AS Roma owner and Boston Celtics investor unveils plans

Jim Pallotta, President and Chairman AS Roma and Chairman and Managing Director, Raptor Group, is the latest speaker to be revealed for the Leaders Sport Business Summit at Chelsea FC on 8-9 October 2014.

A multi-sport investor, acquiring AS Roma in full just last week, Jim is the owner of the Italian club as well as a minority shareholder in American basketball team, the Boston Celtics. Joining the 1500 person international Summit, he’ll speak alongside the likes of Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, President of the Asian Football Confederation; Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Chairman of the European Clubs Association and FC Bayern Munich; Erick Thohir, Owner and President, FC Internazionale Milano; Dave Coplin, Chief Envisioning Officer at Microsoft; Jeffrey Webb, President, CONCACAF; Russell Wolff, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, ESPN International; Ajaz Ahmed, CEO and Founder, AKQA and more, at the international flagship event.

In 2011 Jim made Serie A history when he acquired AS Roma and became the first foreign investor to own an Italian club. Having previously referred to Roma as ‘the most undervalued sports team and brand in the world’, he’s working hard to boost the club’s fortunes. With recently unveiled plans for a new 52,000 seat stadium and a 10 year Nike deal now in full swing, Jim will join the Sport Business Summit to talk about the challenges and opportunities of modern day Club ownership and the desire to build a global brand.

He commented: “We’ve got big aspirations for Roma to become one of the world’s leading sports brands. Our ambition is to make Roma a global community and I look forward to joining the Sport Business Summit to talk about how we’re doing that whilst staying focussed on the interests of the club and the fans.”

James Worrall, CEO, Leaders commented: “Jim’s vision for Roma’s future is really refreshing.  Striking big deals with the likes of Volkswagen, Nike and Disney, investing for the long term in a new stadium and treating the club like a truly global brand.  We look forward to welcoming him to London later this year to hear about his plans in more detail.”

For further information about the Leaders Sport Business Summit, see below.