As the NBA’s Head of Global Strategy & Innovation (GSI), Matt Wolf has been tasked with building the NBA’s first consolidated strategy and analytics function in pursuit of a better model for providing strategic and analytical support to the league’s business units, regional offices, and teams. Wolf’s team of more than 50 employees collaborates with leaders across the NBA to provide strategic thinking, creativity, and analytical modeling to support the league’s key organizational objectives: creating a fan-first, global DTC business; producing the most compelling live entertainment experience; and developing the next generation of global fans.
As the chief architect of this new group, Wolf has arranged GSI into three integrated, complementary functions: Data Strategy & Analytics, Strategic Initiatives & Operations, and Growth & Innovation Strategy. Data Strategy & Analytics has built a comprehensive customer database that includes 100M+ actionable fan profiles that has galvanized the creation of an automated reporting ecosystem, predictive AI, and machine learning models to maximize sales and marketing tactics. Strategic Initiatives & Operations has established processes for setting the league’s annual goals, leads Quarterly Business Reviews and other strategic planning sessions, and supports priority projects ranging from the new NBA app and Next Gen content experience to the Basketball Africa League (BAL). Growth & Innovation Strategy helps develop the NBA’s overarching approach for evaluating emerging opportunities such as metaverse and Web3 initiatives and new season structure changes.
A graduate of Princeton University with a degree in Operations Research & Financial Engineering and four years on the varsity Sprint (Lightweight) Football team, Wolf began his career in 2005 in The Walt Disney Company’s Corporate Strategy & Business Development department. He transitioned to the NBA in 2008 as the first hire of the newly created Strategic Development group, where he worked on projects including Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations, youth basketball strategy, and international growth.
After earning his MBA from Stanford in 2012 (after an internship in Major League Baseball’s Labor Relations Department in 2011), Wolf returned to the NBA in the league’s renowned Team Marketing & Business Operations (TMBO) department. He ultimately assumed leadership of all the group’s business verticals – Ticketing & Game Experience, Corporate Partnerships, Marketing & Digital, and Strategy & Analytics – and served as TMBO’s most senior NBA Account Manager before being appointed to his current role.
A native of Long Island, New York, Wolf currently resides in Long Island City with his wife, Erica.