About Leaders

Sabrina Zeender, 49, has been appointed FEI Secretary General following a proposal to the FEI Bureau from FEI President Ingmar De Vos which received unanimous support. Zeender, who first joined the FEI in 1991, has been interim Secretary General since De Vos’ election to the FEI Presidency on 14 December 2014.

Sabrina Zeender holds a bachelor’s degree in Science in Communications and History from Boston University and a diploma in Sociology, Politics and Management of Sport Science from the Universities of Lausanne, Leicester, and Montpellier.

Zeender, who has been with the FEI since 1991, has served as FEI Director, Governance and Executive Affairs since 2011. She has previously held the positions of Human Resources, Finance & Administration coordinator; Sports administrator; and Manager of the Secretary General’s office. She left the organisation briefly in 1995 to work in her family’s business in the USA, returning to the FEI in 1998.

Prior to working for the FEI, Sabrina Zeender was with Telecom Japan TV Productions in New York (USA) and the Fédération Internationale de Natation Amateur (FINA) in Lausanne (SUI).

Roy Roedger is a retired German ice hockey player born and raised in Canada. Roedger, of German descent, left Canada for Germany in 1978 and played eleven seasons there. He also fielded for the German national team at two Olympic games and six World Championships. After the end of his career he returned to Canada.He is a member of the German Ice Hockey Hall of Fame. He acquired a degree in sports and event marketing and formed SDI Marketing, a sports marketing agency of which he is the CEO.

Al-Waeli has held a number of senior management positions in Qatar’s sports industry, including being the current senior advisor at the president of the Qatar Stars League and being the executive director, strategic planning and institutional development at the Qatar Football Association. Previously, he held the position of being the executive director and COO at the ASPIRE – Academy for Sports Excellence for five years.

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THE BROADCAST DISRUPTORS Taking Sports Broadcasting Over The Top – And Beyond

Eric Black was named Chief Technology Officer of NBC Sports Group Digital in 2015. Black manages all IP-delivered platforms for NBC Sports Digital, including its numerous websites, applications and connected devices. He also oversees NBC Sports’ Playmaker Media, a separate business which provides end-to-end video support service for companies in need of best-in-class live streaming and VOD solutions.

Under Black’s leadership, NBC Sports Digital and Playmaker Media have streamed some of the most prestigious properties in sports, including five Olympic Games, two Super Bowls, Sunday Night Football – primetime television’s No. 1 show — the National Hockey League, Premier League, National Basketball Association, NASCAR, the Triple Crown, Notre Dame Football, and the Open Championship, among many others. The systems built by Black have focused on both high concurrent traffic and scale, and now operate on more than 15,000 events per year, resulting in billions of consumed minutes.

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THE BROADCAST DISRUPTORS Taking Sports Broadcasting Over The Top – And Beyond

Phil Lynch is Chief Executive Officer of Media at Manchester United, where he is responsible for overseeing the club’s media initiatives, including the management and operations of MUTV (the club’s 24×7 linear television network), the creation and editorial oversight of United Review (official match day programme) and Inside United (official monthly magazine) as well as the club’s digital media partnerships and direct to consumer products.

Prior to his time at Manchester United, Phil was the Global Head / Vice President of Content & Media Partnerships at Yahoo, overseeing 3500+ content partnerships across all verticals, as well as their digital distribution efforts. During his tenure, he was selected by Variety as one of “Hollywood’s New Leaders” for 2016 and credited with developing Yahoo’s over the top live sports offering via securing broadcast rights and partnerships with the likes of the National Football League, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, and PGA Tour.

Prior to Yahoo, Phil was the senior vice president, digital networks & games for Sony Pictures Television (SPT). In this position, he was responsible for negotiating distribution deals and managing relationships with partners on behalf of Crackle, the studio’s multi-platform video entertainment network worldwide, and for acquisitions, programming, marketing and operations for Crackle’s English language services in the US, Canada and Australia.

Now in his 18th NBA season, Chris Granger is currently serving his fourth season as President of the Sacramento Kings and Sacramento Basketball Holdings, LLC. During his tenure, the Kings have enjoyed unprecedented revenue growth and have quickly become regarded as one of the most innovative, most community-minded franchises in all of sports. Granger’s wide-reaching influence also extends to the development of the acclaimed downtown arena, the Golden1 Center, as well as the highly-anticipated $500m, 1.5m square-foot downtown mixed-use development project, Downtown Commons. Golden 1 Center is already widely known as the most connected, most technologically-advanced, and most sustainable arena in the world. Recently called “the Tesla of arenas,” Golden 1 Center is the first and only professional sporting venue to ever be recognized as LEED Platinum by the US Green Building Council.

Along with Sacramento Kings Chairman, Vivek Ranadivé, Granger has led the Kings in implementing “NBA 3.0,” a forward-thinking business philosophy driven by technology, globalization, and basketball as a positive agent of change. The entire Kings organization is committed to utilizing NBA 3.0 – both on and off the court – to make the Kings the premier sports franchise of the 21st century and a model for community connection.

Prior to joining the Kings, Granger worked in various capacities for the NBA from 1999-2013. He most recently served as the executive vice president of the NBA’s renowned Team Marketing and Business Operations (TMBO) function, where he advised NBA, WNBA and NBA Development League teams on all aspects of business operations including ticket and sponsorship sales, marketing, community relations, communications, and digital media. Under Granger’s leadership at TMBO, teams across all three leagues set numerous and consistent records for game attendance, gate receipts, and sponsorship revenue.

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SOCIAL FANALYTICS Unlocking the Value: Getting Ahead in The Race for Sponsorship

Paul is the Head of Digital and Social Media at AS Roma. He’s responsible for developing the club’s digital media strategy – helping the club to communicate with new and existing supporters all over the world. Formerly Head of International Development at Liverpool FC, where he worked for 14 years, he has experience in creating content and marketing strategies, brand building, strategic planning, social media, digital journalism, TV production, rights negotiations and generating new revenue streams through content.

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SOCIAL FANALYTICS Panning for Gold: Making Sense of the Glut of Numbers

Rob Bloom leads the digital and social media team to redefine the McLaren digital strategy and drive value back into the brand. Since his arrival, Rob has established a sophisticated fan engagement strategy and elevated McLaren to a position of prominence in the global sports marketing industry. At the time of arrival in 2012, Rob formed one half of the in-house digital team at McLaren. The McLaren Formula 1 team had just under 700k followers on social media and minimal engagement. At the turn of 2017, the team has over 7m followers and the highest average engagement rate in Formula 1. The recent car launch generated 190m hashtag impressions and 1m social media engagements.

Equally, McLaren’s online sponsor partner activation has transitioned to a pioneering position of truly relevant, seamless integration of partners into the holistic narrative: positioning McLaren’s feeds as a curation of engaging, insightful content from the team, its partners and its fans.

Derrick joined The Joffrey Ballet, which is considered one of the best of its kind not only in the USA but the world, as a seasonal dancer in 2003, then became an Arpino Apprentice in 2004, and was promoted to full company dancer in August of 2005. He trained at the San Jose Cleveland Ballet School and received scholarships to San Francisco Ballet School and The School of American Ballet, and also attended American Ballet Theatre summer intensives for several years. Since joining has performed in shows such as The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet,Viva Vivaldi, Cinderella and Tarantella amongst many others.

Jill was named the eighth head coach in U.S. Women’s National Team history on May 16, 2014, and in just a little under 13 months later she led the USA to victory at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. She also holds the role of Development Director of the United States Soccer Federation, overseeing the national youth teams development program. At the end of 2015, along with a number of other honours, Jill was named the CONCACAF Female Coach of the Year and the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Soccer, making her the first American to do so. Jill is a hugely experienced coach and with the great success she’s had with USWNT, she’d be able to share her experience and insight on numerous areas of her role.

