Rhett Hobart serves as Deputy Athletic Director and Chief Operating Officer for Auburn Athletics, having assumed the role in November 2026. In his expanded role, Hobart serves as a member of the department's executive leadership team, providing strategic leadership and oversight of the department's day-to-day operations. He also serves as the sport administrator for Auburn Football, having previously served in the same capacity for Auburn Baseball from 2023 to 2026.
Hobart joined the Auburn Athletics family on Jan. 19, 2023, as Deputy Athletic Director for External Affairs, before being named Deputy Athletic Director and Chief Revenue Officer in January 2026. He continues to oversee more than 200 staff members and all external aspects of Auburn Athletics. Areas of responsibility include revenue generation, facilities and special events, ticketing, marketing, fan engagement, game operations, communications, War Eagle Creative, War Eagle Productions and Auburn Sports Properties.
During his leadership of the Tigers’ external unit and oversight of the department’s revenue strategy, Auburn Athletics has achieved record growth, including more than $40 million in total revenue gains and three consecutive years of all-time high departmental revenue.
Under Hobart's leadership, Auburn Athletics has significantly expanded its special events and entertainment portfolio, transforming its athletic venues into year-round destinations for major events. These efforts have included hosting the Argentina National Football Team in an international soccer match at Jordan-Hare Stadium, a major stadium concert featuring Zach Bryan, appearances by the nationally acclaimed Savannah Bananas, back-to-back sold-out Ella Langley concerts at Neville Arena, and a performance by nationally acclaimed comedian Nate Bargatze, among other events. The expansion of Auburn's special events portfolio has created new revenue opportunities for the department while generating significant economic impact for the Auburn-Opelika community, highlighted by the Argentina match, which attracted more than 88,000 fans and generated an estimated $32.8 million in regional economic impact.
Auburn Football has completed full season ticket sellouts in each of the last four seasons, including the 2026 campaign, with all season tickets, student tickets and individual game tickets sold out. The program has established new season ticket sales records in three consecutive seasons, while Jordan-Hare Stadium has continued to welcome record crowds, including a school-record streak of consecutive sellouts.
Neville Arena welcomed its two-millionth fan for Auburn men's basketball in November 2026, marking a significant milestone in the program's sustained attendance growth. The Tigers have sold out their entire home men's basketball schedule for four consecutive seasons, including the 2026-27 campaign. The arena also celebrated its 50th consecutive men's basketball sellout during the 2023-24 season.
Auburn Baseball set four consecutive ticket sales records through complete season ticket sellouts in each of the 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 campaigns, while also establishing single-game and season attendance records each year.
During his tenure, the external team earned national recognition across multiple units, including multiple Emmy nominations and wins, two IDEA Golden Matrix awards for best in-venue production, two finalist selections for NACMA Marketing Team of the Year, and Paciolan’s 2026 Star of the Year award—its highest honor for innovation in ticketing and revenue generation.
Premium seating, gameday amenities and experience have been key focuses of his tenure at Auburn. In spring of 2025, these efforts led to the completion of a $30M renovation and expansion of Plainsman Park – home to Auburn Baseball. This project modernized the facility, while introducing three new premium club spaces and significantly expanding general admission capacity. In 2024, a new immersive field-level club experience at Plainsman Park was introduced, known as the Hall of Fame Club, which brings fans onto the playing surface and honors the legendary career of Auburn graduate and MLB Hall of Fame member Frank Thomas. At Neville Arena, a new club and loge seating experience was introduced to expand the venue’s premium seating capacity.
At Jordan-Hare Stadium, a number of new premium experiences have been introduced, including five permanent field suites and the introduction of The Locker Room Club. This ticket-add-on club experience transports fans back to 1949 at Jordan-Hare Stadium through the restoration of an abandoned locker room space which now features interior seating, TVs, and expansive food and beverage offerings. Members of the club enjoy the opportunity to take in the game from field level – by standing at an exclusive drink rail along the full east sideline.
Additional efforts have focused on enhancing concessions experiences for non-premium concourse spaces. These efforts have included the introduction of alcohol sales at all venues, as well as a transition to Grab-N-Go concessions experiences at all on-campus venues through the introduction of the branded "Fast Flight Express Grab-N-Go" concept. The multi-million dollar concessions overhaul at Jordan-Hare Stadium prior to the 2024 season increased operational efficiencies and led to a lift in average transactions of more than 22% per game year-over-year – all while getting fans through the lines and back to their seats more quickly.
Hobart previously served as Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Affairs at Mississippi State where he was responsible for the Bulldogs External Affairs team, comprised of Broadcast & Live Events, Communications & Creative, and Fan Experience & Sales. The Greenville, Mississippi native and Mississippi State graduate returned to Starkville in May 2022 after spending time at Wake Forest where he served as Associate Athletic Director of Fan Experience & Brand Development.
During his time with the Demon Deacons, he led a team which implemented new and engaging marketing and creative strategies which led to record crowds and engagement in Winston-Salem. Those efforts included the launch of a new brand campaign and a re-imagining of the football gameday experience which led to the highest net promoter score in the ACC, a 24-point increase on the prior season.
Additionally, the implementation of a new football student tailgate experience drove the largest-ever student attendance, including the first, second, fourth, and fifth largest student crowds of all time. The new student experience was recognized by Inside Higher Ed as a "Model of Inclusivity" and received national acclaim by the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators.
Prior to his time with the Demon Deacons, Hobart spent eight years at Mississippi State in a variety of roles within the marketing department. Hobart served as the Bulldogs Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing & Branding for the last three years of that stint where he managed all aspects of their marketing and fan experience, game production, branding, athletic licensing, and spirit groups.
Hobart and the Mississippi State marketing staff received national recognition for the redevelopment of their gameday experience at multiple venues, where they worked to invest in the idea of maximizing the car-to-car experience for fans. Twice during his tenure, MSU Marketing took home the nation's top prize in collegiate athletics marketing, being named the NACMA Marketing Team of the Year in both 2016 and 2017 – becoming the first school to ever win the title in back-to-back years. The team received honorable mention recognition in 2014, 2018 and 2019, and was a finalist for the award in 2015.
Hobart earned his Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Mississippi State in 2012, and his Master of Business Administration in 2014.