Bobbi Busboom is the Assistant Athletics Director for Development Operations at the University of Illinois. She grew up in a coaching family and has worked for the Illinois athletics department for over a decade in various roles. In her current role, she oversees premium seating operations for football and basketball games and works closely with donors. The University recently completed renovations to the State Farm Center that added new premium seating options like suites and clubs.

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INDUSTRY AND ASSOCIATION NEWS: ALSD MEMBER HIGHLIGHT
THE COACH’S DAUGHTER
She can tell you the names and signals for all the plays. She can tell you how to get to Sesame Street.
She’s a White Sox fan with a dog named Wrigley. She’s a University of Illinois alumnus.
She’s Bobbi Busboom, Assistant Athletics Director for Development Operations at the University of Illinois.
By Jared Frank, ALSD
B
obbi Busboom is home. The gradu-
ate of St. Joseph-Ogden High School
in central Illinois with bachelor’s and
master’s degrees from the University of
Illinois (the only college she was accepted into
because it was the only college to which she
applied) has worked in athletics full-time for
the University of Illinois since 2008, for the
family legacy since birth.
When one asks her what she does and has
done for University of Illinois Athletics, one
quickly realizes it would’ve been easier to ask
what she doesn’t do and hasn’t done. She’s
been a recruiting coordinator for the football
team and a coach’s assistant,as well as worked
for the Director of Football Operations.
In her current role, her primary responsi-
bility can be summed up as supporting the
athletic department’s development officers
with everything they need to fundraise,a per-
fect role for someone who has relationships
with all of the university’s most influential
donors. Her “other duties as assigned” cross-
over into human resources and a prominent
position in the office of the Athletic Director,
all the while overseeing all premium seating
for Memorial Stadium and State Farm Cen-
ter, a building that had none until its current
renovation.
…
Bobbi grew up 20 miles down the road from
the University of Illinois in Royal in a house
where coaching is the family tradition. Her
brother coaches basketball, her sister volley-
ball, following in the legendary footsteps of
their father, Dick Duval, who is a member of
the Illinois High School Football Coaches
Association Hall of Fame after 28 years and
251 wins as head football coach at St. Joseph-
Ogden High School, the place where every-
thing started for Bobbi.
“At heart, she will always be a high school
coach’s daughter,” says Dustin Boyer, Bobbi’s
ALSDVeteran: Bobbi (left) has been attending the ALSD Conference andTradeshow for several years now with her University of Illinois
colleagues. And the lessons learned have paid off, as Memorial Stadium and State Farm Center now boast a full menu of premium
options.
colleague and Director of Premium Seating
Operations for University of Illinois Athlet-
ics.
Do you have a favorite memory of your fa-
ther and being around his teams growing
up?
We started a tradition when I was in the
eighth grade. I was in an accelerated algebra
class, and he was my teacher. Yes, he was also
my math teacher. There was no getting away.
We started this tradition of going to breakfast
every Friday morning of football season.Even
through college, we continued that tradition
every Friday morning of football season until
they lost the last game in the playoffs.
We even had one year where we made it to
the state championship, and our state cham-
pionships are on the Friday and Saturday fol-
lowing Thanksgiving, so the restaurant that
we went to opened up on Thanksgiving Day
for us to have breakfast.
Was there a good luck menu item that you
had to order?
So a little fact about my dad is he is the most
superstitious guy you’ll ever meet. So what-
ever we ordered the first week, we had to or-
der the rest of the season.So you better pick a
good menu item that first week.
In fact, he expected you to order what you
did the year before. I did the one egg scram-
bled and toast. As an eighth grader, that was
plenty, but that wasn’t a lot to eat as I got
older. But I continued my one egg scrambled
and toast until the last year.

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there were in the football department. Not a
lot of females do that.