Pat has been spearheading Seattle’s rushing attack since the 2011 season, which has seen it consistently perform as one of the best in the NFL, while the teams running game ranks first in the NFL with 13,144 rush yards since 2011, and had a franchise-record 25-game streak of 100-plus rushing yards from 2014-15. As you can imagine with those stats, he’s one the most highly rated tactical coaches in the game, but just as impressively he is one of the key cogs in Pete Carroll’s team that has developed one of the strongest and world renowned culture’s in sport. They are relentless in their pursuit of success, and after both Pete and Pat met working at for Arkansas Razorback’s football program, then in California with the USC Trojans between 2005-2009 , they have formed a powerful relationship that has been integral to the successful program they have built in Seattle, winning the 2013 Super Bowl along the way.

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The Sport Business Summit Creating The Perfect Tune: Bringing Consumers And Brands Closer Together

Based in London, Marco oversees Spotify’s direct, programmatic and international business across Europe. Bertozzi joined the streaming platform from Publicis’ performance marketing arm Performics where he was global chief revenue officer. Marco is  currently responsible for the streaming company’s advertising revenue throughout Europe. He began his career as a TV buyer at Zenith Optimedia, where he rose to Head of Digital. Since then he has held various senior leadership roles at TMP Worldwide, Vivaki and Starcom, specialising in programmatic strategy, Audience On Demand, addressable media and performance marketing. A regular contributor to Campaign on programmatic-related topics, Marco joined Spotify in January 2017 and is especially excited about the opportunities for programmatic audio and data innovation at the company. Spotify is a leader in media streaming with over 100 million monthly users globally. Spotify leverages a highly engaged and mobile audience to offer audio, video and display advertising solutions for leading brands.

Andy was at IMG since 2011, starting off as a Vice President in Football, then becoming a Managing Director. His Specialities include Marketing Brand Strategy & management Sponsorship. Before IMG Andy worked for The Football League as The Championship Director and was The Global Head of Sponsorship at Phillips.

Paul has worked with a range of companies such as, Sheridans, BT Sport and now Lagardere Sports. Paul advises on a range of legal issues connected with sport and the media, including the commercial exploitation of broadcast rights, sponsorship rights, and personal endorsement programmes; the creation, financing, exploitation and protection of events and venues; brand licensing, channel carriage, digital encryption and content security; corporate ticketing programmes; and player transactions, sports regulations, corporate acquisitions and new product development.

General Counsel/Chief of Business Affairs Norman Wain arrived at USA Track & Field in July of 2010. Wain oversees the USATF legal department (negotiating all contracts, managing corporate governance, handling anti-doping matters, overseeing litigation, managing the Athlete Representative program, etc). The legal department works with USATF staff and Board of Directors, the Law and Legislation Committee, the Ethics Committee and various other committees and constituencies to advance the goals and initiatives of the organization and protect its general legal interests.

Before arriving at USATF, Wain worked as the Vice President – Corporate Legal Affairs at The Finish Line, Inc., a publicly traded, billion dollar, mall-based specialty retailer operating nearly 700 stores in 47 states across the country and online. Prior to Finish Line, he spent time in the business and legal affairs department at Writers & Artists Agency, Inc., a Los Angeles talent agency (subsequently acquired by Paradigm), and held stints at Fox Sports World and BigShot Films International. He also worked in private practice as a litigator in Santa Monica, Calif.

Currently Ben is a Director for Grassroots Football Live and Advantage Sports Distribution. Previously he has worked for Fan Manager as a General Manager, Europe and was Chief Executive Officer for Alexandra Ross Limited. Ben was Director of Commercial Enterprises for Manchester United Plc from 1998 to 2005 during United’s most successful commercial era.  As a member of the Executive Committee Ben was involved in the creation and implementation of the Manchester United Plc business strategy and had responsibility for much of Manchester United’s non-football commercial operations. Prior to Manchester United, Ben was Group Treasurer for First Choice Holidays Plc, the UK’s second largest travel company with responsibility for all aspects of the cash, debt, foreign exchange, oil trading and aircraft leasing aspects of the business.

Catherine was appointed the BHA’s Director of Legal and Governance, in October 2016. She will be responsible for all aspects of the BHA’s general legal counsel, company secretariat, corporate governance and data protection. Catherine joined the BHA as Head of Legal – Governance in November 2015. Prior to joining the BHA, Catherine was a senior member of the DLA Piper sports team for ten years.  Catherine has extensive experience of advising sports governing bodies and rights owners in relation to contentious issues connected with sport, both regulatory and commercial, in proceedings in the High Court and before international and domestic sports disciplinary and arbitral tribunals.  She also specialises in Intellectual Property litigation, particularly in relation to sport and media bodies. Catherine is a Director of the British Association for Sport and Law.

Han Mu, previously a business reporter, co-founded Lanxiong Sports along with Li Shuangfu in 2015. Lanxiong Sports are China’s first integrated service platform in the sports industry, providing services like industry news, research reports. networking, branding and project promotion through media, events financial services and think tanks.

Damien O’Donohoe is the CEO of the Caribbean Premier League. O’Donohoe, who is also the CEO of talent management agency Ikon, was instrumental in founding the Twenty20 cricket competition back in ’13. As a product, the CPL has been pretty much an instant hit. In its first year, more than 90 per cent of all tickets to the games were sold. In 2015, all games were played at sold out stadiums, while a string of lucrative TV deals saw the matches beamed to a potential global audience of 300 million. As a result, the league has now broken even and has recouped the initial investment of US$20m (€18m, £13m) made in 2013.

Polly was a partner in a law firm based in Mayfair before moving in-house. She has been involved in sports law for a number of years. She previously worked for the Rugby Football Union as Deputy Head of Legal dealing with a wide range of legal and governance issues spanning commercial, contentious, and regulatory and governance. Polly joined The Football Association in 2014 and is Head of Legal for The FA. She is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the legal function for The FA, both contentious and non-contentious. In November 2016, Polly was promoted to her her current role now as a Director.

Sara joined Table Tennis England as Interim Chief Executive in July 2013 and accepted the role permanently in February 2014. Prior to joining Table Tennis England Sara spent 12 years at the British Olympic Association as the Director of Legal and HR. A qualified lawyer and recognised authority in sports law, Sara has contributed to written publications and spoken on numerous topics including governance, selection issues and anti doping. Since joining Table Tennis England, Sara has played a lead role in restructuring the organisation to make it fit for purpose and relocating the head office to Milton Keynes.

In his current role, for the past 6 years Tom negotiates commercial deals to acquire all sport and drama content across ITV’s suite of channels. Prior to ITV, Tom had spent a number of years in media Law as a TMT Solicitor for Nabarro LLP and Lovells.

He has been the Chief Executive of the London Marathon, the world’s most successful city centre marathon, since 1995. The event has grown substantially in that time and now sees over 35,000 finishers each year who between them raise a world record £52 million per annum. Nick is also a solicitor and consultant at Kerman & Co specialising in sports law.  His major event clients include The Wimbledon Championships and the Ryder Cup. Nick is a Board Member of the London Legacy Development Corporation. He is also a Board Member of UK Sport.

Maclean is responsible for driving forward World Rugby’s legal strategies to provide solid contractual, regulatory and integrity foundations to support and sustain a sport that is now played by more than 7.73 million people in 121 nations worldwide. Maclean’s extensive experience in sport began in 2000 when he qualified with Bird & Bird and joins World Rugby from ASB law, having previously served as Group Legal Director and Company Secretary at the Football Association in England. In 11 years at the FA, Maclean was responsible for managing all legal aspects of the multi-million pound media rights associated with the England team and other high-profile properties as well as overseeing a broad portfolio of litigious matters. He also held the position of Board Director for the National Football Centre, overseeing the delivery of one of the world’s top sporting facilities (St George’s Park), and was part of the senior management team that integrated the FA with its subsidiary, Wembley Stadium, in 2009.

Miguel is a Broadway and screen actor currently playing the lead role of Alex Hamilton in the highly acclaimed musical, Hamilton. It’s the most popular and inspiring musical on Broadway in the US at the moment, and since its first show in 2016 has been nominated for no less than a record breaking 16 Tony awards (beating the previous record held by The Producers and Billy Elliot) and also won a Grammy for Best Musical Theatre Album, amongst many accolades. The show became a national sensation after the author of the musical, who also stars in it, decided to give the historical figure a hip-hop makeover, resulting in the show becoming completely sold out for the rest of 2016.

