LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Ray Carolin has been named General Manager of the Lafayette Aviators, the team announced today.

Carolin has an extensive history in sports marketing and management. Highlights of his 30+ years in the sports industry include –

Co-creator of MLB’s “Dugout Derby” interactive Fantasy Baseball game promoted by 18 major league city newspapers and presented by multiple individual market sponsors.

• Developed Coca-Cola USA’s national high school, college and professional sports scoreboard program.

• Created & managed Coca-Cola USA’s MLB national sports clinics for kids.

•  Negotiated sponsorship & licensee contracts with MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA, Minor League Baseball and 100+ colleges and universities naming MacGregor Sporting Goods / Sports Specialties Corp. as the “official” team cap and corporate sponsor.

• Served on the MLB, NFL and NBA’s “official” licensee sponsor committees.

• Served as strategic marketing consultant to MLB’s “Cactus League”

“We are very pleased to have Ray join the Aviators organization,” said Aviators Chairman Bill Davidson.

“His experience with the major sports leagues, Coca-Cola and with successfully executing fully integrated partnerships will serve the Lafayette community well as we continue to grow our promotional schedule and outreach efforts. We felt it was important to bring in an individual with a phenomenal sales and marketing background as we look to our future in the Lafayette region.”

Carolin replaces Zach Chartrand who decided in early November to return to his home state of Wisconsin after leading the Aviators to their most successful season in team history.

From 1990 to 2001, Carolin was the National Sales Manager for the Coca-Cola Company. He was responsible for developing, implementing and managing a national strategy for Coca-Cola and national retail partners with team sport sales and promotions.

From 2001 to 2010, Carolin was a Senior Partner with Marketing Corp of America. He was responsible for the B2B business development and sales process for securing the acquisition of new contracts for the nation’s premiere sales and marketing consultancy to Fortune 500 and Inc. 1000 corporations.

Most recently Carolin assisted Arizona State University with their $5M Hall of Fame fundraising campaign.

Carolin received his bachelor’s degree from Northern Michigan University following his service in the United States Air Force where he earned the rank of Sergeant.