Jason Bermant - Executive Director of Student-Athlete Marketing, Recruitment and Retention - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Jason Bermant

Title:
Executive Director of Student-Athlete Marketing, Recruitment and Retention
Email:

Jason Bermant, a former UMass football student-athlete, joined the Massachusetts athletics department in December of 2024 as the Executive Director of Student-Athlete Marketing, Recruitment and Retention.

In the newly created cabinet-level role, Bermant is tasked with supporting student-athlete recruitment, retention and marketing, including Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) initiatives within the athletic department.

Bermant will also be charged with leading revenue-producing activities, organizing events, managing investor and constituent relations, supporting coach-led recruiting efforts and developing marketing plans that support UMass' athletic programs and student-athletes. He will also oversee department resources generated to support talent acquisition and retention for select teams as well.

Bermant joins the Massachusetts Athletics department after serving as the Product Marketing Senior Manager at the Overseas Military Sales Group (OMSG) for the past five years. He spent 15 total years at OMSG and prior to starting at OMSG in 2009, Bermant was a Senior Director at Van Wagner Sports & Entertainment. He also worked for the National Basketball Association for three years.

In his most recent role at OMSG, Bermant managed a $400 million inventory line across 90+ global locations, overseeing both sales and remote support teams, as well as e-commerce operations. He was responsible for setting annual sales and profit goals, providing production and brand forecasts to senior leadership, and implementing retail and employee incentive programs. Additionally, Bermant played a key role in negotiating multimillion-dollar partner incentives, while also creating marketing, sales, and training materials designed to enhance retail performance and customer engagement. He developed both short- and long-term strategic plans for the brand, managed marketing budgets, and contributed to cross-departmental initiatives.

During his four-year tenure at Van Wagner, Bermant led the development and execution of client activation plans, driving key marketing and promotional initiatives to strengthen brand identity and foster consumer loyalty. He managed high-profile events like the Nautica AVP Beach Volleyball Tour, where he designed a 16-city marketing activation plan, and the Nautica Head of the Charles event, which featured an interactive marketing display. Bermant also spearheaded grassroots marketing efforts for Foot Locker's 3-on-3 Basketball Tour, overseeing logistics, budgeting, and team recruitment across multiple cities. On top of these efforts, he handled day-to-day client relationships with major sports teams, including the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees.

Earlier in his career, Bermant was an Account Supervisor at DaimlerChrysler's Northeast Regional Business Center from 2003 to 2005. Before that, he served as an Account Executive at the NBA, where he developed marketing strategies and activation plans aimed at positioning consumer packaged goods in the marketplace. He leveraged the NBA's sponsorships to drive brand visibility, including managing the WNBA All-Star Balloting Program and creating sponsorship opportunities for the WNBA's five-city postseason tour.

A 1998 University of Massachusetts graduate, Bermant earned a bachelor's degree in hospitality, administration/management from the Isenberg School of Management while playing for the Minutemen from 1993-96. Jason currently serves on the executive board of the Massachusetts Football Gridiron Club, a volunteer organization that coordinates alumni/ae and fan engagement to drive support for Minutemen football. Bermant and his wife, Lyssa '98, have two sons, Brady and Cody.