Transformative, forward-thinking and always striving to help others realize their full potential. As an in-demand speaker, author, strengths-based performance coach and instructor of one of the most popular undergraduate courses at New York University, Dan’s expertise in positive psychology helps people lead thriving, successful lives. Employing cutting-edge research into positive psychology and peak performance, Dan works with students, established and high-potential performing artists, athletes and numerous Fortune 500 companies and executives around the world helping them manage stress and anxiety, achieve well-being, uncover their core strengths and define and realize their own brand of success.

With a deep passion for helping the next generation of talent achieve their utmost potential, Dan, along with his co-author and teaching partner Dr. Alan Schlechter, penned U Thrive: How to Succeed in College (and Life).  Filled with fascinating science, real-life stories and tips for building positive lifelong habits, U Thrive addresses the opportunities and challenges every undergraduate faces and helps students grow into the happy, successful alums they all strive to be.

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The Sport Business Summit Method in the Madness

Val Ackerman was named the fifth Commissioner of the Big East Conference on June 26, 2013. She was the founding President of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and a past President of USA Basketball, which oversees the U.S. men’s and women’s Olympic basketball program.  She has had a long and accomplished career in the sports industry and is one of the few sports executives who has held leadership positions in both men’s and women’s sports at the collegiate, professional, national team and international levels.

Ackerman attended the University of Virginia as one of the school’s first female student-athlete scholarship recipients. She was a four-year starter, three-time captain and two-time Academic All-American for the Cavaliers’ women’s basketball team and the first 1,000-point scorer in the program’s history.  She graduated with high distinction with a degree in political and social thought in 1981 and played one year of professional basketball in France before earning a law degree from UCLA in 1985.

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The Sport Business Summit Striking The Owner’s Balance: Global Perspectives

Sheila C. Johnson is an entrepreneur and philanthropist whose accomplishments span the arenas of hospitality, sports, TV/film, the arts, education, women’s empowerment and community development. As Founder and CEO of Salamander Hotels & Resorts, Ms. Johnson oversees a growing portfolio of luxury properties in Virginia, Florida, South Carolina,  and Louisiana. The equestrian-inspired Salamander Resort & Spa in Middleburg, Virginia, opened in 2013 and has since been recognized as one of the country’s finest properties.

As Vice Chairman of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, Ms. Johnson is the only African-American woman to have ownership in three professional sports teams: the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the NHL’s Washington Capitals, and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, for which she serves as President and Managing Partner.  She also serves on the Executive Committee of the United States Golf Association.

In 2015, Ms. Johnson was named on Forbes Magazine’s Top 50 America’s Richest Self Made Women.  And in 2016, she co-founded WE Capital, a venture capital consortium to support and empower female-led enterprises that can advance transformational social change.  She also serves on the board of the Greater Washington Partnership, which seeks to strengthen the region’s global position as a center for commerce and innovation.

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THE BROADCAST DISRUPTORS Virtually A Reality: Getting the Sports VR Revolution Across the Line

Luis Goicouria is Senior Vice President, Digital Platforms and Media Strategy for the PGA TOUR. In this capacity, he oversees all aspects for PGA TOUR Digital and is responsible for developing and implementing strategies which position the TOUR to take advantage of emerging technologies, markets, and content distribution. He joined the TOUR in October of 2011 as Vice President Business Development, New Media and was instrumental in bringing all of the TOUR’s digital assets and capabilities in-house in 2013. Luis directed the launch of SkratchTV.com (a millennial focused content play), and the conception of PGA TOUR Live (a new OTT subscription service) in 2015.   He also supervised the deal-making and strategic support efforts for the PGA TOUR’s new media platforms, including PGATOUR.COM and mobile applications.

Prior to joining the PGA TOUR, Goicouria spent 15 years at MTV Networks, the last ten of which he served as Vice President, Digital Media for Latin America, Canada & U.S. Hispanic for MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, VH1, & MTV Tres. Luis spent his first five years at MTV with Nickelodeon Latin America and was responsible for the launch of all of their digital platforms.

Brian has been in his current role since May 2016 and has been with Adidas overall for 4 years, progressing from a Merchandising Director to a Senior Director, with a focus in Basketball. Before joining Adidas, he worked for Li-Ning which is China’s biggest sports apparel firm, where he led negotiations, signing, business planning & execution for Landmark Dwyane Wade Partnership. Overall Brian has spent 8 years in China so far in his career.

In 17 seasons as head men’s basketball coach at the University of Notre Dame, Mike Brey has guided the Fighting Irish to 382 victories, an average of 22 victories per season, three trips to the NCAA Sweet 16, back-to-back NCAA Elite Eight appearances in 2015 and 2016 and the 2015 ACC Championship. Second on the all-time wins list at Notre Dame and boasting 481 career wins as a head coach, Brey has led the Irish through the program’s most sustained period of excellence since his hiring in July of 2000.

The 2016-17 Fighting Irish began the season with a nine-game win streak while capturing the 2016 Legends Classic Championship with wins over Colorado and Northwestern at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Notre Dame began the Atlantic Coast Conference season with five victories, then rattled off six consecutive victories to close the conference season and earn a double-bye in the ACC tournament. Wins over No. 21/21 Virginia and No. 16/17 Florida State propelled the Irish to their second ACC Championship game appearance in four years as a member of the conference. The Irish earned a fifth seed in the 2017 NCAA Championship, defeating Princeton before falling to fourth-seeded West Virginia in Buffalo, New York. The 2016-17 Notre Dame team set program records for wins in a three-year span (82) and matched the school records for wins in a four-year span (97) and NCAA tournament victories in a four-year run (seven).

Dave has had one focus throughout his professional life, and that is American Football. After being drafted by the Houston Texans in 2006, he spent the next 6 years in the NFL with the team as well as stints with the Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks. After his NFL career ended, David studied and received his MBA at USC Marshall with a focus on data science. He came across two A.I. professors at USC, which then led to him getting his first job at Second Spectrum – a company which initially just focused on NBA, but he then helped them branch out into the NFL and MLB.

Alex is a four time Pro-Bowl center currently playing for the 2016 NFC Champions Atlanta Falcons. He played college football for California Golden Bears before being drafted as the 21st overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. On March 9, 2016, he signed a five-year, $45 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons and subsequently played in the epic Super Bowl earlier this year. He’s currently one of the best players in his position in the sport, and his grit and determination was proven as he played through the games against the Patriots with a broken leg.

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ESPORTS LIVE eSports Brand Sponsorship

Microsoft partnered with Astralis last year and is one of the company’s first moves into the Esports world. As Windows is the main platform Esports is used on, it’s a natural strategic partnership fit for them to enter into.

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THE ULTIMATE FAN EXPERIENCE Transforming The Experience Of Traditional Sports

Tim is responsible for the growth of consumer awareness & engagement in The Tour & The Ryder Cup worldwide. Developing strategies to commercialise their consumer asset and derive increased revenue from sponsors & broadcasters alike. The Tour has recently introduced GolfSixes which is being dubbed as the T20 of golf, attracting a new type of audience for the sport. Massively speeding up the pace of the game and giving much closer access to the players. Before stepping into his current role at PGA European Tour, he was the Brand Director for them for over 3 years and has also been a Consultant for the ATP Tour.

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The Sport Business Summit Legendary: The Stats Behind the Stars

Matthew Marolda is Chief Analytics Officer at Legendary Entertainment. He formed and runs Legendary’s Applied Analytics division, which uses data and analytics to drive strategic decisions across all aspects of the company.Prior to Legendary, Mr. Marolda founded StratBridge LLC in 1999. StratBridge had two software solutions businesses: “moneyball” player analysis software used by many organizations in the NFL, NBA, European Football and Major League Soccer (sold to XOS Digital in 2012), and dynamic pricing and revenue analysis software used by many professional sports teams (acquired by Legendary in 2014, after Mr. Marolda had joined Legendary). He earned his MBA at the Tuck School at Dartmouth where he won the Adams Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship. Mr. Marolda graduated from Bowdoin College with Honors, earning majors in economics and mathematics and a minor in art history.

