Hashtag Sports 2020 VRTL Agenda.

Kerry D. Chandler is the Chief Human Resources Officer of Endeavor, a global leader in entertainment, sports and fashion.

Based in New York City, Chandler joined Endeavor from Under Armour where she also served as Chief Human Resources Officer. She previously held senior executive HR roles with Christie's International, the National Basketball Association (NBA), and Disney and ESPN.

She also held HR roles of increasing responsibility at IBM and Motorola, among others.

Chandler graduated from Lincoln University before earning a master’s degree in Human Resources and Management from Washington University and a master’s degree in Management from McGill University. She also earned a certificate from INSEAD’s International Masters in Practicing Management Program in Fontainebleau, France.

Chandler is a member of the Human Resources Policy Institute (HRPI) and the Executive Leadership Council (ELC).She also serves on the boards of the College Football Hall of Fame; Redfin, a technology-powered residential real estate company; and Lyra, a leading provider of mental health care benefits.

She previously served on the board of the New York Urban League and the espnW Advisory Panel. Chandler has received numerous recognitions including being named a “Game Changer” among women in sports by SportsBusiness Journal; one of “The Most Powerful Women in Business” by Black Enterprise; and BizWomen's “Top 100 Business Women to Watch.”

Mark Tatum was appointed NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer on Feb. 1, 2014, following unanimous approval by the NBA Board of Governors. Tatum, who joined the NBA in 1999, is responsible for the NBA’s business operations, including leading the NBA’s international efforts. He also oversees the Global Partnerships, Marketing, Communications and Team Marketing and Business Operations departments in addition to the NBA G League.

Through his leadership skills and extensive industry relationships, Tatum has been influential in guiding and growing the league’s business for nearly two decades. Since becoming Deputy Commissioner and COO, he has been instrumental in many historic initiatives including the first NBA game in Africa, the launch of seven NBA Academies around the world for youth and elite development, and the debut of the Jr. NBA World Championship, a first-of-its-kind global youth basketball tournament.

Additionally, Tatum spearheaded the NBA’s groundbreaking jersey sponsorship program to feature corporate logos on team jerseys, established an entitlement partnership with Gatorade for the NBA G League, and secured a global merchandising and marketing partnership with Nike, making it the exclusive oncourt uniform and apparel provider of the NBA, WNBA and NBA G League.

Prior to assuming his current role, Tatum served as Executive Vice President of Global Marketing Partnerships, where he managed the league’s extensive list of marketing and media partners, and was a key driver of new and expanded partnerships with many leading companies including American Express, Anheuser-Busch, Kia and State Farm. In addition, Tatum was responsible for developing USA Basketball’s marketing plan and sales strategy, and its overall relationship with the NBA.

Since joining the league, Tatum has held several positions, including Senior Vice President and Vice President of Business Development, Senior Director and Group Manager of Marketing Properties, and Director of Marketing Partnerships.

Prior to joining the NBA, Tatum worked for Major League Baseball in Corporate Sponsorship and Marketing, the Clorox Company as a Regional Sales Manager, Pepsi-Cola Company in their Sports Marketing department, and Procter & Gamble in sales management.

In 2016, Tatum was named to Forbes’ list of the Top 25 Most Influential Minorities in Sports. SportsBusiness Journal named Tatum to its list of the 50 Most Influential People in Sports Business in 2014 and 2015. For three straight years (2006, 2007 and 2008), he was also honored by the SportsBusiness Journal with a Forty Under 40 Award, making him an entrant into the publication’s Forty Under 40 Hall of Fame.

Tatum sits on numerous boards including USA Basketball, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, LA 2028 Summer Olympics, and the Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors. He is Chair of the Harvard Business School Club of New York and a member of the Executive Leadership Council, a national organization that empowers African-American corporate leaders to make impactful contributions.

Tatum received a B.S. in Business Management from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard University.

Sophie Goldschmidt is a dynamic, senior, global leader with broad and deep proven experience in sports, entertainment, media and technology.

Throughout her career she has been at the forefront of globalizing and innovating sports and entertainment properties. Most recently she was CEO of the World Surf League (WSL) and previously in leadership, commercial and marketing roles at the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the PGA European Tour, Adidas and the global sports marketing & entertainment agency CSM.

Sophie is a member of the WSL Advisory Board and also currently advises Egoli, Tersa, Pamos, 107, MIXhalo, Racquet Publishing, round21 and is a mentor for Techstars.

Arielle Chambers is one of the biggest champions of women's sports in the digital media space, full stop.

She has built up House of Highlights' women-focused HighlightHER Instagram account as the premiere destination for all going on in the world of women's sports and sports culture.

With a steady dose of news, user-generated content, interviews hosted by Ari with popular female athletes, and highlights; the account has grown from 0 to almost 70,000 followers in a year-and-a-half. In fact, HighlightHER added more followers than any other female-focused sports brand on Instagram between May and July of 2020.

With an education from both the University of Oxford (UK) and North Carolina State University (NC), Chambers excels in writing.

She is a reporter for the WNBA and NCAA women's basketball and has covered multiple WNBA All-Star games, NCAA Women's Final Fours, ACC Women's Basketball Tournaments, and for the 2019 WNBA Draft, Chambers was chosen to be the WNBA digital news host and delivered #WNBANews.

Jillian Frechette is the SVP of Marketing at Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment which includes roles as the SVP of Marketing for the New Jersey Devils and the Prudential Center.

She is a marketing and content leader focused on Sports & Entertainment with expertise in strategic planning, brand marketing, content, communications, corporate sponsorship, and event production. Jillian is an experienced marketer passionate about conceiving, developing, and executing complex campaigns that generate impact.

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Jennifer joined PointsBet as Vice President of Brand Marketing in October 2019. In her position, she oversees content, communications, strategic partnerships, creative design, events/activations and brand marketing functions while maintaining a focus on continually evolving the PointsBet brand as the company grows into new markets.

Before PointsBet, Jennifer was the Senior Director of Marketing for Monumental Sports Network where she spearheaded all marketing, including: subscription bundle marketing, email marketing, communications, media buying, creative execution, events and grassroots activations. Notably, her work at Monumental Sports Network included the launch to an OTT platform in 2016.

