Leadership Team
Meet Victus Advisors’ expert leadership team.
Venue feasibility consultants with expertise, analytical skill and passion.
Victus’ senior leadership team provides a combination of consulting expertise and practical experience that is unmatched in the public assembly venue industry.
Our MBA-led firm has a diverse set of analytical skills all backed with a passion for sports, recreation, entertainment, and performing arts.
Brian Connolly
Founder and Managing Principal
Brian’s lifelong passion for sports and event spaces, combined with a mind that thrives in analytical research and planning, drives our firm’s entire mission, ensuring that our clients and partners embark on a clear path of growth and success.
Brian has 20 years of experience providing market research, financial advisory, and other strategic planning services to a wide variety of venues, events, franchises, athletic departments, municipal governments and Fortune 500 companies.
Prior to founding Victus, Brian was a senior venue consultant specializing in market, financial, and economic analysis for sports/recreation facilities and public assembly venues.
He also worked in a business strategy role for both the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals and NBA’s Orlando Magic, served as finance director for a market research firm advising Fortune 500 financial companies, and worked as a municipal bond analyst for an investment bank in the Northeast.
Brian is a native of the Washington D.C. area and now resides in the beautiful mountain town of Park City, Utah, with his wife and three daughters. He enjoys skiing, hiking, biking, and tasting new whiskey blends from High West Distillery.
Hometown: Bethesda, Maryland
Residence: Park City, Utah
Education: B.A., Economics, University of Pennsylvania; M.B.A., Arizona State University; Professional Certificate in Accounting, University of California at Berkeley
Favorite Team(s): Washington Commanders, Utah Jazz
Favorite Athlete: Darrell Green
Favorite Venue: RFK Stadium
First Sports Memory: Washington beats the Broncos 42-10 in Super Bowl XXII
Hometown: San Diego, California
Residence: Herriman, Utah
Education: B.A., Business, University of Utah; M.B.A., Sports Business, San Diego State University
Favorite Team(s): Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Las Vegas Raiders
Favorite Athlete: Tim Brown
Favorite Venue: Allegiant Stadium
First Sports Memory: Laker games on KCAL 9 with Chick Hearn and Stu Lantz
Walter Franco
Principal and Research Director
Leveraging his rich experience in international sports consulting and strategic market analysis, Walter drives impactful research initiatives and brings a global perspective to every project.
Walter specializes in market research, strategic analysis, and other planning and operational consulting services on behalf of our clients.
Walter is bilingual, and his professional experience includes projects with English-speaking groups such as Major League Soccer, Soccer United Marketing, Real Salt Lake, and University of Utah Athletics, as well as Spanish-language projects for Mexican professional soccer clubs such as Liga MX’s Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente and Toluca F.C. and the city of Rosarito, Mexico.
Prior to joining Victus Advisors in 2015, Walter worked in corporate development for the ECHL Utah Grizzlies and the Maverik Center, a 10,000-seat multi-use arena located in the suburbs of Salt Lake City. He also provided consulting services to international soccer clubs, including assisting with U.S. licensing deals and brokering friendlies in the U.S. with MLS opponents.
He is a native of San Diego and currently lives in Herriman, Utah, with his wife and three daughters. You can find him playing flag football, indoor soccer, or tennis just about every night of the week.