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The Sport Business Summit The Future of Content & Storytelling

Since January 2017, Werner Brell has been Samsung Electronics America’s Chief Engagement Officer. In this role, Werner spearheads Samsung’s passion point marketing efforts across social and digital media to drive new and innovative efforts to bolster consumer engagement for the brand.  Werner comes from Red Bull where he served as President of Red Bull Media House North America where he built and led a world-class team to develop and drive Red Bull’s successful content and digital media efforts with a coveted young audience.

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The Sport Business Summit Method in the Madness

Mark Emmert became the fifth president of the NCAA in October 2010. As president he has championed greater support for student-athlete wellness and academic success. His commitment to the academic success of athletes is also reflected in newly heightened academic standards for initial eligibility. Additionally, he ushered a new governance structure in Division I. Before the NCAA, Emmert was president of his alma mater, the University of Washington, beginning in 2004, and is also president emeritus at the school. During his tenure, the university rose to its standing as second among all public and private institutions in research funding, with $1.3 billion in annual grants and contracts. The university also completed a $2.6 billion fundraising campaign under his leadership.

With a number of Sweet 16 appearances, eight NCAA Tournament berths, Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles and an international gold medal on his résumé, Matt is widely regarded as one of the brightest young minds in all of college basketball. In the 2016/17 season, Matt led Purdue to their first Big Ten title since 2010 with a 27-8 record, and impressively finishing above other powerhouse programmes in Wisconsin, Maryland, Indiana and Michigan State. Part of Matt’s success has come from a change in recruitment strategy, in which he has placed more emphasis on the person rather than just outright talent. He’s also transformed the culture at Purdue, something in which his players believe has been key to their success.

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ESPORTS LIVE Understanding The Hype

Jordi has a livelong background in marketing within pro-sport and entertainment. He has worked with established brands, like 10 times Danish Soccer Champion Brøndby IF, developing existing brand- and fanbases into prize winning digital marketing assets and with new sport entertainment brand handball team AG Copenhagen, with whom he broke a lot of commercial records among others filling the national Danish soccer stadium twice with world record audience figure of more than 36.000 spectators. Outside pro-sports, Jordi has worked for Nordisk Film helping commercially develop entertainment clients like major Scandinavian opera- and music houses, rockfestivals and musical producers etc.

The outstanding audience experience is for Jordi key to any monetization potential within the entertainment industry, whether it be in direct star-to-fan communication, viewing experience on flow or streamchannels or live offline experience. The outstanding audience experience is what creates both fanbase size and fanbase affinity and thus allows for creating valuable strong emotional leveraged marketing platforms.

Jordi uses his vast experience in the field to build platforms bridging brands to a demanding hard-to-get target group that has developed its own communication channels, norms and values and that calls “fake” in a split second.

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The Sport Business Summit Creating the Winning Formula

Gotham joined the Celtics after five years with the global internet media company, TerraLycos, where he served as Vice President of US Sales and Corporate Development and was responsible for the generation of advertising, sponsorship, e-commerce, and business-to-business revenues. Additionally, his organization was responsible for all Strategic Partnerships and Market Development activities for Terra Lycos in the US. Prior to the merger of Terra Networks and Lycos, Inc, Gotham served as Vice President of e-Commerce Sales for Lycos, Inc., where he was responsible for driving all business development activities, sponsorship, and e-commerce revenues.

In his role as Celtics team President, Gotham will continue his active involvement with community outreach and fundraising for the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation and its focus partners: Children’s Hospital Boston, Perkins School for the Blind, Massachusetts Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children, and Horizons for Homeless Children. In addition, he currently serves as a board member of The Sports Museum, Junior Achievement, and the National Sports Marketing Network. Gotham has also served on Governor Mitt Romney’s Committee for Physical Fitness and Sport and has served in an Advisory Board capacity to several early stage companies.

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The Sport Business Summit The Future of Sports Sponsorship

Rahul is Executive Director of Global Marketing & Branding at Rakuten Inc.  He joined in 2016 from Wipro to help build and drive Rakuten’s global brand and marketing agenda. One of his core missions is to position Rakuten as one of the world’s foremost innovative companies by bringing together the pillars of strategy, design and technology. By identifying innovative concepts and best practices that can be applied across multiple markets, Rahul is responsible for strategy and execution of marketing and branding for Rakuten’s extensive global business portfolio. He has been instrumental in negotiating and signing the FC Barcelona partnership and making Rakuten, FCB’s “Global Innovation and Entertainment” partner.

He has over 16+ years of proven experience across brand management, communications and field marketing in various industries with a focus in IT, Internet Services and Technology sector. Rahul received his Bachelor’s in Commerce from Loyola College, Chennai, India.

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The Sport Business Summit Improving Sporting Governance

Sebastian Coe is President of the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF), Executive Chairman of CSM Sport and Entertainment and one of the world’s most high profile sportsmen having been a competitor, sports administrator, event organiser, campaigner, media commentator, and a life-long sports fan. He was Chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, having previously been Chairman of the London 2012 bid company and was Chairman of the British Olympic Committee in the lead up to and during the unprecedented medal success of Team GB at the Rio Olympic Games.
Seb set 12 world records during his athletic career and at the Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980 he won Gold in the 1500m and Silver in the 800m a feat that he repeated in Los Angeles in 1984.
Seb retired from competitive athletics in 1990 and became a conservative MP and Private Secretary to William Hague. In 2002 he was made a Peer. He received a Knighthood in the 2006 New Year’s Honours List and received a Companion of Honour in the 2013 New Year’s Honours List.
In addition to a number of other roles in sport Seb is also Pro-Chancellor of Loughborough University where he studied as an undergraduate, a Non-Executive Director of VitalityHealth & Life Group of Companies and serves as an Ambassador for BMW. He is a Member of the Laureus World Sport Academy and a Consultant for his beloved Chelsea Football Club.

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The Sport Business Summit Improving Sporting Governance

Martin Glenn joined the FA in March 2015 following a successful career at three of the largest companies in the UK. He spent 15 years at Walkers Crisps/ PepsiCo where he over saw the growth of the Walkers Crisps from a regional brand to Britain’s biggest supermarket brand.  From there he moved to run two  Private Equity backed companies, BirdsEye and United Biscuits.  He lead the latter to a successful sale at the end of 2014. In 2003 Martin was voted CEO of the year by Marketing Magazine and he was President of the Marketing Society from 2013-16.    He joined the board of the Football Foundation in 2016. His involvement in football predates the FA role. He was Non- Executive director of Leicester city from 2002-06 and took his Level 1 FA Coaching badge in 2002.

Since joining  the FA he has undertaken a process of modernising its practices and relationships and restoring its financials to allow more investment into Football projects.   The FA’s investment into the game now stands at a record high of 125 million a year.

As President & Managing Director, Vega is accountable for all operations across Australia and New Zealand; leading Dow’s 400 employees, four manufacturing sites and seven business centers.  He is charged with the Region’s growth strategy, revenue and profitability, ‘go to market’ strategy, business development, investment decisions and multiple third party collaborations.

In his role as Vice President of Olympic & Sports Solutions, Vega is responsible for extracting the full business and brand value of Dow’s partnerships with the Olympic Movement, NASCAR Racing, the PGA and all of Dow’s sports franchises to drive revenue growth for the Company. Vega has established a business structure uniquely positioned to harness the combined power of the Dow brand, the Olympic Movement and Dow’s sports partnerships to drive revenue opportunities for Dow and value for Dow stakeholders. In this role, Vega serves as the primary focal point to the International Olympic Committee, sports federations and Host Committees for upcoming Olympic Games.

Vega joined Dow in 1998 and has advanced through a variety of roles in the Company from public affairs and government affairs to general business management where he is driving corporate strategy & business development through his extensive international experience; augmented through his postings in Horgen, Switzerland; Washington D.C.; Dubai, UAE; Midland, MI and New York, NY.

Jay came into his role last year and is a senior executive who has held multiple leadership positions in key industries in China and the U.S. He leads WWE’s strategic business development initiatives and day-to-day operations in China and works in conjunction with local government authorities and partners across all of WWE’s lines of the business including television, live events, marketing, sponsorship, new media, licensing and merchandising.

