LaRhonda Burley’s career path has had plenty of twists and turns. She started with marketing pro teams and athletes in the Washington, D.C. area, then moving into a leadership role with the Detroit Pistons, leading to a chance opportunity taking her to Michigan State Athletics.
Burley, now the senior vice president of marketing and brand for Spartan Ventures, was named one of Sports Business Journal’s 2026 Game Changers - a group of 60 women recognized by the national publication for their sports business leadership.
Burley is the only member of this year’s Game Changers class who works in college athletics leadership. Her team at Spartan Ventures has facilitated sponsorship deals such as the MSUFCU patch adorning the jerseys of MSU’s 23 varsity teams, and helping double the Izzone Campout into a 5,000 student operation since her arrival.
The recognition is not only a reflection of the results that Burley has seen in her time with MSU, but a testament to all the hard work in her career journey.
“I think it shows where our industry is going,” Burley said. “There’s been honorees in the past from the college space, so I was surprised that I was the only person [from college athletics.] I’m proud to represent the college space and represent Michigan State.”
Burley’s professional life began in the same place where she grew up. She grew up in Maryland and is an alumna of the University of Maryland (B.A. in international business) and Georgetown (master’s in sports industry management). The natural course of action was to stay in the area, something she did by taking a job with the Washington Mystics.
“I had two job offers [in 2008],” Burley said. “One was from the Washington Redskins and one was from the Mystics, and at that time, it was not yet a part of the Wizards organization, before the WNBA was cool. I took that job because of what the actual job responsibilities were. I believed in the ownership group, I believed in the league, and I believed it was the right path.”
The NFL wouldn’t have to wait long, though, as she joined the Washington Redskins, now the Commanders, in 2013. Burley served as the senior director of partnerships marketing before taking the same role for the NFL Players Association in 2017. While working for Washington, she forged a connection with a Spartan that would pay dividends in former MSU quarterback Kirk Cousins. Burley’s own marketing firm, Blue + Gray Sports Marketing, ended up serving as Cousins’ personal marketing agency, and she gained some valuable experience with the state she’d soon call home.
“Kirk was looking for a new marketing agent in 2018, and I got the call to see if I’d be interested in that role,” Burley said. “I took that role for a year, and with that, I ended up traveling to Holland, [Michigan] quite a bit. I never thought my familiarity with Michigan would end up being relevant. I had this interesting tie to the state of Michigan without realizing that would come full circle later.”
That familiarity would be useful come 2021, when Burley was hired by the Detroit Pistons as vice president of business operations for the Motor City Cruise, its NBA G League affiliate. The Pistons sold the Grand Rapids Drive, its affiliate from 2014-21, to the Denver Nuggets. The Pistons’ ownership purchased the Northern Arizona Suns and moved the franchise to Detroit, where Burley oversaw the launch of the new brand and the team’s business operations for its inaugural year in Michigan.
There, she formed a relationship with former MSU football player Ashton Henderson, who was then the Pistons’ director of DEI. Henderson returned to MSU Athletics in early 2022. It was the same time Burley said her time with the organization, and in the Midwest, was coming to a close. Until a call from Henderson came that summer with an opportunity at MSU.
“When I moved out here, I never saw Michigan as my forever home,” Burley said. “I was about to move back to D.C., and I had some job opportunities there, then [Henderson called], he was like, ‘We’re hiring for a new position, you should interview for that,’ and I told him I’d give it a shot.”
Burley joined MSU Athletics as senior associate athletic director, managing strategy and branding before transitioning to be executive senior associate athletic director of marketing in January 2023. When MSU Athletics’ nonprofit, Spartan Ventures, launched in July 2026, Burley was named senior vice president of marketing and brand.
Seth Kesler, MSU’s associate athletic director of facilities and event management, said the decision to bring in Burley was right for MSU Athletics, given the rapid evolution of college sports.
“I think she was a really good hire,” Kesler said. “There are a lot of things that have become more similar [between college and professional sports], like pyrotechnics and light shows, more entertainment for our fans, so there’s going to be some crossover. Like I said, she was a really timely and good hire for us. Ashton was wise to bring her in. [It was] a good move for her and a great move for us.”
A background in professional sports has imparted skills and qualities on Burley that make her a valuable part of the team at MSU, according to Meagan Hogan, vice president of marketing and fan engagement at Spartan Ventures.
“Sometimes, having somebody that has a completely different perspective, completely different operations background, is really beneficial,” Hogan said. “There’s a learning curve, I’m learning after [10 years] in college athletics. It’s about being able to take your experiences and mold them to where you are. I think LaRhonda has done that extremely well.”
Burley’s dream job, running a WNBA team, is a callback to her career roots. In the 20 years since her beginning with the Mystics, the WNBA, and women’s sports worldwide, have undergone a renaissance. There have never been more eyes, nor has there been a brighter future.
For Burley, though, the focus remains here and now.
“Would I love to be a part of that one day? Of course,” Burley said. “But I know my feet are here, and [MSU] is something I’m very proud to be a part of.”
Those who know Burley have no doubt that success will follow her wherever she goes.
“LaRhonda would be good at whatever she does,” Kesler said. “If she decided to become a florist, she’d be the best florist in town. She leads from the ground, leads from in and amongst her team. Wherever she goes, she’s going to build a team, and it’s gonna be the best. That’s who she is.”