University of North Dakota Athletics

Kyle Doperalski joined North Dakota Athletics in 2012 as associate athletics director for external operations. His role has him leading the offices of communications, marketing, broadcast properties, video production and licensing.  He is the department’s liaison with Learfield-IMG College and Midco Sports Network, the second tier TV partner of the department.

Doperalski is the sport supervisor of the track and field and cross country program.  He assists the athletics director providing secondary sport supervision for football and men’s basketball.  He has served as sport supervisor for soccer, softball and men’s and women’s tennis.

Expanding media coverage and content has proved to be one of Doperalski’s stamps on the department. In his first year he worked with Midco Sports Network and FOX College Sports to arrange a four-year agreement ensuring national exposure for several sports. In his second year, he led the charge on creating North Dakota’s third-tier television package by creating a unit to produce live events with students and staff. The third-tier volleyball and men’s and women’s basketball games are televised on FOX Sports North and FOX College Sports. 

Doperalski played a key role in renegotiating North Dakota Athletics’ second tier television contract with Midco Sports Network which includes the region’s first live football signing day special. Radio coverage has expanded for several sports under his watch. Doperalski serves as radio and television talent when needed and his work has been featured on FOX Sports Arizona, FOX Sports North, Altitude Sports and Entertainment, ESPN3 and others.

Revenue generation is another hallmark Doperalski has helped foster. North Dakota Athletics set total ticket revenue records each year from 2012-18. Ticket revenue surpassed $4 million for the first time in 2013-14 and $5 million dollars in 2017-18. Sponsorship revenue increased by 350 percent between 2012 and 2016. He played an integral role in the transition of multimedia rights to Learfield in 2016, which increased sponsorship revenue further. In 2016, he was instrumental in negotiating the aforementioned second-tier television rights contract of $1.425 million with Midco Sports Network. 

The university licensing program transitioned to his leadership which resulted in royalties increasing 47% over the following two years.  He led the charge on creating Hawks Blend, the official coffee of North Dakota Athletics.  In addition to officially licensed coffee, North Dakota also introduced it’s first officially licensed wine under his watch.

Doperalski led North Dakota’s game management efforts from 2012-18 and served as tournament director for the 2014 Big Sky Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament and 2015 Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Final Faceoff. He played a key role in the bid process and served as tournament director as North Dakota hosted multiple NCAA Hockey West Regionals, including 2015 (Fargo N.D.), 2017 (Fargo, N.D.) and 2018 (Sioux Falls, S.D.).

He chaired the committee that led to North Dakota’s seven-year contract with adidas, the first department-wide contract in school history.

Doperalski came to North Dakota from New Mexico State University where he created, developed and implemented the television network "Aggie Vision," which started with more than eight million homes and provided regular live coverage of football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball. In 2008, Doperalski was recognized as the top national volleyball broadcaster by the American Volleyball Coaches Association in the annual Grant Berger Media Awards. He was a part of 766 NMSU radio and TV broadcasts over six-plus years.

With private sector experience, Doperalski served as executive producer of News New Mexico, LLC, a broadcast production company that originated and aggregated content relating specifically to New Mexicans.  He increased affiliate numbers by 1,500 percent and products by 500 percent.  His work creating sports content led to him being named a New Mexico Sports Executive of the year by Rivals.com.

Doperalski arrived in Las Cruces in 2006 from Lincoln, Neb., where he worked in a variety of roles for KLMS 1480 Lincoln's ESPN radio affiliate, the Pinnacle Sports Network (now Husker Sports Network) and Channel 21 Sports.

A 2005 graduate of the University of Nebraska, Doperalski was an All-Big 12 performer in track and field while the Huskers claimed four Big 12 championships during his collegiate years. As an undergraduate, Doperalski was awarded two national top-five Citations for Excellence in Publications from CoSIDA for his work in the Nebraska Sports Information Office.

He earned an associate’s degree at Cloud County Community College in 2002 while earning National Junior College Athletic Association All-American honors in track and field and cross country  on five occasions and set two school records.

In 2011, Doperalski earned a master's degree from the University of Illinois in recreation, sport and tourism with an emphasis in sport management.

Active in the Grand Forks community, Doperalski sat on the advisory board for the Greater Grand Forks Young Professionals in 2015 and 2016.

He also serves on the Advisory Board for the University of Nebraska Master of Arts in Business with a specialization in Intercollegiate Athletics Administration program. 

Doperalski serves on The Summit League Hall of Fame committee and also has been the NACMA conference representative for The Summit League since 2019, when UND joined the league.

A native of Wamego, Kan., Doperalski and his wife Elizabeth along with son Preston and daughter Katelyn reside in Grand Forks.