Dr. Weili HONG (David) has over 20 years of rich experience in finance and investment in both China’s and overseas financial institutions and capital markets. He now takes the position as the president and chief research officer of CMC Holdings. Prior to CMC, he was a partner of the Gopher Asset Management (China’s largest and leading FOFs management company) in charge of PE/VC FOFs and direct investments. David also served as the managing partner of KTB  China from 2008 to 2012 and the president of KAIBO Investment Management Ltd.

David was one of the pioneers of China’s capital market since he joined the Shanghai Stock Exchange at its forming stage in 1992, where he served in several important positions and developed China’s first financial futures product. From 1997 to 2003 he had served as the managing director of the securities business of China Venture-Tech Investment Group (China’s first VC firm, and one of China’s top tier financial conglomerates in the 1990’s), managing research, equity investment, and sales and trading. He was one of the youngest leaders of China’s securities firms at that time.

David Proper currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Media & International Strategy for the National Hockey League. In this capacity, Proper oversees all of the League’s TV rightsholder relationships including the NHL’s comprehensive broadcast agreements with NBC, Rogers Communications and MTG.  In addition, he is charged with the development and execution of the NHL’s international media strategy as well as the League’s broadcast business affairs, footage and photo licensing, and scheduling. Most recently, Proper has been a key figure in helping to accelerate the development of hockey in China, including securing media partnerships with CCTV and Tencent, as well as helping to establish the 2017 NHL China Games presented by O.R.G. Packaging – the first NHL games in China – in addition to a variety of initiatives that will inspire generations of Chinese players and fans.

In 2016, under Proper’s leadership, live coverage of the World Cup of Hockey 2016 (a two-week best-on-best international hockey championship featuring eight teams and 150 of the NHL’s best players, which helped the NHL relaunch its overall international strategy and commitment to growing the game globally) was broadcast on television networks serving more than 200 regions and territories across six continents. Several of these networks carried the tournament in countries for the first time, including China.

Fahri joined Wasserman in 2010. In his role as Global Football’s Chief Operating Officer, he is responsible for the division’s worldwide operations, including domestic and international integration, development, strategy and infrastructure. Fahri is a practicing lawyer in the U.K. and served as the Division’s Legal Counsel prior to his role of COO, Global Football. The Wasserman Global Football team represents circa 600 clients across the globe, comfortably making them the most established sports agency business within the industry. Before joining Wasserman, Fahri trained and qualified as a commercial lawyer. He is also a registered lawyer with the Football Association, a Director of the Association of Football Agents, and a Director and Treasurer of the British Association for Sport and Law.

A former English footballer, Roy was Manager of the England national football team from May 2012  to June 2016. He started his managerial career in Halmstads BK in 1976, proving himself as a successful coach by winning the league championship in 1976 and 1979. He has led a number of European clubs including: Malmo FF, Inter Milan, Blackburn Rovers, Grasshoppers, FC Copenhagen, Fulham and Liverpool. He led the Malmo to two Swedish championship wins (1986 and 1988) and also to win the Svenska Cupen in 1986 and 1989. It was under the guidance of Roy that the Switzerland national football team reached the round of 16 at the 1994 World Cup, whereas prior to that Switzerland had failed to reach the World Cup finals for eight years. He also led the team to qualify for Euro 1996. Roy led England to Euro 2012 and also sealed their position in the 2014 World Cup, by leading them to six wins and four draws, finishing top of their group.

As Chief Operating Officer of NBA China, Collins Qian oversees the NBA’s business operations in China, including Marketing Partnerships, Merchandising, and Content and Media Distribution, as well as executes key components of NBA China’s business development.  Qian also leads the NBA’s youth development efforts in China through the Jr. NBA, which implements basketball classes using a curriculum developed in cooperation with China’s Ministry of Education.

Since assuming his current role in 2010, Qian has orchestrated key NBA partnerships with leading Chinese enterprises, including China Central Television (CCTV); Tencent, which encompasses live game broadcasts, NBA LEAGUE PASS subscriptions, mobile gaming and official NBA destinations on Tencent digital platforms; SMG/BesTV, which includes IPTV and game console platforms; NBA e-commerce; and social media offerings.

Prior to joining the NBA, Qian served as Partner and Managing Director of Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he opened the firm’s China office in 1993.  Over his thirteen years at BCG, Qian served as co-head of TMT (Technology, Media and Telecom) of Asia Pacific, head of Corporate Development and Private Equity Practice, and Career Development Committee Chair in Greater China.  Prior to that, Qian co-founded an internet startup in Beijing, and served as a sales manager at Proctor & Gamble.

Jack Levis, Senior Director of Industrial Engineering, drives the development of operational technology solutions.  These solutions require advanced analytics to re-engineer current processes to streamline the business and maximize productivity. Jack has been the business owner and process designer for UPS’ Package Flow Technology suite of systems which includes its award winning delivery optimization, ORION (On Road Integrated Optimization and Navigation).  These tools have been a breakthrough change for UPS, resulting in a reduction of 185 million miles driven each year. ORION has completed deployment and is providing significant operational benefits to UPS and its customers.  UPS estimates that ORION is reducing costs by $300M to $400M per year. Having earned his Bachelor of Arts in psychology, from California State University Northridge, Jack also holds a Master’s Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University. He is a fellow of the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences (INFORMS), receiving their prestigious Kimball Medal and the President’s Award. Jack holds advisory council positions for multiple universities and associations, including the U.S. Census Bureau Scientific Advisory Committee.

Lee Daniel Kravetz is the bestselling author of Supersurvivors (Harpercollins/Harper Wave).  His work has been translated into ten languages.  He has written for print and television, including The New York Times, Psychology Today, The San Francisco Chronicle,and PBS.  He has been featured in Time Magazine, theHarvard Business Review, and Fast Company, and is a founding board member of the Lit Camp Writers Conference.  He holds a B.A. in journalism from the University of Missouri – Columbia, a M.A. in psychology from Santa Clara University, and received a post-graduate fellowship from Stanford University. He lives in Northern California with his wife and two children.

George Henry Raveling is Nike’s Global Basketball Sports Marketing Director. He is a former college men’s basketball player, coach and FOX Sports Net color commentator. He played collegiate basketball for Villanova University. Later, he became the head coach at Washington State University (1972–1983), the University of Iowa (1983–1986), and the University of Southern California (1986–1994). George has been inspirational and influential for the game of basketball and its culture over the last few decades not only at Nike, but also for the sport in general. With a recent induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, he has also authored two books on rebounding drills, War on the Boards and A Rebounder’s Workshop.

Furthermore on August 28, 1963, as Martin Luther King Jr. waved goodbye to an audience of over 200,000 “March on Washington” participants, he handed Raveling the original typewritten “I Have a Dream” speech. Raveling, who was on the podium with King at that moment still has custody of the original copy.

Gene McCarthy is a distinguished and well known veteran of the Athletic and Outdoor Footwear and Apparel industries. In October of 2015 Mr. McCarthy was appointed President and CEO of Asics Americas Group which includes the United States with subsidiaries in Canada, Mexico, Brazil along with distributors throughout Latin America. Prior to that he was President of the Merrell Brand, a division of Wolverine WorldWide. Before then he was the SVP of Footwear at Under Armour where he oversaw the entire footwear organisation including design, development, merchandising and strategic planning. He also managed all financial accounts and directed the brand’s footwear distribution strategy.

Bartomeu became President of FC Barcelona on 23 January 2014, the date on which Sandro Rosell resigned. Before assuming the presidency, he had fulfilled various other roles at FC Barcelona. Between 2003 and 2005 he was the Director responsible for the handball and basketball sections. In 2010 he returned to the Club as Vice President, serving under Rosell.

With Josep Maria Bartomeu as President, the Club’s professional teams have maintained their success, the highlight being Barçelona’s treble winning campaign in 2014/15, consisting of the league title, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League. Married and father of two, he is a partner and CEO of the ADELTE Group (port and airport engineering, worldwide leader of boarding and design of large transport vehicles) and EFS, Equipo Facility Services (group of system maintenance and electromechanical equipment businesses).