She began her career at Sports Illustrated, where she assisted with the marketing plan for the magazine’s 50th anniversary commemorative issue and the 40th anniversary of the world-famous Swimsuit Issue. She then ventured to ESPN where she worked on multiple marketing partnerships and helped relaunch ESPN Radio, as well as assist in the development of local ESPN websites. Following her stint at ESPN, she joined MSNBC to work on the creation of the ‘Lean Forward’ branding, along with leading marketing initiatives for several primetime programs. Jennifer was also part of the initial team that launched Hollywood director Robert Rodriguez’s English-language, Latino-focused cable network El Rey, a division of Univision.

Jennifer is a native New Yorker growing up on Long Island and currently resides in Manhattan. She attended Siena College where she attained a B.S. in marketing management and played Division I volleyball for the Saints.

Long regarded as one of the media industry’s most influential executives, David Levy currently serves as the Founder at Back Nine Ventures, LLC, his recently formed sports consulting and investing firm. Prior to Back Nine, Levy served as President of Turner, offering content and advertising solutions to some

In his capacity as President, Levy oversaw Turner’s leading portfolio of domestic entertainment, sports, kids and young adult networks and businesses, including TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, truTV, Turner Classic Movies, Bleacher Report and Turner Sports. He also led Turner’s two domestic revenue divisions – ad sales and distribution. During his 30-year tenure at Turner, Levy assumed executive oversight for increased investment in original premium content across the portfolio, and in 2018, Turner programming was nominated for 33 Emmy Awards.

Levy’s Turner Sports accomplishments were many since assuming leadership of the division in 2003. He was instrumental in deepening and expanding Turner’s media rights and defining the division via its association with premium sports content, brands and events, including the NBA, Major League Baseball and the PGA Tour. He negotiated a variety of multi-faceted agreements, each representing a significant change extending far beyond traditional television rights.

In 2010, Levy orchestrated a landmark NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball deal, partnering with CBS for multi-media rights, including exclusive televised rights to the 2014 Final Four and National Championship Game in 2016. This marked the first time in the event’s history that these key games were televised by a cable network. In 2017, under Levy’s guidance, Turner added to its portfolio of premium sports properties by acquiring rights to UEFA, including UEFA Champions League, Europa League and the UEFA Super Cup. All were launched on B/R Live, the company’s direct to consumer offering.

Levy also led a significant expansion in digital media and new businesses designed to grow Turner’s portfolio. In 2012, he spearheaded Turner’s efforts in acquiring the Bleacher Report, a leading online multi-sport destination. In 2015, Turner purchased a majority stake in streaming video pioneer iStreamPlanet, expanding capabilities to offer live events and cultivate future digital opportunities. Adding to the mix, in 2016, Turner launched ELEAGUE, a new professional esports league created in partnership with WME/IMG, and FilmStruck, the company’s first U.S. domestic subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service. It quickly followed in 2017 with Boomerang, its second SVOD offering. Additionally, David supported strategic investments in Refinery29 and Mashable, and championed new business alliances with Snapchat and Twitter.

David Levy has been the recipient of multiple awards for his professional achievement, including being elected to the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in 2012 and being named in 2018 by Sports Business Journal as one of the most influential executives over the past 20 years. In 2016, JDRF, the leading research and advocacy organization funding type 1 diabetes, honored Levy and his wife Niki, with the organization’s annual Humanitarian of the Year Award.

Deb Curtis is the Chief Marketing Officer of On Location. In this role, Deb has been tasked with leading On Location into becoming the destination brand for premier experiences across sports, entertainment, travel and lifestyle, thereby growing the business into a unified experiential powerhouse.

Most recently, Deb was with American Express for 13 years, where she served as the Vice President of Global Brand Partnerships and Experiences. In that role, she led the company's strategic partnerships with AEG (Coachella, Staples Center, The 02), Wimbledon, Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, Live Nation and Ticketmaster, the NBA, United States Golf Association, United States Tennis Association and more, delivering experiential value to millions of customers across the globe. She also oversaw the company’s early on sale ticket program, providing Card Members with access to thousands of events annually.

Working across the industry, Deb also led widely-recognized digital experiences, including her Emmy-winning partnership with Taylor Swift as part of the American Express Unstaged platform, and her Cannes Lions for the introduction of Jersey Assurance benefit, in partnership with Fanatics and the NBA.

Also while with AMEX, Deb pioneered diversity initiatives in the industry including launching the "American Express Women in Music Leadership Academy."

Year over year, Deb has been recognized by her peers as one of Billboard's Power 100, Branding Power Players and a Top Woman in Music. She also has been honored as Variety's Power Women of New York, Sports Business Journal's Brand Power Players and was named one of 2018's Working Mothers of the Year by She Runs It.

Deb received a BS in Advertising from the S.I. Newhouse School in Communications at Syracuse University and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. She is currently a member of the advisory board for both Syracuse University’s Newhouse School and the Shaquille O’Neal Foundation. She usually lives in Brooklyn but is currently spending her free time honing her gardening skills in the Berkshires with her 6 year old daughter.

Keith Bank is the Founder and Managing Partner of KB Partners and has a diverse background in start-up companies, real estate and other entrepreneurial ventures. He founded and serves on the Board of Directors of Club Champion Golf and was the past Chairman of SteadyMed Ltd. (NASDAQ:STDY). He also serves on the boards of Full Swing Golf, Phenix Real-Time Solutions, ANGLR, Alembic, Hammerhead, StreamLayer, and Workforce Athletics and oversees the firm’s investments in MVPIndex, FanCompass and Shape Matrix.

Keith has been a very "hands on" venture capital and angel investor in a wide variety of industries, including the medical, semiconductor, internet, telecom, software, cable TV, sports and golf, consumer and retail, and social media arenas. Prior to forming the KB Partners venture funds, Mr. Bank co-founded and served on the Board and as President of MST Analytics, Inc., a semi-conductor product and services business which was successfully sold to ATMI, Inc., a public company, in 1999.

Keith was a founding board member of the Illinois Venture Capital Association, and served as its Chairman in 2005-2006. He was the recipient of the IVCA’s prestigious Fellows Medal in 2006. Keith founded, and for 16 years, served as the Chairman of the Chicago Select Golf Invitational, one of the largest American Cancer Society golf fundraising events in the country, having raised approximately $8 million under his guidance. He has been honored by Crain’s Chicago Business as a “40 Under 40”, a Who’s Who of Chicago Executives and as one of the 100 most prominent members of Chicago’s technology community. Keith is active in CEO’s against Cancer and NU Wave, an athletic fundraising vehicle for Northwestern University.

