Full Sail Stories

Full Sail University Course Director and attorney Greg Downey has worked for notable companies such as NASCAR, The Coca-Cola Company, NBC Universal, and more. Those professional experiences come in handy when Greg’s connecting with students in the classroom. Currently, Greg teaches Digital Marketing and the Law in the Digital Marketing master’s program and courses in the Entertainment Business master’s Sports Management Elective Track, covering topics like legal issues in sports, risk management, endorsements, sponsorships, and contract negotiation.

Greg wasn’t always an educator. Early on in his career, he was a sports agent representing professional athletes such as Hall of Fame Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly. He negotiated his clients’ contracts with the NFL and helped build their brands. Then Greg pivoted to amateur sports and became the Director of Business Development and Entertainment Properties for the US Olympic Committee. While there, he helped create the Entertainment Division of the committee and negotiated broadcast deals with NBC Universal.

Soon, Greg moved to Burbank, California, to work for NBC Universal’s Business Affairs Division, where he negotiated contracts with writers, producers, and actors on projects like The Tonight Show, The West Wing, The Office, The Dennis Miller Show, and Days of our Lives.

As the entertainment industry evolved, branded entertainment began emerging and Greg took on the challenge of navigating it. He negotiated a deal with Chili’s and the producers of The Office for an episode of the show to take place at a Chili’s restaurant.

"That episode is branded entertainment,” says Greg. “It wasn't just a Chili’s sign in the background – the whole episode was a 30-minute commercial for Chili’s.”

After several years at NBC Universal, Greg moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to become the Director of Entertainment Marketing for the Coca-Cola Company. His role involved negotiating brand deals with American Idol, the Oscars, and the Grammys and overseeing the concert series “My Coke Fest” at the NCAA Final Four Basketball Tournament securing acts such as Maroon 5, Fergie, Sugarland, and Taylor Swift. During that time, Greg also worked as an adjunct professor at local universities teaching in their sports degree programs. He then moved to New Smyrna Beach, Florida, to work for NASCAR as the Director of Brand and Consumer Marketing, and then for LPGA as the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships.

Seeking a change of pace, Greg decided to pursue teaching again, and in 2015 became a Course Director at Full Sail in the Digital Marketing master’s program and the Sports Management Elective Track in the Entertainment Business master’s programs. Greg is also the faculty advisor for Full Sail’s Pre-Law Society, and outside of his work at the university, he is also a law consultant and member of the Florida Bar’s Ethics Committee.

“My favorite part about teaching at Full Sail is my fellow professors, the students, and the flexibility and camaraderie,” Greg shares. “In [my degree programs], we're all a team and we all try to figure out how to make the programs better and how to do the best we possibly can for the students.”

As an educator, Greg hopes for the best for his students and shares some advice: “Treat people professionally. Don't always try to think of yourself first. Try to think of other people first and how you as a person can help other people. I honestly believe that you feel better about yourself when you're helping.”