Senior Staff

Matt Yonan

After more than ten years as an executive in the industry, Matt envisioned starting his own company built on a very simple premise: fewer clients, more in-depth attention. In May of 2004, Tigris Sponsorship & Marketing was born.

One client at a time, Matt and his staff lived and breathed Matt’s vision for the company: differentiate Tigris through exceptional client service for a select group of clients. There were late nights and all-nighters, trips to the coffee shop, dashes to Kinko’s, and marathon strategy sessions; but through it all, everyone at Tigris could sense there was something unique about this agency. Gradually, the client list grew, but the commitment to a relationship-focused philosophy remained the same.

Matt has more than 25 years of experience on the front lines, providing strategic counsel to top tier corporate and property clients on all areas of sponsorship marketing. He has been able to put his sponsorship expertise to work for a host of prestigious clients in the municipal, cultural, sports and entertainment industries. These include CenturyLink, The Rose Bowl, Phillips 66, Xcel Energy, Vail Resorts, KeyBank, Chick-fil-A, the LPGA, JPMorgan Chase, Red Robin, FedEx, and the NHL, among others. While representing these clients, he has also sat across the table from a number of premier brands and organizations while negotiating, managing and evaluating sponsorships. These brands include PepsiCo, Audi, Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Diageo, Moet-Hennessy, the Olympics, World Cup Soccer, Wimbledon, major college bowl games, NASCAR, and teams from all of the U.S. major professional leagues.

As Tigris looks toward future growth, its guiding principle remains the same: in life, and in business, how we treat each other matters. Whether working for a high-level executive at a major corporation, or for the director of the local county fair, Tigris is committed to earning the right to be a trusted part of each and every client’s team.

Matt lives in Littleton and enjoys spending time with his family, fishing, skiing, and rooting for his alma mater, the University of Illinois.

Jessica Knadle

Jessica Knadle joined the Tigris team in 2010.  At Tigris, she plays an integral role in day-to-day management by leading a Client Services team as well as overseeing the Client Insights group.  She has extensive client experience and has provided strategic oversight of some of Tigris’ largest accounts.  Specifically, she provides general counsel on overall program direction, helps negotiate sponsor agreements, and utilizes ROI data and market research results to identify areas of improvement.  With a decade of experience, Jessica uses her keen insight into the industry to help clients sort through the daunting number of potential sponsorship opportunities that arise in the marketplace.  She is also adept in both the conceptualization and implementation of creative campaigns as well as managing the logistics of the actual campaign activation.

In her role, she also supervises the agency’s Client Insights team, directing measurement efforts that include planning, fielding, examining and reporting on market research studies designed to examine unique metrics most important to each client.  Jessica’s team is responsible for managing the impressions and valuation process to determine the value of all exposure generated by a partnership, and in conducting ROI modeling in order to gain key insights into a partnership’s effectiveness.  In a broader context, Jessica outlines the optimal analytics strategy and research execution that will advance each client’s goals.  This work drives Tigris’ recommendations for its entire portfolio of clients, including Western Union, Ricoh, Phillips 66, and Xcel Energy.

Jessica got her start in the sports and entertainment business at Kroenke Sports Enterprises.  There, she was involved in all aspects of individual and group ticket sales.  She earned a bachelor’s degree in Marketing & Management from the University of Hawaii, where she played Division I Volleyball.

Jessica lives in Castle Rock with her husband and two boys and works out of Tigris’ Littleton office.

Tracie Miller

Tracie Miller joined Tigris in 2018 as a part of the senior staff.  She plays a key role in both operations and human resources development.  In an operations capacity, Tracie is responsible for agency resource allocation, revenue planning, and creating efficiencies through ongoing training and project management tools.  She works closely with all Tigris team members to ensure the agency is operating at full capacity, driving innovation, and capitalizing on new areas of growth.  Tracie also leads the agency’s human resources efforts, including the management of recruiting, hiring and onboarding processes as well as staff development.

Additionally, Tracie’s client services background allows her to provide both strategic and tactical client services support as needed.  She excels at cultivating strong relationships with client stakeholders and supporting other members of the client services team.  She also assists in new business development efforts and strategic partnerships.

Tracie started her career with McConnaughy Stein Schmidt Brown, a boutique ad agency in Chicago, before moving into advertising sales at SHAPE Magazine and several other national publications.  After that, she transitioned into operations and investor relations in the hedge fund/venture capital industry for Agile Fund Solutions and ARTIS Capital Management.  In all, Tracie brings more than 25 years of combined experience in operations and client services to the Tigris team.

A graduate of the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Tracie earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Communications with a minor in Business Communications.  She later earned a Certificate of Achievement in Human Resource Management from Villanova University.

Tracie works out of Phoenix, where she lives with her husband.