Communications Responsibilities:
Regular Season - Ice Hockey
Postseason - Women's Volleyball, Ivy Madness, Women's Lacrosse
Matt Panto is in his 13th year at the Ivy League and eighth as Associate Executive Director for Strategic Communications and External Relations.
In his role, Panto oversees the league’s communications team, including public and media relations, internal and external crisis communications, overall content strategy and broadcast programming. He is part of the Executive Director's senior leadership team.
Panto manages a number of the league's partnerships, including its comprehensive agreement with ESPN and sponsorship relationship with JMI Sports. Additionally, he serves as the sport administrator for women's basketball and women's volleyball.
He led the league's launch of a public awareness campaign in August 2019 titled "An Unrivaled Experience" to create a synchronized and strategic messaging plan as well as a new visual identity program for the league.
Panto played an integral role in the Ivy League's agreement with ESPN becoming one of the earliest collegiate partners of ESPN+. Each year, the league has at least 24 events broadcast live on ESPN's linear platforms and over 1,100 live events showcased on ESPN3 or ESPN+. He established the league's relationship with AJT Systems, which integrates custom branding animations and real-time statistical data into Ivy League on ESPN productions.
He spearheaded the league's relationship with Awesome Films, creating a series titled "What Is #OneIvy?" that was named a finalist for the SVG College Sports Media Awards.
Panto is an active member of College Sports Communicators (CSC), currently serving on the Executive Board of Directors and its Division I Cabinet. He was also on a working group that was responsible for reshaping and rebranding the organization. He is on the Advisory Board for Sports Video Group (SVG). He served on the media relations team at the 2015 and 2016 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Final Fours in Philadelphia and the 2023 NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four in Houston.
Panto was named Assistant Executive Director for Digital Media and Communications at the Ivy League office on September 3, 2013. During his time in this role, he oversaw the Ivy League Network (ILN) — which averaged over 1,100 events across 37 sports annually, broadcasting events to ESPN3, Facebook, Twitter, Stadium and regional sports networks. He also oversaw the live production and on-demand content for the league's postseason events.
Panto came to the Ivy League after spending seven years at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., where he was responsible for all digital media content for Lafayette’s 23 varsity sports, including scheduling and production of live events, on-demand content and staffing.
Through his oversight, GoLeopards.com thrived and became one of the Patriot League's leading platforms for video content. He was the producer of Lafayette's "Signing Day Central presented by Coke Zero," a live, all-day webcast devoted to the announcement of student-athletes signing their letters of intent to attend Lafayette on football signing day.
Panto's responsibilities also included an integral role with the television and radio packages of the Lafayette Sports Network (LSN), including sponsorship, radio broadcasts, stadium and arena signage, weekly television shows, video streaming, hospitality areas and game-day promotional events. He had day-to-day responsibilities in the athletic department's marketing, merchandising and licensing agreements. He also served as the communications contacts for women's soccer, women's basketball and men's lacrosse.
Prior to his time at Lafayette, Panto earned his bachelor's degree in Marketing and Communications from DeSales University in 2006. He also has a graduate degree from Purdue University in Strategic Communication Management.
Panto resides in Langhorne, Pa. with his wife, Danielle, and their three children Reagan (9), Emily (7) and Landon (4).