I ended up working with the running
backs and had the opportunity when Ron
Turner was here to chart the offense. I stood
behind Ron Turner and listened to his play
calls and charted the results of each of the
plays. I learned all the signals that the quar-
terbacks gave from the sideline. That was an
awesome experience for me.
It doesn’t sound like the apple fell too far
from the tree. With that experience and
with your pedigree, did you ever think
about getting into coaching?
Not really. I like the behind-the-scenes part
of it, which is what led me in the direction
of football operations.I interned with the Di-
rector of Football Operations as part of my
undergrad program. That kind of became my
dream job to be the Director of Football Op-
erations.
…
After Ron Zook replaced Ron Turner as head
coach in 2005, Zook hired Bobbi to a full-
time position in recruiting,a job that took her
all the way to the Rose Bowl in 2008.
Now on the development side of the ath-
letic department,Bobbi has witnessed a simi-
lar energy in 2016 with the recent hiring of
new Athletic Director Josh Whitman, a for-
mer Illinois football player and trusted mem-
ber of the Illinois family. Just days after as-
suming the position, Whitman hired former
Chicago Bears Head Coach Lovie Smith.
Dubbed internally as the “Lovie Effect”, the
athletic department has experienced an im-
mediate impact on donations, ticket sales,
and premium sales.
How has the transition to a new, well-
known coach gone?
It’s been great to see people’s excitement
again. We went through a period where it
was tough to sell tickets, to get people excited
about Illinois football. This brought everyone
together again.
How much luck did that one egg scrambled
and toast bring to the team over the years?
He went to five state championships.He nev-
er got the title,but he had a lot of success,and
we are certainly proud of him.
He hung up his whistle last season. It was
a fun season because I had my first daughter
last August. So without her knowing, she got
to experience it,and we got plenty of Spartan
pictures on the football field with grandpa.
So why the University of Illinois? Was it a
birthright to go to school there?
In high school,I always knew that I wanted to
come to the University of Illinois and would
do whatever it took to get there.In fact,I fool-
ishly only applied to one school, and thank-
fully I got in. I knew right away that I had to
get involved with athletics. I didn’t want that
part of my life to go away.
When I was a freshman, I volunteered as
a recruiter, which meant I did facility tours
and hosted future football student-athletes
on gameday. I did that for a year and then
asked around about what other opportunities
INDUSTRY AND ASSOCIATION NEWS: ALSD MEMBER HIGHLIGHT
Daddy’s Little Girl’s Little Girl: Bobbi’s firstborn daughter,
Cameron, was born in time to take part in Bobbi’s father’s
last season as a high school head football coach.“Without
her knowing, she got to experience it, and we got plenty of
Spartan pictures on the football field with grandpa.”

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INDUSTRY AND ASSOCIATION NEWS: ALSD MEMBER HIGHLIGHT
for is our daughter, who is one-year-old. She
is obviously going to be a White Sox fan. He
hasn’t quite agreed to that yet. But let’s just
say she’s been to one baseball game, and let’s
just say it wasn’t on the north side.
So are you or Cameron the bigger fan of
Sesame Street?
Oh you did dig deep for this! I pretend that
she’s a big fan. She does like it, but I don’t
know if that’s from persuasion on my behalf.
Do you think she has a favorite character
yet or a favorite character you want her to
have?
Cookie Monster. I’m just glad it’s not Elmo.
Elmo wasn’t a thing when I was little. I al-
ways liked Big Bird. Snuffleupagus is a good
one too. How many times do you get to write
about Sesame Street in one of these articles?
Well, I have to tell you, it has never come up
before, but I’m very excited about it.
…
This fall, the State Farm Center on the
campus of the University of Illinois unveiled
the final phase of a massive, multi-year reno-
vation. A building that had not a single pre-
mium seat now has a comprehensive mix of
hospitality offerings.
Twelve 15- to 20-seat suites have been in-
troduced to the arena’s east side. These suites
spill into the new Traditions Club, which is
also accessible to 1,188 new club seat patrons.
