User:Megmastenco

Craig Jonas, Ph.D.

Craig Jonas, Ph.D. is the COO/EVP and minority owner of BTI Events (http://www.btievents.net/) and TGVN (http://www.tgvn.tv/), elite sports event management and media companies. He has the same role in Basketball Travelers Inc. (http://www.basketballtravelers.com/), the leader in NCAA D1 basketball tournaments and foreign tours. He is also Principal of Zu Media Group and Jonas Group, LLC, a consulting company specializing in sports-related corporate relationships and sponsorships, integrating media.

BTI Events is the managing partner for the US-IUSF, the American arm of the International University Sports Federation (FISU). BTI Events facilitates and provides logistical support for all types of athletic teams traveling to domestic and international events, including U.S. athletes competing in the World University Games and World University Championships.

TGVN is a related company to BTIE that is responsible for developing, managing, and producing media rights associated with BTI- and BTIE-related properties. TGVN has proven relationships for the broadcasting of international media into the North American markets, and for streaming of content worldwide. Key programming partners include ESPN, CBS Sports Network, NBC, Fox College Sports, YouTube and Ustream. In July 2013, TGVN broadcast the Summer Universiade in the United States via ESPN, and worldwide via ESPN3 and YouTube.

Previously, he had served as Vice President for Business Development for the broadcast media technology firm, Sportvision, best known for inventing the virtual yellow line in NFL broadcasts and NASCAR enhancements. Prior to Sportvision, Dr. Jonas served as Executive Vice President of Coach's Edge and helped initiate the $100M+ merger with Sportvision. He established extensive new media relationships and sponsorship deals for both companies with industry leaders such as Yahoo!, AOL, EA Sports, Sega, Compaq, ESPN, USA Today, Sportsline, NBA, NFL, NASCAR, and many national sponsors.

Academically, he was the Academic Chair of the Bachelor of Business Administration Program at Jones International University. Dr. Jonas received a grant for his University of Kansas doctorate dissertation on Coaching and Conflict Management. He was the featured lecturer, instructor and affiliated faculty member at several colleges and universities (Colorado State University, Lakeland College, University of Denver, JIU, University of Cape Town). He has taught diverse courses on Conflict Management, Sports Media, Global/Interdependent Studies, Freshman Studies, and Technology and Coaching.

Dr. Jonas has authored articles on sports technology and coaching in the digital age. He has been the featured speaker at national and international sports media and technology forums.

He has coached sports (basketball, golf, and volleyball) at both the collegiate and high school levels. He was the “Coach of the Year” as the head men’s basketball coach at Lakeland College, winning the conference and district, then taking his team to the national tournament.

He has traveled extensively, and was chosen to represent the United States at the International Olympic Academy in Greece. He was the first American basketball coach to give clinics in South African townships post-Apartheid and has presented coaching clinics all over the world as a FIBA international basketball expert. He runs the sites for NCAA DI basketball tournaments in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, and Hawaii. He lived in India and the Midwestern United States as a child.

He received his undergraduate degree in at Carleton College (1987, Northfield, MN. BA in Religion); his masters from Colorado State University (1992, Fort Collins, CO. MS in Exercise Physiology and Sports Science); and his doctorate from the University of Kansas (2002, Lawrence, KS. Psychology of Sport Ph.D.). He is married with two sons and currently lives in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.