Prior to forming KB Partners in 1996, Keith was a Principal at HSA, a Chicago based national real estate development, investment, management and brokerage firm. There he was instrumental in the development, acquisition, financing, sale, and leasing of over three million square feet of property with a value in excess of $650 million. Other career highlights include co-founding a deep discount retailer, acquiring and completing a successful turnaround of a women’s apparel manufacturing and sales company, and procuring the equity and debt financing for, and serving as the Producer and Executive Producer of feature films entitled “Heaven is a Playground” (1991) and the BAFTA award winning "Tommy's Honour" (2017).

Keith graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. degree in Economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and holds an MBA in Finance with honors from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He is 99% of the way towards achieving his goal of playing the Top 100 golf courses in the United States.

Christina Litz is the Vice President, Business Development, Revenue & Media at Woodbine Entertainment Group, Canada’s largest operator of professional horseracing in Canada and a multi-dimensional entertainment business. She leads all new business development initiatives for Woodbine including developing and implementing strategies around digital products and sports wagering to attract new fans to horseracing. She also oversees broadcast, content and social media strategy and operations.

Prior to Woodbine, Christina was Chief Marketing, Digital & Strategy Officer of the Canadian Football League. At the CFL she led all strategic and executional matters relating to marketing, events, digital and broadcast. She led all strategy and execution related to the relaunch of the CFL Digital Network, the new CFL brand and has launched several new digital products including stats, fantasy and mobile gaming. She finalized broadcast deals with ESPN and formed strategic partnerships for the League with Google, Facebook, Twitter and Whistle Sports, which has received coverage in trade and consumer publications.

Christina has a long history at Canada’s biggest entertainment companies. She was VP, Digital Content & Engagement for Corus Entertainment and led all digital social media operations for Corus’ tv brands. Prior to Corus, Christina was at Rogers Media, where she led their digital pureplay business including iVillage.ca, Sweetspot and Branchez-Vous.

A lawyer, Christina first stepped into the world of digital while doing Business Affairs at CHUM Radio & Television and later CTV where she supported the launch of MuchMusic’s digital video player and negotiated CTV’s first iTunes deal. Following CTV, she led business development efforts for the TELUS Content team, helping secure and distribute content through all TELUS’ platforms.

Christina is a graduate of the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law and briefly practiced law at Torys.

Brad Weitz is a customer success, operations, & digital strategy executive with broad experience growing SaaS organizations specifically in the analytics, conversion rate optimization, personalization, search marketing, and the digital marketing space.

He has been at the forefront of technological innovation in SaaS startups for the past 11 years; working with clients in all verticals including Finance, Retail, Travel, B2B, CPG, Healthcare, Insurance, Pharma, and Media.

In this experience, Brad has acted as a change agent for organizations trying to drive customer value to grow renewal rates, MRR, reducing churn, and increasing loyalty that have led my organizations to grow exponentially, raise VC rounds, and exit successfully.

Akshay Khanna is the General Manager, North America for StubHub. He previously led partnerships for the NFL, NBA, and NHL.

Prior to joining StubHub, Akshay held the roles of Director of Strategy and then Vice President of Strategy for the Philadelphia 76ers. With the historic NBA team, Akshay led the acquisition and merger of two eSports teams for the Sixers, managed the team's entrepreneur innovation lab, developed a StubHub-partnered ticketing platform for Sixers games, and negotiated an estimated $25 million jersey sponsorship deal with StubHub.

Akshay also finds great professional satisfaction sharing his knowledge with others in his role as Adjunct Professor of Sports Business at the Northwestern University School of Professional Studies.

Akshay received an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Katie Lavin is the Vice President of Marketing at the National Lacrosse League (NLL). A veteran in the brand, sports, and event marketing space, Lavin brings over 16 years of experience to the NLL, having held senior marketing roles at 20th Century Fox Filmed Entertainment, Wasserman Media Group, mcgarrybowen, and Wunderman Thompson (fka JWT).

Before joining the league, she was working as a consultant for brands that included SundaySky, Weatherman umbrellas, and the Potential Energy Coalition.

Katie is a former D1 lacrosse player at Cornell University where she earned a degree in Applied Economics Management from the Dyson School of Management. At Cornell, Katie was a member of Delta Gamma, Sphinxhead Society, and the Red Key Honor Society.

Currently, she is on the Board of Pants Off Racing and dedicates her time to organizations like WISE and CityLax. Lavin resides in Philadelphia.

Anthony Caponiti is the CEO & Co-founder of Hashtag Sports.

He is passionate about the convergence of sports x entertainment, evolving media consumption habits, consumer psychographics, and inspiring the next generation of creative talent and leadership.

Prior to Hashtag Sports, Anthony was the Co-Founder of Activ8Social, the first sports social media agency. Under his leadership, the company developed sponsorship activation and fan engagement programs for clients such as Red Bull, Google, Team USA, United Airlines, Comcast, Brooklyn Nets and FC Dallas.

Anthony has developed a unique blend of entrepreneurial. media, and digital marketing experience. He began his professional career as a Strategy Consultant at IBM, where he received numerous awards for designing technology programs.

Anthony earned his undergraduate BBA degree from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in Atlanta, GA with concentrations of venture management consulting, business law, and communications.

Anthony was a member of the NCAA Track & Field for Emory University where he ran the 800m and 1500m. Since graduating from college athletics, he has raced the Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Delaware, and DC Marine Corps marathons.

Daniel Kirschner is a veteran in software, sports and media, having held senior positions as the President of the Harvard Law Review, Head of Internet Policy at the FCC, and Head of Corporate Affairs at Activision Blizzard.

Through his experience, Daniel has come to appreciate the many challenges, risks, and opportunities technology organizations face as we become a digital-first society.

As the Co-Founder and CEO of Greenfly, he has worked with some of the biggest brands in sports, entertainment, and social causes to help them build brand awareness and increase customer engagement through digital channels.

Daniel holds an A.B. from Harvard University and a J.D from Harvard Law School.

Born in Barcelona, Ferran has more than 25 years of business experience in ten countries, in the industries of consumer goods, telecommunications, aviation and football.

He served at Futbol Club Barcelona as Vice-Chairman and CEO between 2003-2008 and is credited with playing a major role in the transformation of the club. FC Barcelona started a period that would bring it the best results in its history and became one of the most successful football teams globally, doubling revenues in three years and moving from loss-making to a profit-making position.