Stephanie McMahon is the woman behind, and in front of, the curtain at WWE. After starting as an Account Executive, McMahon now sits on the WWE’s Board of Directors, following a two-decade rise through the ranks that has put her hands into virtually every facet of the business. This has included creative, talent relations, digital and her current role overseeing WWE’s brand efforts and brand reputation among investors, media, business partners and advertisers.

In just over two years at Bloomberg Media, Grossman has solidified his position as a vital exec in the company. In the past year alone, Grossman, 36, has received two major promotions from publisher of Bloomberg Digital and Digital Products to Head of U.S. Sales last November, and then to Global CRO in September. Thanks to his initiatives which include; building a programmatic business from scratch, launching a B2B marketing services group, selling advertisement inventory for Bloomberg’s livestreams of the presidential debates on Twitter, Bloomberg Media’s total revenue has grown 8 percent year-on-year.

Michael R. Yormark is President & Chief of Branding and Strategy for Roc Nation and responsible for marketing, branding, strategic partnerships and business development for the full-service company inclusive of artists, athletes, songwriters, music publishing, touring & merchandising, film & television, and a music label. Yormark leads the effort to create and develop optimal opportunities for the Roc Nation brand, and its roster of athletes and artists, through strategic partnerships. He is also responsible for increasing revenue and awareness for all Roc Nation brands and properties, as the company continues to set the standard for global innovation.

Michael possesses over 20 years of industry experience, most recently as President & CEO of Sunrise Sports & Entertainment, the Florida Panthers and the BB&T Center in South Florida where he was a SportsBusiness Journal Forty Under 40 winner and brokered the most lucrative naming rights partnership in BB&T Center history.

John is the Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Times. He has been with the FT for more than 25 years in both editorial and executive positions. Under his stewardship the Financial Times has expanded its global operation and developed its digital channels. During his tenure, the FT has gained a wide reputation for boldness and innovation, including pioneering the metered access model.

Andrea Radrizzani is Founder and Group Chairman of Aser, a global investment company that focuses on the media and sport sectors. In January 2017, through Aser, Andrea made an investment in 50 per cent of the share capital of Leeds United Football Club, making him Co-Owner of the club. Andrea Radrizzani is an experienced sports rights specialist and he was personally involved in most of MP & Silva’s rights acquisition with the major rights holders such as English Premier League, FIFA World Cup, UEFA, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Formula One, Olympic Council of Asia and others. He acted as MP & Silva Group CEO until 2013, being now involved in defining the Group’s business strategy and new special expansion projects.

Ambarish Mitra is the CEO and co-founder of Blippar, the leading augmented reality browser using artificial intelligence and computer vision to give people more from the world they see. He has grown Blippar from 3 co-founders to 300+ employees in 10 offices including acquiring AR giant Layar in 2014.

Jaymee Messler serves as President of The Players’ Tribune, a first-of-its-kind digital media company dedicated to empowering athletes with the tools they need to tell their stories. In addition to first-person essays, the platform features an array of video content, podcasts, and original photography. Messler co-founded The Players’ Tribune with Derek Jeter. She oversees the strategy and long-term vision of the business, industry relations, sales and marketing, and athlete relations. Since its launch, TPT has grown hugely with a range of athletes contributing to the platform, from the likes of Jordan Henderson to Kobe Bryant.

Stephen A Kaplan was a founder of Oaktree Capital Group, LLC, and currently an Oaktree Advisory Partner having retired from day-to-day activities at the end of 2016. At Oaktree, Mr Kaplan founded and built the Global Principal Group which focuses on control investments in the United States, Europe and Asia. Over the past several years Mr. Kaplan has built a significant business in sports ownership. He is the Managing General Partner of Swansea City Football, a football team based in Wales playing in the English Premier League.

In 2012, Mr. Kaplan was part of a group of investors that purchased the Memphis Grizzlies. He currently serves as the Grizzlies Vice-Chairman and has served as an Alternate Governor on the Board of Governors of the National Basketball Association. Mr. Kaplan is also an early stage investor in, and a board member of, Immortals, a leading company that owns teams competing in the emerging arena of video game competition.

After graduating with a Master of Business Studies from Massey University in New Zealand, Kit joined the International Olympic Committee Sport Department in 1996 then moved to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Organising Committee in 1998 and 1999 as Manager, Sport Operations. He re-joined the IOC as Manager, Sport Operations from 2000-2002, focusing on the delivery of sport at Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

In 2003, Kit joined the International Rugby Board (IRB) and following the Rugby World Cup Tournament (RWC) 2003 headed the newly formed RWC Department. Since 2004 he has been the Head of Rugby World Cup and RWC Tournament Director, overseeing Rugby World Cup Ltd’s operational delivery of France 2007, New Zealand 2011 and RWC 2015. His team has also managed the tenders for the RWC 2011, RWC 2015 and RWC 2019 events, the delivery of RWC Sevens 2009 in Dubai and RWC Sevens 2013 in Russia and Women’s RWCs in 2006 and 2010. After 10 years with the IRB, in 2014 he took up his post in the IOC.

Beane turned the identification and recruitment of talented players into a science, famously charted in the best-selling book ‘Moneyball’ and has moulded the A’s into a perennial postseason contender whilst running the club as one of the most cost effective teams in the MLB. Throughout his career Beane has been awarded a number of prestigious honours including; The Sporting News’ Executive of the Year, MLB’s Executive of the Year, and Street & Smith’s Sport Business Journal’s “40 under 40” list. Billy Beane was drafted by the New York Mets in 1980 and spent most of the 1980s in the minor leagues. He played six seasons in the major leagues before joining the management team of the Oakland Athletics in 1990, becoming general manager in 1997. His innovative management style inspired the 2003 book Moneyball, which was made into a film in 2011, starring Brad Pitt as Beane.

As Global Managing Director, Capabilities-Driven Strategy and Growth with Strategy&, PwC’s strategy consulting business, and Principal with PwC U.S., Paul helps companies connect capabilities to business success. Over the course of his career, Paul has become a recognized expert on strategy, growth and capability building. He has worked with many clients across industries and regions on identifying their differentiating capabilities and developing strategies that allow them to build on what they do best and thereby gain a right to win. He has led major capabilities-driven strategic transformation projects helping companies make bold moves to become coherent and create superior value. Through his research on how companies become and remain coherent and his work with clients across industries, he can draw interesting analogies among sectors and help executives gain new perspectives on where their industry is headed and what it takes to win.

Insights from Paul’s recent research are captured in STRATEGY THAT WORKS, a new book co-authored with Cesare R. Mainardi and Art Kleiner and published by Harvard in February 2016. He has coauthored two other books published by Harvard, including The Essential Advantage (2011) and Cut Costs and Grow Stronger (2009), plus many articles in Harvard Business Review and strategy+business.

Speaker at

SOCIAL FANALYTICS Panning for Gold: Making Sense of the Glut of Numbers

After working as an Account Director and Digital Specialist for blue chips clients such as 3M, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Norton Rose, Ben moved client side just over 8 years ago to work in Arsenal’s digital team. In this time he has delivered numerous digital projects including a major redesign of Arsenal.com and the new video site Arsenal Player, two mobile apps as well as a highly successful social media strategy. He was made General Manager of the Media Group in 2014 and now manages a team of 37 delivering official Arsenal content across digital, TV and print.

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THE BROADCAST DISRUPTORS Virtually A Reality: Getting the Sports VR Revolution Across the Line

With over two decades of experience in sports television, Michael Davies serves as Senior Vice President, Technical and Field Operations at FOX Sports. He manages all day-to-day aspects of live broadcast operations and oversees integration of new and emerging technologies for FOX Sports and FS1, specialising in technical production and innovation for large sporting events. Michael has won multiple Sports Emmy Awards for his work with both FOX Sports and HBO including technical team remotes for NASCAR, MLB and NFL coverage and long-form sports programming.

