Mimi Griffin - President & CEO, Founder
Mimi Griffin has owned and operated MSG Promotions, Inc. since its inception in 1983. Mimi’s extensive experience in the sports and event management fields has facilitated MSG’s successful execution of many prestigious events. By placing an emphasis on service, clear and constant communication and attention to detail, Mimi has distinguished MSG Promotions as one of the most well-respected companies within the event marketing and management field. This outstanding reputation has been recognized specifically by the United States Golf Association, who has selected MSG to serve as the exclusive marketing and management company for corporate hospitality sales, operations and client services for the U.S. Opens every year.
The U.S. Open’s corporate hospitality program has flourished under Mimi’s leadership. MSG Promotions has produced hospitality revenues in excess of $200 million. This success is in large part due to the consistent standard of excellence established by MSG for the U.S. Open hospitality program and its clients.
Mimi’s valuable experience in sports and event marketing and management has come from many different sources. After graduating Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh and Masters in Business Administration from Lehigh University, Mimi worked in the Special Events Marketing department at Manufacturers Hanover Trust (1980-82) in New York City and later accepted the position of National Director of Promotions for Women’s Athletics for Converse (1983-85). She also worked as ESPN’s primary women’s basketball analyst from 1983 through 1999 and with CBS Sports from 1985 through 1991. In 1990, Mimi became the first woman to serve as a color analyst for a men’s NCAA tournament game on ESPN and in 1991, was the first woman to broadcast the first two rounds of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament on CBS Sports. Mimi served as the studio analyst along with Robin Roberts for ESPN’s coverage of the NCAA Women’s Basketball tournament during the 1996 through 1999 seasons.
In addition to her current work with the U.S. Open, Mimi has served as Executive Director for the 1992 and 2000 U.S. Senior Opens, and 2009 U.S. Women’s Open all held at Saucon Valley Country Club, in Bethlehem, PA, as well as for the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open at the Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs, CO.
Throughout Mimi’s impressive career she has been the recipient of a myriad of accolades, including being named in 2009 as one of Pennsylvania’s “Best 50 Women in Business” by then Governor Edward G. Rendell and the Department of Community & Economic Development. Mimi was also chosen as one of SportsBusiness Journal’s 2013 “Game Changers: Women in Sports Business,” a feature profiling select women in the sports industry who have made a major impact from a business standpoint not only within their own organizations, but who also have affected “change” on the industry as a whole.
Mimi’s accomplishments as one of the early women’s basketball broadcasters of the modern era were honored on June 14, 2014 in Knoxville, TN when she was one of six people inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Mimi is the third media member (including broadcaster Robin Roberts who was inducted in 2012) to be honored.
Mimi being escorted by her son Kyle, her husband Bill and her daughter Casey, at the 2014 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Class of 2014 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees. From the left: Charlotte West, Jasmina Perazic, Yolanda Griffith, Mimi Griffin, Michelle Edwards, and Lin Dunn.