Ferran negotiated deals with some of the sport’s most high-profile players, including football superstars like Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi and led on some of the most significant TV and merchandising deals in the industry, including a ground-breaking non-profit making shirt deal with UNICEF.

Author of a book published in more than ten countries and languages—Goal: The Ball Doesn’t Go In By Chance—Ferran is married with two daughters and lives in Manchester.

Michael Wilson has been a part of startups, established private companies, and public companies over the past 25 years. In every position, the most rewarding experiences are those related to the people he works with. His experiences broaden and deepen his skills to reinforce the idea that people and teams make an organization successful.

Michael Daly is highly experienced in developing new markets focusing on U.S. iGaming and the casino industry. He has over 15 years of experience successfully launching and managing new and highly profitable divisions for large and small global organizations.

Tatiana Holifield is the Head of Brand Social at Hulu.

Her previous roles include VP & Head of Digital Strategy at Pacers Sports & Entertainment, Sr. Director of Social Media & Digital Marketing Strategy at Viacom, Director of Brand Marketing at NBCUniversal Media.

Daniel Sillman is the Chief Executive Officer of Relevent Sports Group<

He is passionate about media businesses that lie at the intersection of sports and entertainment. Sillman leads the largest privately-owned soccer company in North America which operates the International Champions Cup (ICC), the summer’s premiere international club tournament. The tournament has sold 5 million tickets and draws over 100 million viewers annually.

Sillman’s initial foray into soccer was leading the strategy to bring the famed soccer rivalry, El Clásico, to the U.S. for the first time in 2017 creating a week of events and entertainment activities, marketing the match to be the highest grossing soccer match in recorded history. Sillman has been named to the 2019 Sports Business Journal’s forty under 40 list and Forbes’ Sports 30 under 30 for 2018.

During his time as CEO, Sillman has led the company through a period of exponential growth, creating new properties and completing the landmark deal, a first-of-its-kind 20-year deal with LaLiga, an equal joint venture to promote soccer in the U.S. and Canada.

Prior to joining Relevent Sports Group, Sillman served as the Director of Business Development at RSE Ventures, responsible for sourcing, structuring, and executing on new investments at RSE Ventures, including NextVR, Student Sports, Krossover and PureWow, among others. Sillman is a business partner and advisor to NBA star, Draymond Green, with whom he co-owns Blink Fitness franchises that encompasses the state of Michigan and Chicago area.

Sillman, who lives in New York City, holds a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business. He currently serves as Chairman of the NextGen Council at the University of Michigan.

Ishwara Glassman Chrein is the Head of Sports Partnerships and Business Development at Yahoo Sports / Verizon Media, where she leads the gaming strategy as well as relationships and negotiations with the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NBC, as well as other sports leagues, broadcasters, statistical companies, and technology companies.

She began her career at McKinsey & Company and Lehman Brothers, before spending nine years at WME IMG Sports, Entertainment, and Media, most recently as SVP and Global Head of Sales Operations and Strategic Planning.

Ishwara graduated magna cum laude from Columbia with a degree in economics and political science and received her Master in International Affairs (International Finance) from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.

She lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her husband, two kids, and one enormous golden retriever.

John Kosner is an internet pioneer and four-decade veteran of sports media.

Today, he is president of Kosner Media, a digital media and sports consultancy. In 2018, John and the late NBA Commissioner Emeritus David Stern created Micromanagement Ventures, a portfolio of sports technology start-ups focused on media, betting and player health. John continues to serve as an advisor to and an investor in the 15 current companies in Micromanagement Ventures which include WSC Sports, WHOOP and Bit Fry Studios.

Separately, John is an advisor to Sportradar, the Big East Conference, Molekule, EDO and the PRCA; he and his former NBA colleague Ed Desser negotiate sports media agreements for rightsholders, and they write periodic columns for the Sports Business Journal. John also does expert witness work, currently for Proskauer Rose LLP.

Previously, John led ESPN digital media from 2003-2017, after stints at Sports Illustrated, the NBA, where he was in charge of U.S. broadcasting during the Dream Team era, CBS Sports and NBC Sports. In his 21 years at the company, Kosner built ESPN into the world’s leading digital sports destination—a powerhouse in short—and long-form editorial content, streaming, social media, podcasting, fantasy sports and direct-to-consumer—increasing traffic ten-fold and turning an unprofitable business into ESPN’s fastest growing one.

Kosner is the president of the Alumni Association and serves on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, the Collegiate School in New York City. He was graduated with distinction from Stanford University in 1982 with a bachelor of arts degree in American History.

A native of New York City, Kosner lives in Manhattan with his wife, Diane Burstein, and their son, Luke. He has two older children, Walter and Grace, who live in Los Angeles.

As the CEO of global esports organization Evil Geniuses (EG), Nicole LaPointe Jameson heads up a legacy sports brand that has helped to define the modern era of competitive gaming and continues to break boundaries today.

LaPointe Jameson leads a team across Seattle and LA and oversees strategy and operations around EG’s competitive sports, streaming and entertainment, and merchandise as well as masterminding expansion into new business sectors. Under her leadership, EG has undergone a major brand relaunch and made winning debuts in multiple competitive esports, including a franchise slot in the League Championship Series (LCS), the third most popular overall sport between 18-34 year olds in North America.

Aerial Powers is an American professional women's basketball player for the World Champion Washington Mystics of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Aerial was born in Detroit, Michigan and attended Michigan State University where she graduated with a degree in Communications.

Aerial, whose gamertag is Powerzsurge, has become a global influencer in the esports world and has an international following in China, Turkey and South Korea. She is the most popular and visible gamer in the WNBA and enjoys playing NBA 2K, Apex Legend, Call of Duty and Valorant. Aerial’s love for gaming started early in her childhood where she would game with her father and brother. Gaming has since become a family bonding activity that she enjoys to this day.

As a brand ambassador for the non-profit organization Health-e-Gamer Foundation, Exposure and eFuse, Aerial is acutely aware of the positive impact that gaming has on disenfranchised and marginalized communities. As a woman in gaming and STEM, she empowers young women to code and be innovative with technology. Aerial is a member of the Global Esports Federation on the Athletes and Players Commission. Her mission is to use her global platform and social media presence to promote women and persons of color in gaming, healthy gaming and making gaming inclusive and accessible to all.

