Since its inception in 1966, the Super Bowl has served as the featured event on the National Football League (NFL) calendar. It has also become a national holiday of sorts, annually attracting a mammoth television audience that makes it the biggest event on the sports marketing calendar as well.

At Nationwide, one of the world’s largest insurance and financial services companies, many of those sports marketing responsibilities fall to Jim McCoy, Wittenberg class of 1998. The Columbus, Ohio-based company’s associate vice president for sports marketing, McCoy has more than 20 years of experience in the industry, including the last 17 years helping to build Nationwide’s brand through sports partnerships.

McCoy has negotiated and managed sponsorships for Nationwide in golf, baseball, NASCAR, soccer, the NFL, and numerous talent partnerships, including Peyton Manning, Danica Patrick, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. The NFL partnership includes Nationwide’s involvement as the presenting sponsor of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year (WPMOY) Award, which honors NFL players for their efforts on and off the field.

“I have represented Nationwide at the Super Bowl each of the last eight seasons to execute our WPMOY activation program and Super Bowl guest experiences for our top insurance producers,” McCoy said. “My duties during the week include working with our WPMOY nominees for in-person appearances, Media Row interviews, and the overall accountability for Nationwide’s brand integration into NFL Honors Awards program, and our pregame moment for the WPMOY winner on Super Bowl Sunday.”

This year, McCoy’s Super Bowl week in Los Angeles includes a speaking appearance for Brand Innovators Sports Marketing Upfronts, which offers content daily February 8-10. McCoy is a featured panelist in a session scheduled for 1:20 p.m. EST Wednesday, February 9.

Prior to joining Nationwide, McCoy managed corporate sponsorships at Newell Rubbermaid, including relationships with Roush Fenway Racing and driver Kurt Busch, and he was an event manager at Nationwide Arena during the launch of the Columbus Blue Jackets franchise. In addition to managing official relationships with prominent national leagues and organizations, McCoy has led Nationwide’s marketing efforts locally, cultivating sponsorships with the PGA TOUR’s Memorial Tournament, the Blue Jackets, the Columbus Crew, the Columbus Clippers, the Columbus Zoo, the Columbus Marathon, and The Ohio State University’s tremendously popular NCAA Division I intercollegiate teams.

McCoy volunteers time to his alma mater as a member of Wittenberg’s Alumni Board, and he also serves on the Greater Columbus Sports Commission Board. He said that his Wittenberg experience prepared him well for his chosen career path.

“I had a great four years at Wittenberg. It was the perfect fit for me to thrive as a student-athlete and develop into a professional,” McCoy said. “My management major and economics minor set me up for success as I moved into graduate school at Ohio State. Football taught me to be a leader, how to manage my time, and the value of hard work and perseverance. Wittenberg is a place that I was able to make lifelong friends, and it is where I met my wife Melinda.”