Dan Butterly is a proven leader in college athletics with a track record of delivering bold, forward-thinking results during the most disruptive era in NCAA history. Since taking the reins as Commissioner of The Big West in July 2020, Butterly has transformed the conference into a more visible, competitive, student-centered, and nationally respected conference.
Appointed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Butterly immediately went to work—navigating public health challenges, building trust with campus leaders, and laying the foundation for The Big West’s modern identity. From that moment forward, he’s led a relentless charge to enhance student-athlete experience, broaden institutional visibility, and bring greater equity to NCAA governance.
A New Era of Growth and Visibility
Butterly negotiated a landmark media rights agreement with ESPN, catapulting The Big West from roughly 60 games per year to over 1,200 live broadcasts annually. In parallel, The Big West expanded the league’s reach with a new broadcast partnership with Spectrum SportsNet and launched The Big West Radio Network, delivering basketball championship coverage via SiriusXM and Westwood One.
That visibility came with elevated competition. Under Butterly’s leadership, The Big West has returned to a neutral-site basketball championship—now hosted at the state-of-the-art Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada—and added championships in women’s volleyball, baseball, and softball for the first time in league history. The league now sponsors a record 21 sports, including the additions of swimming & diving and men’s water polo.
Strategic Expansion and Membership Momentum
Recognizing the importance of strategic geography, institutional mission, and competitive growth, Butterly led The Big West through a thoughtful and forward-facing expansion process. The league welcomed UC San Diego and Cal State Bakersfield in 2020 and has since added California Baptist University, Utah Valley University, and Sacramento State University—three institutions that will elevate the conference footprint and profile beginning in 2026–27.
Governance Leadership and NCAA Reform
As the NCAA underwent constitutional overhaul and systemic change, Butterly stepped forward. Not content to wait for others to shape the future of Division I, he joined key national committees to ensure that The Big West—and conferences like it—had a seat at the table. His service includes:
- NCAA Council (2021–2025) and its executive arm, the Council Coordination Committee
- Chair, NCAA Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee (2024)
- Vice Chair, NCAA Men’s Basketball Oversight and Admin Committee (2022–2024)
- NCAA Men’s Basketball Competition Committee, MBOC Administrative Committee and NIL Working Group
- Vice President, Division I, Collegiate Commissioners Association (2022–2025)
- Also Chair of the CCA’s non-FBS (CCA22) and non-football (BC10) working groups
Butterly led a coalition of underrepresented conferences in advocating for voting equity and inclusive governance—pushing back against structural imbalances that could sideline the voices of entire leagues and student-athletes.
DEI, NIL, and Student-Athlete Focus
A champion of inclusion and modern leadership, Butterly launched Big West Undivided, the conference’s first standing committee on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion—featuring equal representation of student-athletes and administrators.
Working with his outstanding staff, he also spearheaded The Big West’s NIL education, disclosure, and compliance efforts, ensuring campuses had the tools to meet evolving California law. They also led sweeping updates to The Big West’s bylaws, budget systems, HR policies, and operating procedures. He built a staff culture focused on collaboration, transparency, and communication—including his signature weekly digest, This Week in The Big West, to keep the Board, Council, and campus leaders fully informed on NCAA and conference priorities.
Basketball Innovation and Officiating Reform
Butterly has long been a national leader in men’s and women’s basketball, from developing analytics-based scheduling subcommittees to chairing NCAA oversight groups. At The Big West, he helped design competitive models and performance strategies that positioned the league for greater national success.
Seeing a systemic need, he also led officiating reform—launching the W5 Western Women’s Volleyball Consortium and working with conference officiating coordinators across multiple sports to improve recruitment, accountability, and training standards. As a result, The Big West now fields one of the most diverse and respected officiating pools in the West. He also served as the Division I representative on the Collegiate Commissioners Officiating Working Group that greatly improved national officiating registration, representation and NCAA initiatives.
A Career of Vision and Results
Before joining The Big West, Butterly served two decades at the Mountain West Conference, where he helped build one of the nation’s premier basketball brands. He managed broadcast strategy, tournament operations, sponsorships, and officiating, and was widely credited for driving the league’s basketball resurgence in the 2010s.
His career began at the Missouri Valley Conference, where he climbed from intern to assistant commissioner—leading marketing, branding, sponsorships, and the men’s basketball championship.
Throughout his career, he also managed multiple NCAA basketball championships, including the 2012 NCAA Women’s Final Four and numerous men’s regionals.
Personal Background
A native of Washington, Illinois, Butterly earned his bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University (where he was head basketball manager) and a master’s in sports administration from Ohio University, where he was named the Outstanding Graduate Student by his peers. He received the 2005 Outstanding Young Alumni Award from ISU, was inducted into the Washington Community High School Hall of Fame in 2023, and was inducted into the Illinois State University College of Applied Science and Technology Hall of Fame in 2024.
He is married to Alaine, also an Illinois State graduate. Their daughter Jessica, a graduate of Ohio University’s sports administration program, currently works in professional hockey as the social media manager for the AHL’s Colorado Eagles.