Jeff Eisenband is a sports and esports broadcaster who has contributed to the NBA 2K League, MSG Networks, PGA Tour NBA Twitch, Twitch Rivals, Front Office Sports, Ozy, Complex, Whistle Sports and Golf Magazine. He previously served as senior editor of ThePostGame.

A 2015 graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Jeff originally hails from Larchmont, New York and is currently based in New York City.

Zachary Leonsis is senior vice president of strategic initiatives for Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), a multi-platform sports, media, entertainment, and technology company located in the heart of the “DMV” in downtown Washington, DC.

MSE is best known for its fan- facing brands which include the NHL’s Washington Capitals, the NBA’s Washington Wizards, and Capital One Arena, as well as seven additional team brands, three more venues, and equity in two media networks: NBC Sports Washington and Monumental Sports Network.

As senior vice president of strategic initiatives, Leonsis manages MSE’s media rights relationship with NBC Sports Washington, all venture capital investment opportunities, the company’s sports betting strategy, and its growing esports division.

Leonsis represents MSE on NBC Sports Washington’s board of directors as well as on Team Liquid’s board of directors. Leonsis is also general manager of Monumental Sports Network, a first-of-its-kind regional sports network for digital, mobile, and over-the-top platforms. In 2016, Leonsis launched Monumental Sports Network, co-owned by MSE and NBC Sports Group, as a direct-to-fan content service provider seeking to reach cord-cutting sports fans.

Monumental Sports Network offers paid-membership bundles that feature hundreds of live games across over 20 different sports leagues, hundreds of hours of original programming, exclusive merchandise discounts, and member-only events & experiences.

After earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2011, Leonsis received his MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and is a founding member of the Georgetown Entrepreneurship Advisory Board. He also recently joined the Advisory Board of the Georgetown McDonough School of Business in 2019. He received an appointment to serve on Virginia’s Governor’s Advisory Board on Service and Volunteerism, and is involved in a variety of nonprofit and charitable activities in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia communities.

Barry Bedlan oversees AP’s vertical products, including sports, entertainment and business. He has been with AP for 25 years, starting as a reporter and then news editor before taking on sales and member relations roles as an assistant bureau chief throughout the central U.S. He has been a product director for the last five years. He is based in Dallas, Texas.

Jeremy is currently the Engagement Manager at the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

He oversees ambassador and influencer engagement which includes event appearances, marketing campaigns, fundraising, and more. In addition, Jeremy helps facilitate strategic partnerships that drive revenue towards the foundation’s grant-making process. As of August 2020, Jeremy was appointed committee chair for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the V Foundation.

Jeremy holds a B.A. in Communication from the University of Kentucky and was a member of the UK Football team as a wide receiver, 2007 Music City Bowl champions.

Slane has over 12 years of experience working in the casino gaming industry.

Most recently, she was the senior vice president of public affairs at the American Gaming Association (AGA). As a key industry strategist and spokesperson, Slane helped enhance the gaming industry’s reputation and built favorable perceptions among critical stakeholders, including regulators, legislators, the media, and the broader public. Her messages were delivered across multiple platforms, including: testifying before Congress and state legislatures; conducting television and print interviews with major outlets such as CNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The New York Times; and delivering remarks at high-visibility forums around the country.

Most recently, Slane managed the most important advocacy victory in AGA history, a campaign to overturn the federal ban on sports betting known as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). Slane was integral to planning the campaign’s strategy and leading key aspects, including building alliances with sports leagues and policymakers; handling the association’s day-to-day grassroots and communications efforts; and overseeing the development of original research that demonstrated the overwhelming support for legal, regulated sports betting among fans and quantified the economic opportunities for American businesses.

Slane's efforts culminated in the May 14, 2018 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court to deem PASPA unconstitutional and clear the way for the gaming industry to offer sports betting under state regulation. Because of her leadership role, Slane is touted as “the face of legalized sports betting” and deemed one of “the most important and influential voices in gaming”.

Prior to joining AGA, Slane served as vice president of regional government affairs with MGM Resorts International where she spearheaded the largest gaming ballot initiative in the country. Her efforts led to a victory at the polls, the successful awarding of licensure to MGM National Harbor, and the building of the $1.4 billion gaming resort on the Potomac River.​

Slane is the recipient of numerous awards, including Sports Business Journal's Forty under 40, Global Gaming Business Top 25 People to Watch, Gold Stevie Award for Best Communications campaign of 2018, Association TRENDS' Advocacy Campaign of the Year, and The Hill's Top Lobbyist in 2018.

Slane is a graduate of Ohio University and lives in the Washington, D.C. region with her two sons.

Jose Vieitez is as a Co-Founder at Boomtown Accelerators and serves as a Director and Portfolio Manager at Boomtown's Boulder HQ.

He’s the founder of five startups, worked in design at Google, and lived in five different countries.

Jose holds an Master of Business Administration (MBA) from University of Colorado Boulder – Leeds School of Business in 2016, Master of Science (MS) in Computer Science from University of Colorado Boulder in 2016 and BS in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University in 2011.

Celeste leads digital strategy and content creation for the Indiana Pacers and Bankers Life Fieldhouse including the management and growth of all Pacers digital properties—email marketing, social media, website, and mobile app.

She is a graduate of Butler University with a Bachelor's degree in Media Arts and Journalism.

Josh Bryant the CEO & Co-Founder of Fangage.

Jenna Kurath serves as Vice President of Startup Partner Development overseeing partner relations and resource management of SportsTech – a global accelerator for multi-stage sports technology startups and The FARM – an innovation hub supporting early-stage startup founders.

In this role, Jenna is responsible for leading strategy for both accelerator funds; defining the investment thesis and managing key industry partnerships to build and curate a team of advisors and mentors, along with custom-designed curriculum and capital investment, to attract the best startups from around the world to innovate in Atlanta. Both programs are part of a larger portfolio of Comcast NBCUniversal accelerator investments, including LIFT Labs in Philadelphia, focused on entrepreneurial engagement to help the next generation of technology leaders succeed.

Previously she was Executive Director of Business Development & Partnerships having joined Comcast in 2013, working previously within the corporate Strategic Development team as well as Comcast Business. Prior to joining the company Jenna held various business development, sales strategy and communication roles at companies ranging from the startup, pre-IPO stage to Fortune 500 companies including Symantec and Concentric Networks.

A 15-year veteran of ViacomCBS, Adam Steingart launched ViacomCBS’s Live Events and Experiential business unit and leads the sales and marketing team.

