Rick Bay

SDSU Background | Athletic Department | President

There's a new bay highlighting the San Diego landscape and it's right in the middle of Montezuma Mesa. Rick Bay, one of the most respected athletic administrators in the country, has taken over as Director of Athletics at San Diego State University and the folks in Aztec land can't hide their enthusiasm for the future of SDSU sports.

Named January 23, 1995 to succeed Fred Miller at the helm of the Aztec athletic program, Bay brings with him a resume filled with accomplishments at the collegiate and professional sports levels. He has served as director of athletics at the University of Oregon, Ohio State University and the University of Minnesota. He has been the chief operating officer for two major league baseball franchises;the Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees. He has served as president of his own sports consulting firm. In each instance, Bay has been exposed to unique challenges and invariably improved upon the situation for each organization.

In his short time at the controls of Aztec athletics, Bay has already left his mark on the program. Through his efforts, SDSU secured a $3 million donation from San Diego Padres owner John Moores and his wife Becky to build a new baseball stadium for the Aztecs. It is one of the largest individual cash donations ever to the university. Bay has worked hard to bring the athletic department and the academic side of campus into closer harmony. He is the first athletic director to serve on the president's cabinet at San Diego State.

Shortly after his arrival, Bay restructured the Department of Athletics and that has resulted in bolstering the program's marketing efforts. Bay instituted the department's first formal, internal telemarketing efforts. Under his leadership, the Aztec Athletic Foundation enjoyed a record-breaking fund drive during the 1995-96 fiscal year.

He has maintained his visibility on the national scene as well, serving on the U.S. Olympic Committee/NCAA Task Force. "I am truly excited about this opportunity not just because it affords me the chance to return to intercollegiate athletics but because I have always felt that the San Diego State athletic program has wonderful potential," said Bay upon coming to San Diego State. "I am not blind to the challenges that are inherent in this job but, I have confidence that we can move ahead in the near future with the type of athletics program that this university and this city can take pride in."

Bay's first job as an athletic director was at the University of Oregon from 1981-84. At the time of his arrival, the athletic department there was in financial difficulty and in the midst of an NCAA investigation. When he left Eugene to accept the athletics director position at Ohio State University, Oregon had balanced its athletic budget and was in good standing with the NCAA.

Bay served at Ohio State from 1984-88. While there, he instituted several innovative marketing and promotional concepts that increased department revenues by 25% without raising event ticket prices. He also launched a $45 million sports facilities campaign which resulted in the construction of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center and restructured the school's broadcast rights policies to nearly double the Buckeyes' radio income. Bay resigned his post at OSU as a result of the firing of football coach Earle Bruce.

After a brief stint as executive vice president and chief operating officer for the New York Yankees, Bay assumed the athletic directorship at the University of Minnesota. From 1988-91, he successfully saw the school through an NCAA infractions case existing at the time he was hired and won approval for a $41 million sports facilities improvement program. As a result, a new hockey arena, women's sports complex and men's basketball arena renovation have been completed at Minnesota.

Bay left Minnesota when he was offered the position of president and chief operating officer of the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball in October of 1991. During his tenure, Cleveland was named the "Organization of the Year" by "Baseball America". It was the only time in the franchise's history to be honored thusly.

When the Indians' owner decided to name himself president and chief operating officer of the club in the fall of 1992, Bay resigned. He then formed Rick Bay, Inc., a sports consulting firm in Cleveland, Ohio, and also served as president of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission.

Richard Michael Bay was born November 11, 1942 and grew up in Waukegan, Illinois. He attended the University of Michigan on a wrestling scholarship and played varsity football as well. After capturing Big Ten "Wrestler of the Year" honors as a senior, he graduated with a liberal arts degree in 1965.

After a stint in the U.S. Marine Corps, Bay returned to Michigan as an assistant wrestling coach in 1966 and became that team's head coach in 1970. The Wolverines won the Big Ten championship in 1973 and Bay earned national "Coach of the Year" honors. Following the 1974 season, he left coaching to work for the University of Michigan Alumni Association, eventually becoming that group's associate executive director until returning to intercollegiate athletics as the director at the University of Oregon in 1981.

Bay's talents and interests have not been limited to the athletic arena. Rick and his wife, Denice, are avid patrons of the arts, having attended more than 800 professional theatrical, operatic and classical music performances. In fact, Bay's resume includes radio stints as a theater critic and as a disc jockey on a classical music station. He has served as a guest reader at a James Thurber Festival in Columbus , Ohio, and narrated Aaron Copeland's "A Lincoln Portrait" with the Ohio State University Band.

Rick Bay is a man who has worn many hats in his career; a successful athlete, coach, fundraiser, administrator and devotee of the arts. However, it is his administrative skills that have brought him to San Diego. His ability to gather community support to help the Aztec athletic program reach its tremendous potential in the near future may make him one of the most significant "Bays" on the San Diego scene.