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THE BROADCAST DISRUPTORS Producing for A Multi-Device World

Daniel Myers’ is responsible for leading the product strategy and execution of services and experiences that deliver video for Sony Interactive Entertainment. He leverages the world’s best video content and most innovative technologies and serves a team that builds great video experiences for customers of PlayStation. The team creates applications and drives discovery of transactional live events, movies & TV shows, as well as subscription TV services to their customers on PlayStation consoles and across the world on popular devices. Earlier in his career Daniel was the Director of Video Cloud leading product management, development and marketing at Level 3 Communications and was a Producer in Promotions, Marketing and Video Services at Starz Entertainment.

Speaker at

THE ULTIMATE FAN EXPERIENCE Transforming The Experience Of Traditional Sports

Kit currently serves as the IOC’s Sport Director. He first joined the International Olympic Committee Sports Department in 1996, after receiving his Master of Business Studies from Massey University in New Zealand. In 1998, he joined the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games Sydney 2000 as Manager, Sport Operations.

He returned to the IOC as Sport Operations Manager in 2000, focusing on the delivery of sport at the Olympic Games Sydney 2000 and Olympic Winter Games Salt Lake City 2002. In 2003, Kit joined the International Rugby Board (IRB) and following the Rugby World Cup Tournament (RWC) in 2003 headed the newly formed RWC Department. Since 2004 he was the Head of Rugby World Cup and RWC Tournament Director, overseeing Rugby World Cup Ltd’s operational delivery of France 2007, New Zealand 2011 and was based in London for the RWC 2015.

In his current role at the IOC, one of his chief responsibilities includes supporting athlete focused programmes on behalf of the IOC and the Olympic Movement, which aim to help athletes both on and off the field of play. Kit also leads the work of the IOC in their relations with the International Federations and the Local Organising Committees on the delivery of sport during the Olympic Games.

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THE ULTIMATE FAN EXPERIENCE The Fan's Social Experience

As Senior Vice President of Brand Strategy and Digital, Hankins oversees broadcasting, creative services, game operations, digital media, marketing and retail for the Trail Blazers and Rose Quarter. Under Hankins’ leadership, the team’s digitally focused marketing campaign helped achieve franchise records in individual game ticket sales, the Trail Blazers and Rose Quarter sites underwent significant responsive site redesigns, and the team has increased its outreach to Oregon and the Pacific Northwest with statewide brand activations.

In his previous role with AEG Sports, Hankins oversaw the digital efforts of AEG’s sports properties worldwide, including the LA Kings and LA Galaxy, most notably the Kings’ cutting-edge social media initiatives from 2010-13. Prior to joining AEG, he spent time with the Minnesota Wild and Miami Marlins. Hankins currently serves on the NBA Team Marketing Advisory Board, the development committee for the Right Brain Initiative and as a board member for Special Olympics Oregon. A native of Lockport, Ill., Hankins is a 2002 graduate of Iowa State University, where he majored in communications.

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THE ULTIMATE FAN EXPERIENCE The Future Fan Experience

Adam Zimmerman is in his first season with the Atlanta Braves and was named Vice President of Marketing in January, 2016. He is responsible for the management and strategy for all marketing and branding of the Braves, including leading consumer and digital marketing, community affairs and game entertainment for the team. Zimmerman also oversees the development of technology offerings for fans as well as the use of data analytics. Additionally, Zimmerman helps with the marketing strategy for The Battery Atlanta, the Braves new mixed-use development project adjacent to SunTrust Park.

Prior to the Braves, Zimmerman spent 18 years with CSE (formerly Career Sports and Entertainment), most recently as agency president, successfully generating new business, managing their existing portfolio and leading the award winning agency with cutting edge programs and fan engagement through technology. While at CSE, Zimmerman also crafted a partnership with MIT, and created CSE Evolve, an in-house lab to keep up on the latest technologies. Zimmerman has also taught a graduate class on sports business at the University of Georgia.

Speaker at

THE ULTIMATE FAN EXPERIENCE Creating Your Own OTT Network

Jennifer has recently taken the role of Chief Strategy Officer at the LA Clippers. In this role, she oversees sponsorship sales and service as well as digital and new content initiatives. They are the first big 4 team to create their own ground-breaking live-streaming network. The platform will include player-specific cameras, in-game highlights and statistics in real time. This is all about creating a great online customer experience for Clippers fans at home or on the go.

Prior to joining the Clippers, she was Vice President, Team Marketing and Business Operations at the NBA where she oversaw the sponsorship, marketing and digital content groups supporting all 30 NBA teams.

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THE ULTIMATE FAN EXPERIENCE Why Do “Fans” Make The Choices They Make

Kevin Brilliant joined the Chicago Bulls in 2015 in a Business Strategy & Analytics role that combines behavioural science, analytics, and fan engagement. Prior to joining the Bulls, Brilliant completed his MBA at The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University with a focus on behavioural economics. During his time at Duke, Brilliant joined Dan Ariely’s Center for Advanced Hindsight where he worked with Ariely and his team of researchers to study applications of behavioural economics in sports.

In December of 2015, Kevin co-founded the Duke Behavioural Science & Sports Roundtable which convened leading researchers and senior sports executives to explore behavioural science as the next frontier in sports business and fan engagement. A passionate fan of sports analytics, Kevin also helped lead a joint venture between Duke Athletics and software-giant SAP to build a first-of-its-kind-in-college-sports data visualisation tool for Duke Men’s Basketball.

Gerrit Meier is a senior sports and entertainment executive actively leading in the digital, strategic and operational transformation of global media with 20+ years of international experience at Red Bull, WWE, Spotify, iHeartRadio/Clear Channel, EMI and Bertelsmann. Gerrit is responsible for leading Red Bull’s global media network business, including its content, development, production, programming and distribution efforts. The network is also home to Red Bull Records, Red Bull TV and other owned and managed digital OTT media platforms. Mr. Meier began his career within Accenture/Andersen Consulting’s Strategic Services Practice and subsequent to that, worked several years for EMI and BMG. He earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and his undergraduate degree in International Business Administration from the European Business School London, U.K.

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The Sport Business Summit Show Me the Money: Getting Sports Investment Right

Stephen A Kaplan was a founder of Oaktree Capital Group, LLC, and currently an Oaktree Advisory Partner having retired from day-to-day activities at the end of 2016. At Oaktree, Mr Kaplan founded and built the Global Principal Group which focuses on control investments in the United States, Europe and Asia. Over the past several years Mr. Kaplan has built a significant business in sports ownership. He is the Managing General Partner of Swansea City Football, a football team based in Wales playing in the English Premier League.

In 2012, Mr. Kaplan was part of a group of investors that purchased the Memphis Grizzlies. He currently serves as the Grizzlies Vice-Chairman and has served as an Alternate Governor on the Board of Governors of the National Basketball Association. Mr. Kaplan is also an early stage investor in, and a board member of, Immortals, a leading company that owns teams competing in the emerging arena of video game competition.

Speaker at

The Sport Business Summit The Changing Relationship Between Athletes, Media and Fans

Jaymee Messler serves as President of The Players’ Tribune, a first-of-its-kind digital media company dedicated to empowering athletes with the tools they need to tell their stories. In addition to first-person essays, the platform features an array of video content, podcasts, and original photography. Messler co-founded The Players’ Tribune with Derek Jeter. She oversees the strategy and long-term vision of the business, industry relations, sales and marketing, and athlete relations. Since its launch, TPT has grown hugely with a range of athletes contributing to the platform, from the likes of Jordan Henderson to Kobe Bryant.

Speaker at

The Sport Business Summit Making Augmented a Reality

Ambarish Mitra is the CEO and co-founder of Blippar, the leading augmented reality browser using artificial intelligence and computer vision to give people more from the world they see. He has grown Blippar from 3 co-founders to 300+ employees in 10 offices including acquiring AR giant Layar in 2014.