ViacomCBS Live consists of a cross network portfolio, made up of festivals, tours, tent pole events and custom activations; including SnowGlobe, Slimefest, VidCon, The VMA’s and Bellator.

Prior to leading the live events and experiential business unit, Steingart was SVP of Partnerships and integrated marketing across Viacom’s music and entertainment groups, where he led campaigns for a number of national consumer brands including RAM, Subaru, PepsiCo and countless others.

Steingart began his ViacomCBS career with CMT in 2005, working on such shows as the “CMT Music Awards,” “CMT Artists of the Year” and “CMT Crossroads.”

He has over 20 years of experience in advertising and marketing, including work on the Brand Management and Promotion team at PBS. A native of New Jersey, Steingart has a bachelor’s degree from George Mason University.

Mike Morrison was named Vice President, Business Development in January 2018. In this role, he leads a team that identifies and builds new business opportunities for ESPN, including sports betting and esports.

Prior to his current role, Morrison spent a decade leading ESPN’s businesses in Asia Pacific (APAC). During Morrison’s tenure in APAC, he was responsible for ESPN’s interests in Asia-Pacific, which included overseeing ESPN’s wholly owned businesses in Australia, New Zealand, India, Southeast Asia and Japan, as well as ESPN’s minority stake in J SPORTS. Additionally, Morrison worked closely with ESPN’s global digital media teams in developing its world-leading digital media business in the APAC region. The division’s leading online and mobile brands and services – including ESPNcricinfo, ESPN FC, ESPN.com, ESPYfootytips, ESPNF1 and ESPNscrum – made it the number one digital sports publisher in India and Australia, and among the leading digital sports businesses in Southeast Asia.

Morrison previously served as commercial director for ESPN’s European-based American sports network, ESPN America. In that role he managed distribution and programming acquisitions. He also previously oversaw the launch of ESPN’s international broadband subscription service in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, ESPN360 (since re-branded ESPN Player).

Morrison joined ESPN in 2007 with the acquisition of the North American Sports Network (NASN) from Benchmark Capital and Setanta Sports. At NASN he served as commercial director, overseeing the distribution and acquisitions.

Prior to NASN, he played a key in role in the global expansion of Bloomberg Media, initially managing US and international affiliate sales for Bloomberg Television and later overseeing worldwide distribution for all Bloomberg media products.

Morrison started his career in radio and television news working in both Washington DC and New York and holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from the University of Maryland. He is based in New York.

Doug Kezirian is the host of Daily Wager, ESPN’s daily sports betting news and information program that launched in March of 2019. He also is ESPN’s sports betting analyst, appearing across ESPN platforms to discuss issues, news and information related to sports betting. and he hosts the ESPN podcast Behind the Bets with Doug Kezirian. He has covered sports betting for more than 15 years.

He joined ESPN as a SportsCenter anchor in July 2012 and has hosted several other ESPN programs: NBA Tonight, Friday Night Fights, Highlight Express, Buzzer Beater, Goal Line and First Take. Additionally, he has hosted halftime updates for college basketball, WNBA and Arena Football broadcasts, has called college basketball as a play-by-play announcer and has hosted ESPN Radio’s College GameDay.

Prior to joining ESPN, Kezirian lived in Las Vegas for seven years and was the Sports Director and main sports anchor for KTNV-TV, the city’s ABC affiliate. He anchored the daily sportscasts, as well as the station’s high school football show. He doubled as founder and co-host of “The Las Vegas Sportsline”, which is currently the highest-rated ESPN radio show in Las Vegas.

In his seven years in the desert, he covered numerous sporting events, as well as conducting one-on-one interviews with Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Mike Krzyzewski, Jimmie Johnson, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Dana White. He also worked the red carpet and interviewed celebrities at countless entertainment events in Las Vegas. Kezirian has attended the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, World Series, NCAA Tournament, bowl games, NASCAR races, Stanley Cup Final, marquee boxing and UFC cards, and the World Series of Poker. His career even took him to Guantanamo Bay, when he dabbled as a news anchor.

The Los Angeles native graduated Brown University with an Economics degree. He played three sports in high school, before focusing on water polo at Brown, where he was a four-year letterman and co-captain of its nationally-ranked team.

Lori J. Hall is co-founder and head of creative for the recently launched multicultural agency Pop’N Creative.

Based in Atlanta, Ga., Pop’N Creative was established because she and co-founder Jessica D. Lane Alexander saw too many brands offend Black consumers in their marketing creative. They wanted to help brands do better with highly coveted multicultural audiences. Hall and Lane Alexander built Pop’N Creative to serve brands better and help them avoid the pitfalls of marketing in a multicultural world.

Prior to founding Pop’N Creative, Hall was Senior Vice President of Marketing for TV One, an African American targeted cable network.

Under her leadership, she spearheaded the network’s new brand look and promise, which included a comprehensive creative overhaul of TV One’s on-air and off-air brand elements, including its new tagline, “REPRESENT.” She also led the new brand look and marketing for TV One’s recently launched Millennial and Gen-X targeted network CLEO TV. During her tenure at TV One, Hall managed all phases of marketing, including advertising and branding outreach efforts in order to maximize TV One’s business and programming objectives.

Hall joined TV One in 2015 from UP TV where she was Vice President Consumer Marketing. During her tenure, she launched UP’s first ever viral video, reaching 43 million views across social media in less than one week and she oversaw the launch of Bringing Up Bates, which garnered over eight million viewers its first season. She also launched the highly-successful Easter campaign in support of the network’s premiere of Passion of the Christ—the most watched movie event in the history of UP. Moreover, she negotiated an exclusive media partnership with Steve Harvey resulting in UP’s inaugural sponsorship of The Neighborhood Awards.

Before joining UP, Hall oversaw numerous successful marketing campaigns at Turner Entertainment Networks, including TBS’s Cougar Town and Men at Work, as well as Tyler Perry’s hit sitcoms For Better or Worse, House of Payne and Meet the Browns. She also launched several TNT campaigns, including Rizzoli and Isles and Hawthorne. While there she negotiated and executed multi-million-dollar partnerships with multiple Fortune 500 companies to reach new audiences.

Hall is a member of the 2020 Board of Trustees of Saving Our Daughters, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering girls from multicultural backgrounds through the arts to deter bullying and self-esteem abuse. In this role, she supports the organization’s Cinderella Program, co-founded by actress and singer Keke Palmer, by helping to motivate young girls of color through mentorship and education beyond the borders of the traditional classroom. She is also an active member of Nielsen’s Advisory Council and served as a 2019 WICT Board member.

