Most Passionate Sports Fans 2020). His oversight in the area of fan engagement includes marketing, design, game day entertainment, digital and social media, video production and fan development.
Since joining the Seahawks, Richards has been instrumental in the brand development of '12s' and 'We Are 12' as it relates to the Seahawks fan base. He has also helped shape and lead fan experiences that include the Super Bowl XLVIII parade, NFL Kickoff 2014 and MoPOP's "We Are 12" exhibit.
Before joining the Seahawks as director of marketing in 2011, Richards served as marketing manager for the Seattle Mariners and began his career at his Alma Mater of Seattle Pacific University as director of promotions and game day programming before working as a ticket office assistant in the athletics department at the University of Washington. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, while minoring in Business Administration, he earned a Master of Sports Administration degree from Seattle Pacific.
Richards and his wife, Stephanie, live in Issaquah with their two children (Bennett and Blakely) and dogs (Buddy and Sophie). Richards serves on the Board of Commissioners for the Seattle Sports Commission and is on the Board of Directors for InvestED, a Washington state non-profit that provides funding to more than 660 secondary schools, helping students pay for everything from ASB cards and college application fees to access to technology for learning, athletic shoes, winter coats and more.
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