EAST LANSING ~ Former MSU Interim Athletics Director and Spartan Ventures CEO Jon Palumbo has followed former MSU AD J Batt to the University of Kentucky, marking the third school where the two administrators have worked together to lead corporate fundraising.
Batt left Michigan State in June for Kentucky after a $3.95 million buyout and just one year in East Lansing. Palumbo served as MSU’s interim AD for nearly two months until Dan Bartholomae was named to the permanent role. Kentucky announced Tuesday that Palumbo will join the department as deputy athletics director and deputy CEO of Champions Blue LLC, a holding company at UK.
Palumbo and Batt first worked together at Georgia Tech, where Palumbo was executive deputy athletics director and chief operating officer while Batt served as AD. When Batt was hired at MSU in 2025, Palumbo joined the department within a week in the same dual role. He was later promoted to also serve as CEO of Spartan Ventures, the athletics department’s fundraising arm modeled similarly to Champions Blue LLC.
Their move to Kentucky comes as revenue sourcing continues to grow in importance for college athletic departments in the NIL era. Batt and Palumbo led fundraising initiatives at both Georgia Tech and MSU, where they developed corporate‑style revenue arms, guided football program transitions, and oversaw facility renovation planning. Their strategy enters a new landscape in the SEC, where top NIL budgets were more than $3 million higher than the leading Big Ten programs this year.
At MSU, Spartan Ventures Chief Business Officer Eric Reinke will serve as interim CEO while the university searches for a permanent replacement. Bartholomae, who now leads the department, has outlined donor‑engagement goals that will require a strong Spartan Ventures CEO to support.