Hall was named a 2018 NYC Television Week “40 Under 40” honoree, a 2016 Multichannel News “40 Under 40” honoree, a recipient of the 2018 WICT “Know Yourself” award and has been a featured panelist for numerous industry events and conferences. She holds memberships with NAMIC and PromaxBDA, and is a Northwestern University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in communications.

Feel free to engage with Lori J. Hall, Pop’N Creative’s Co-Founder & Head of Creative, via Linkedin (@lorihall) , Twitter (@lorijay) and Instagram (@lorijay).

Trevor Bauer is an All-Star pitcher and entrepreneur who just finished his eighth MLB season and second with the Cincinnati Reds. On the field, Trevor is an elite pitcher changing how players approach the game by embracing advanced data; off of it, he is progressing the game through a significant investment in content and access.

Known for his lethal pitch repertoire and data-driven approach to performance, Trevor has dedicated himself to weaponizing data, computing, engineering, robotics, and science to usher in a “new school” of thinking and approach to training. The son of a chemical engineer and a former UCLA mechanical engineering student himself, Trevor approaches baseball with the same mindset. He set the trend for players to use high-speed cameras, which he uses to analyze his release of the baseball, weighted-ball training, long toss, precision pitch design, and more.

In 2020, Trevor led the National League with a 1.73 ERA, ranked second in strikeouts with 100 Ks (first pitcher in the NL to hit this milestone in 2020), and led Major League Baseball with a 0.79 WHIP, all amid Cy Young chatter.

Trevor is quick to speak his mind and even quicker to go viral. He is passionate about building baseball’s popularity and reengaging a young fanbase often cast aside by traditional MLB marketing.

In January 2019, Trevor co-founded Momentum, a media company aimed at connecting fans and athletes on a human level and going behind the scenes of the lives, training, and game days of MLB stars—all to shift the game’s perception among younger fans.

Momentum is the first player-owned media company credentialed by Major League Baseball. Trevor fully funds the venture and employs a full-time staff as well as a network of consultants for Momentum, which has produced 500+ pieces of short-and-long-form content and worked with 110+ athletes to date. On YouTube alone, Momentum has logged over 11 million views and 1.2 million hours of watch time in its first 20 months. Momentum has inked distribution partnerships with FOX Sports and PlayersTV, where Trevor co-leads the baseball vertical alongside HOFer Ken Griffey, Jr. Trevor’s investment in content is also evident across his personal social channels, where he produces several original series: Breaking Point, Tips with Trev, and The Trevor Bauer Show.

Follow Trevor on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube @BauerOutage.

With 20+ years of industry experience, GMR’s Chief Client Officer, Alex Beer, leads a team of 150+ people across GMR’s Global Headquarters in Wisconsin and Chicago offices.

Alex specializes in bringing brands to life through the power of creative consumer engagements, but his passion lies in fostering integration across his teams and GMR’s agency network. With a structured approach to solving business problems, he leverages strategy, creative, social, digital and measurement to both secure new business and support clients across a broad spectrum of industries; working on such clients as Best Buy, Comcast, Johnsonville, Hershey’s, Microsoft and Nissan.

As the Owner and CEO of STN Digital, David is passionate about marketing, building brands and creating authentic relationships with all of his clients to unlock their full potential. He founded STN in 2013 and has since grown an award-winning team of some of the best in the industry.

STN works with some of the biggest brands in the world and continues to push the boundaries in the ever-changing digital and marketing landscape.

He is also the host of two podcasts, Business of Social and Entrepreneur Wrap, which was ranked by Forbes as a Top 10 podcast every business owner should listen to.

Nicole Portwood joined PepsiCo in September 2018 as vice president of marketing, Mountain Dew, leading 360° brand marketing strategy across the trademark. In this role, she continues to further hone the fan-centric marketing model developed over years of experience and put to the test in the spirits category.

Nicole joined PepsiCo from Tito’s Handmade Vodka, where she led brand marketing as CMO for 9 years based in Austin, TX. Nicole was recognized as AdAge’s Marketer of the Year 2017. Prior to her role at Tito’s, she lived in New York and worked on the agency side for brands such as Jack Daniels, Grey Goose, and Bombay Sapphire. She is a recovering restaurant owner, having created and then sold Spartan Pizza, a thriving shop on Austin’s 6th Street.

Nicole studied theatre and philosophy at Southern Methodist University. She and her husband have two children, and live in the beautiful River Towns area of Westchester, NY.

Kelsey Taylor is a Sports Partnerships Manager at Twitter in New York City.

Prior to Twitter, she was Manager, Media Strategy & Business Development at the NFL and TMT Investment Banking Analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

As part of the Digital Content Strategy Team at the NBA, Maggie Engellenner manages the NBA's extensive relationships with digital partners. Her primary role is of dual-nature: Oversee digital deal commitments and revenue for digital partners, while optimizing content across the NBA's digital assets and strategically planning around NBA tentpole events.

Maggie's background is sports business and journalism. She is a proud alumna of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Media and Journalism where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism-public relations (sports) and a minor in social and economic justice.

Gina Scott’s expertise in sports marketing and sponsorships spans the professional sports, collegiate, public and corporate sectors. Scott is a multi-talented professional with diverse experience managing the development and implementation of sponsorship marketing strategies on behalf of a diverse portfolio of clients, as well as experience encompassing corporate partnerships, brand management, talent procurement, marketing, and live entertainment production.

Scott currently serves as Vice President of Partner Services with NFL Players Incorporated, the marketing and licensing subsidiary of the NFL Players Association. As the head of partnership marketing, she oversees development for new and existing partners in the area of strategic partnership, business development, NFL club marketing activations, and consults on player activation and integration strategies for many leading brands. Scott oversees all partnership management and works to enhance the overall utilization of group player rights by the NFLPA’s many partners. Scott’s responsibilities include guiding player marketing strategy and integration, leveraging corporate partnerships, multimedia properties and licensees to expand off-the-field opportunities for NFL players, and assisting with the implementation of player activation strategies for clients seeking to leverage NFL players in strategic platforms and community prolanthropy.