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The Sport Business Summit Striking The Owner’s Balance: Global Perspectives

Andrea Radrizzani is Founder and Group Chairman of Aser, a global investment company that focuses on the media and sport sectors. In January 2017, through Aser, Andrea made an investment in 50 per cent of the share capital of Leeds United Football Club, making him Co-Owner of the club. Andrea Radrizzani is an experienced sports rights specialist and he was personally involved in most of MP & Silva’s rights acquisition with the major rights holders such as English Premier League, FIFA World Cup, UEFA, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Formula One, Olympic Council of Asia and others. He acted as MP & Silva Group CEO until 2013, being now involved in defining the Group’s business strategy and new special expansion projects.

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The Sport Business Summit Broadcast of the Future: Streaming on Social

Dan Reed is Facebook’s Head of Global Sports Partnerships, where he leads the company’s efforts to connect hundreds of millions of sports fans on Facebook and Instagram with their sports passions. In this role, Reed manages strategic partnerships with sports leagues, teams, athletes, broadcasters and publishers around the world to help these partners connect with fans, and build innovative social experiences that drive their business. Reed joined Facebook after a 10-year career at the National Basketball Association where, as President of the NBA Development League, he led a turnaround of the NBA’s minor league into a financially valuable property and a thriving talent development system for the NBA.

Speaker at

The Sport Business Summit Understanding the Geo-Political Landscape

John is the Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Times. He has been with the FT for more than 25 years in both editorial and executive positions. Under his stewardship the Financial Times has expanded its global operation and developed its digital channels. During his tenure, the FT has gained a wide reputation for boldness and innovation, including pioneering the metered access model.

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The Sport Business Summit Toyota’s Gold Standard Olympic Partnerships

Jack Hollis is Group Vice President and General Manager of the Toyota Division at Toyota Motor North America (TMNA), where he is responsible for leading all sales, marketing, market representation, and all guest experience and retention activities for Toyota regional sales offices and distributors. Hollis also maintains a role as Global Marketing Advisor for Toyota’s Global Olympics Sponsorship.

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The Sport Business Summit Working Hard and Getting the Edge, Whatever the Industry

Michael R. Yormark is President & Chief of Branding and Strategy for Roc Nation and responsible for marketing, branding, strategic partnerships and business development for the full-service company inclusive of artists, athletes, songwriters, music publishing, touring & merchandising, film & television, and a music label. Yormark leads the effort to create and develop optimal opportunities for the Roc Nation brand, and its roster of athletes and artists, through strategic partnerships. He is also responsible for increasing revenue and awareness for all Roc Nation brands and properties, as the company continues to set the standard for global innovation.

Michael possesses over 20 years of industry experience, most recently as President & CEO of Sunrise Sports & Entertainment, the Florida Panthers and the BB&T Center in South Florida where he was a SportsBusiness Journal Forty Under 40 winner and brokered the most lucrative naming rights partnership in BB&T Center history.

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The Sport Business Summit Working Hard and Getting the Edge, Whatever the Industry

As Chief Executive Officer of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, Brett Yormark oversees the business enterprise that manages and controls the Brooklyn Nets, Barclays Center, the New York Islanders business operations, the new Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, and the Nets’ Development League affiliate, the Long Island Nets. Yormark is a member of the Board of Advisory Directors for both the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center. Alongside Charlie Walk of the Republic Group, Yormark co-founded the BSE Advisory Board, which provides strategic guidance and supports development initiatives and unique content opportunities for Barclays Center.

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The Sport Business Summit Monetising Digital Platforms

In just over two years at Bloomberg Media, Grossman has solidified his position as a vital exec in the company. In the past year alone, Grossman, 36, has received two major promotions from publisher of Bloomberg Digital and Digital Products to Head of U.S. Sales last November, and then to Global CRO in September. Thanks to his initiatives which include; building a programmatic business from scratch, launching a B2B marketing services group, selling advertisement inventory for Bloomberg’s livestreams of the presidential debates on Twitter, Bloomberg Media’s total revenue has grown 8 percent year-on-year.

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The Sport Business Summit Building the WWE Brand

Stephanie McMahon is the woman behind, and in front of, the curtain at WWE. After starting as an Account Executive, McMahon now sits on the WWE’s Board of Directors, following a two-decade rise through the ranks that has put her hands into virtually every facet of the business. This has included creative, talent relations, digital and her current role overseeing WWE’s brand efforts and brand reputation among investors, media, business partners and advertisers.

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The Sport Business Summit Striking The Owner’s Balance: Global Perspectives

Frank H. McCourt Jr. is an American businessman, President of the McCourt Global group and current owner of the Los Angeles Marathon and football club Olympique de Marseille. In October 2016 he purchased the French club for 45 million Euros promising to pump 180 million Euros into the club and appointed Rudi Garcia as Manager. Between 2004 and 2012 he was Owner of the LA Dodgers and had a very controversial tenure with the team running into bankruptcy before selling the organisation for $2 billion.

The Los Angeles Marathon, one of the most popular in the world attracting people from all over the world to take part, recent success has been put down to McCourt’s ownership and the introduction of the iconic “Stadium to Sea” course with 25,000 people taking part each year.

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The Sport Business Summit The Barça Innovation Hub: The number one centre of sporting innovation in the world

Bartomeu became President of FC Barcelona on 23 January 2014, the date on which Sandro Rosell resigned. Before assuming the presidency, he had fulfilled various other roles at FC Barcelona. Between 2003 and 2005 he was the Director responsible for the handball and basketball sections. In 2010 he returned to the Club as Vice President, serving under Rosell.

With Josep Maria Bartomeu as President, the Club’s professional teams have maintained their success, the highlight being Barçelona’s treble winning campaign in 2014/15, consisting of the league title, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League. Married and father of two, he is a partner and CEO of the ADELTE Group (port and airport engineering, worldwide leader of boarding and design of large transport vehicles) and EFS, Equipo Facility Services (group of system maintenance and electromechanical equipment businesses).

Speaker at

The Sport Business Summit The Changing Relationship Between Sports & Consumers

Gene McCarthy is a distinguished and well known veteran of the Athletic and Outdoor Footwear and Apparel industries. In October of 2015 Mr. McCarthy was appointed President and CEO of Asics Americas Group which includes the United States with subsidiaries in Canada, Mexico, Brazil along with distributors throughout Latin America. Prior to that he was President of the Merrell Brand, a division of Wolverine WorldWide. Before then he was the SVP of Footwear at Under Armour where he oversaw the entire footwear organisation including design, development, merchandising and strategic planning. He also managed all financial accounts and directed the brand’s footwear distribution strategy.

William “Billy” Lange is an American professional basketball coach currently serving as Assistant Coach and Director of Player Development with the Philadelphia 76ers. Prior to joining the 76ers, he was the Associate Head Coach at Villanova University under head coach Jay Wright. For Lange, it was his second stint with the Wildcats, having spent three years as their Director of Basketball Operations from 2001-2004. He rejoined Coach Wright’s staff in May of 2011 following seven seasons as Head Coach of the United States Naval Academy. At Navy, Lange inherited a team that had won five games the season prior to his arrival. The Midshipmen improved their win totals in each of his first five seasons, highlighted by a 19-11 mark in 2008-09. In 2008, Lange was named Patriot League Coach of the Year. Navy also lead the Patriot League in scoring in five of the sevens season Lange was in charge.

Eric Barker’s humorous, practical blog, “Barking Up the Wrong Tree”, presents science-based answers and expert insight on how to improve performance at work and life. Over 290,000 people subscribe to his weekly newsletter and his content is syndicated by Time Magazine, The Week, and Business Insider. He has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, and the Financial Times. Eric is also a sought-after speaker and interview subject, and has been invited to speak at MIT, Yale, West Point, the University of Pennsylvania, NPR affiliates, and on morning television.

Sydney Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management and Director of the Center for Leadership at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds a Masters degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published more than 80 articles, as well as 21 books, including the #1 bestseller Why Smart Executives Fail. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Management and on the global Thinkers 50 list of top management thought leaders. His latest bestselling book is Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, which LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age,” while Jeff Immelt, Chairman and CEO of GE, says “Superbosses gives leaders a playbook to bring out the best in their people.” He is also the co-founder of Superbosses, Inc., a startup that trains managers to become more effective and innovative leaders via a best-in-class digital learning platform. He can be reached on twitter: @sydfinkelstein.