An additional club seat product – the Legacy
Club – serves 524 seat holders and expands
the arena’s premium base with its lower price
points and lease terms.Two rows of 60 court-
side seats have also been carved out, as has
Club 53 that provides these 120 seat holders
with the most exclusive access in the building.
And last but certainly not least are the 144
loge seats, a brand new premium product for
the central Illinois marketplace.
What are your specific responsibilities in
your current role in the athletic depart-
ment?
I’ve changed roles in the last year. But premi-
um seating is still what I hold dearest. When
we renovated Memorial Stadium nine years
ago, we built that premium seating from the
ground up in terms of its operations – where
were we going to put staff,what food were we
going to serve,what does gameday feel like.It
was one of those experiences where you pour
your blood, sweat, and tears into it. It’s some-
thing that we’re very proud of.
At the State Farm Center, we started to
come online with premium seating last year.
We had things on our mind that we wanted
to be different from Memorial Stadium, but
for the most part,we were right on with what
our donors wanted and expected.
My role now is development operations.
I still oversee premium seating at both the
State Farm Center and Memorial Stadium.
But I now have this hybrid role where I over-
see our special events and work with the Ath-
letic Director in his office, coming up with
itineraries for big donor asks and donor visits.
…
The chateau de Busboom is a house divided.
It says so right in the garage, where the house
banner hangs and reads “A House Divided”.
Bobbi a diehard White Sox fan, her husband
a Cubs fanatic, the stakes for the nuptial ri-
valry have only heightened since the birth of
their daughter Cameron.
Have there been any friendly wagers or
compromises over the years?
I wanted a dog nine or ten years ago, and my
husband wasn’t too keen on getting a dog.The
agreement was if we named her Wrigley,then
we could get a dog. So I have a dog named
Wrigley that I pretend is named after the
gum. So I can compromise.
The other compromise that I keep trying
“I ended up working with the running backs
and had the opportunity when Ron Turner was
here to chart the offense.”
Chart Master: When RonTurner was the head coach, Bobbi stood behind him on the sidelines and charted the results of each play.“I
learned all the signals that the quarterbacks gave from the sideline.That was an awesome experience for me.”

4. 59 | S E A T | www.alsd.com | #SEATFall2016
INDUSTRY AND ASSOCIATION NEWS: ALSD MEMBER HIGHLIGHT
Let’s finish up with a few questions about
the renovation. As of the completion of this
final phase of construction, what is the pre-
mium presence in the building now?
We’ve gone from nothing to everything. We
didn’t have suites or even a club space prior to
the renovation. So we added 12 suites on our
east side. And what’s unique about them and
something I haven’t seen in other places is the
back area of the suite has a ceiling, but when
you walk into the seating area, it’s open. For
college athletics, how awesome is that to not
be enclosed?
It’s hard to explain to people before they
are in there. Now the more people we bring
in there, the more people are having a wow
moment.You really are in the game.
We try to make our customers realize that
it’s more than just a ticket to the game. We
really focus on customer service to make peo-
ple feel like this is home. We want to know
their names and their grandkid’s names to
make this experience at Illinois one of a kind.
WanttonetworkwithBobbi?
HereIsHerBusinessCard:
BobbiBusboom
AssistantAthleticsDirectorfor
DevelopmentOperations
P:217-265-0347
busboom7@illinois.edu
UniversityofIllinoisAthletics
1700SouthFourthStreet
Champaign,IL61820
COMING UP NEXT:
THE STATE
FARM CENTER
RENOVATION
Center of Attention: Bobbi’s one-
year-old little girl, Cameron, is the
center of her family’s world now.
We know she likes Sesame Street.
But to be determined whether she
will be aWhite Sox fan or a Cubs
fan?“Let’s just say she’s been to one
baseball game, and let’s just say it
wasn’t on the north side.”
“I have a dog named Wrigley that I pretend is
named after the gum. So I can compromise.”