Anucha Brown

The New York Knickerbockers recently announced the promotion of Anucha Browne Sanders to the newly created position of Senior Vice President, Marketing and Business Operations.

Browne Sanders had held the position of Vice President of Marketing since joining the team on November 20, 2002 and will assume her new role immediately.

"Anucha has done an outstanding job in a very short time with the Knicks and is one of the rising stars in the field," said Madison Square Garden President, Sports Team Operations Steve Mills.

"This new position will allow her to more effectively set the strategy in leveraging the Knicks' brand," Mills said.

"It is both an honor and a pleasure to accept this promotion," Browne Sanders said.

"The potential of developing the Knicks brand is just beginning to realized, and I am looking forward to working with our entire team to have us realize that potential," she added.

In her new role, the Brooklyn, NY-native will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the business-side of the Knicks front office and serve as the team's chief marketing officer.

Her responsibilities will be overseeing all the club's business agendas, including: partnerships, fan development, field marketing, event presentation, community relations, special events and new media. She will work closely with MSG's other sports properties - the New York Rangers and New York Liberty - in finding new and innovative ways to integrate the three very distinct and highly successful brands, and be the primary liaison between the team and the NBA.

The promotion will also make her one of the highest-ranking women at any professional team.

Prior to joining the Knicks, Browne Sanders spent 11 years with IBM Corporation, serving a number of roles, most recently as a Program Manager in IBM's Worldwide Sports Office. In that capacity, she was responsible for a number of IBM's marketing efforts during the Olympic Games (Atlanta 1996, Nagano 1998 and Sydney 2000), including corporate sponsorship efforts that allowed IBM to leverage their investment as a Worldwide Olympic sponsor.

The Northwestern University graduate is also no stranger to success on the hardwood. She was a three-time All Big Ten selection and two-time Big Ten Player of the Year for the Wildcats, finishing her career as the all-time leading scorer in Big Ten women's basketball history, as well as the school's all-time leader in points (2,307) and rebounds (951). Browne Sanders was a two-time Wade Trophy nominee, 1985 Kodak All-American and in her senior session of 1984-85, and led the nation in scoring (a school record 31.5 ppg).