Her professional work experiences include stints with Louisiana State University Athletics, the National Basketball Association’s Atlanta Hawks, Delta Air Lines global marketing, and Team Services’ sports marketing and consulting divisions.

Scott is a graduate of the University of Florida with a degree in Advertising and an advanced degree in Exercise and Sports Science, with a specialization in sports philanthropy. She is an avid international traveler, who enjoys live sporting events and culinary experiences, and is a frequent guest speaker on branding, sports philanthropy and sports marketing panels.

Shaina (pronounced SHY-na) is a sports marketing professional with 10+ years of experience in the sports industry. In addition to her corporate work, Shaina is also Founder and CEO of Minorities in Sports Business Network (MiS). MiS is a national invite-only digital hub of 1000+ sports professionals of color.

In her role as founder, she manages the day to day operations as well as oversees and organizes all group branded events including but not limited to: meetups, conferences, speaker series etc. Additionally, Shaina also pitches and manages all group partnerships, sponsorship deals, conference partnerships, and offers.

Due to her diverse network, she felt it was imperative that she created a space for her and her colleagues to exchange resources to give each other a competitive advantage. Having worked in the sports industry since 2008, Shaina has worked with companies and brands such as ESPN, the NFL, the NBA Family, Samsung, and Coca Cola. Shaina has also worked with athletes, companies, and brands on strategizing and cultivating their personal and public brand visibility.

Shaina received her bachelor's from The Pennsylvania State University and received her masters in Sports Management from Columbia University. She always represents Queens but can be found these days in Harlem, NY with her dog Tropicana.

Max is the Innovation Director at Incubeta Group, which includes NMPi, DQ&A, and Joystick.

Previously, he headed up Incubeta's performance marketing for 4 years where he led the growth of the team from a 6 member single-channel specialist team to 30 focusing on everything from multi-channel media buying to creative and feed development.

Max is a firm believer in the value of aligning the incentives of the partners you work with and has made it his mission to find a way to bring a performance element to traditionally non-performance focused channels. It’s this commitment to expand the scope of performance marketing which led to him being named in PerformanceIn’s Top 50 Most Influential People in Performance Marketing in 2019.

Darren Lepke is the Head of Video Product Management for Verizon Media. Their platform powers the next generation of OTT and TV Everywhere experiences for large broadcasters, digital publishers and video content owners, including Disney, ESPN, Fox, Sinclair, Discovery and more.

With over 15 years of technology leadership, Darren has built a proven track record in product management, marketing, and business development. He has deep technical knowledge in software development (large scale cloud SaaS, mobile apps, connected device applications), web services APIs, online advertising, streaming media formats and metadata management.

Darren’s work has won multiple awards at NAB and IBC industry events.

Dan Ghosh-Roy is the Chief Digital Officer at the Professional Fighters League. In this role he oversees marketing, digital content, social media, audience growth & engagement, product and the expansion of the league’s direct-to-consumer platform.

Ghosh-Roy joined the PFL from Complex Networks, where he served as SVP, Marketing and Audience Development. During his tenure, he created and curated engaging content, reaching millions of fans with varied passion points, developed customer acquisition campaigns and oversaw year-over-year growth across Complex’s social and web properties.

Prior to Complex, he served as Head of Digital for Parkwood Entertainment, responsible for the strategy and execution of Beyoncé's digital business. He previously held senior leadership roles at Ultra Music and EMI Music, working with the likes of Katy Perry, Snoop Dogg, Coldplay, Calvin Harris, Steve Aoki and others.

Shahbaz Khan is the Director of Digital Content at the Minnesota Timberwolves & Minnesota Lynx.

He is a host and producer of the podcast Social on the Sidelines. He was previously with the SocialLink Media and the Sacramento Kings.

Shahbaz graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor's degree in Communication and Media Studies.

Blake Lawrence is the co-founder and CEO of Opendorse, the sports technology company that maximizes endorsement value for athletes.

A former University of Nebraska football player, Blake began building Opendorse with a vision to help a single teammate and friend in current NFL veteran, Prince Amukamara. Today, more than 25,000 athletes around the world use Opendorse to build their personal brands and publish social media content from partners including the PGA TOUR, NHL, NFLPA, MLBPA, WNBPA, LPGA, over 100 professional and collegiate sports teams, and hundreds of brands.

Previously, Blake co-founded social media agency, Hurrdat, alongside college football teammate Adi Kunalic (now President of Opendorse), which they later sold to digital marketing agency, B2Interactive.

As a former athlete and University of Nebraska MBA grad, Blake leverages his passion for sports and competitive nature to introduce new innovative marketing solutions to the athlete endorsement industry.

Paige Dimakos is the Chief Operating Officer of The Draft Network, one of the fastest-growing sports media sites in the United States.

She oversees all aspects of the business coming from a diverse background including stops at Big 10 Network, ESPN Phoenix, and CBS Sports. She started her first company at 19-years-old while attending the University of Nebraska when she saw an opportunity to cover sports using Twitter.

She’s the proudest Chicagoan who doesn’t live in Chicago, don’t argue with her about goats—because there is only one. Michael Jeffrey Jordan.

Zack Weiner is the Co-founder and President of Overtime, the sports network for the next generation, with over 40 million social media followers and 1.5 billion video views per month.

Weiner is a recipient of Forbes’ “30 Under 30” and Sports Business Journal’s “New Voices Under 30.” Prior to founding Overtime, Weiner was the CEO and Founder of The Sports Quotient which he started at the University of Pennsylvania. He was also a 3x Ivy League Chess Champion and still tries to play when he can!

Weiner graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics.

Lisa (Rogers) Morton is the Head of Marketing for the UK & US at the Incubeta Group.

She was previously the Marketing and Brand Manager for Jemm Group.

Lisa graduated Cum Laude from Bentley University with a degree in marketing and from the University of Leicester with a Master of Science in marketing.

Kristin Twiford is an award-winning Content Marketing Director at PhotoShelter.

She was previously the Communications Coordinator at the Virginia Institute of Autism and a reporter for NBC Local News in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Kristin graduated with Distinction from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Media Studies.

Andrew Fingerman is the CEO of PhotoShelter.

He is an authentic and direct leader, passionate about building successful companies. Andrew excels in crafting organizations where employees participate in shaping cultures they love, stimulating and fostering individual growth, and helping teams set and achieve their goals. He is obsessed with driving breakthrough marketing programs and building products that change people’s lives.

PhotoShelter’s mission is to empower effortless visual storytelling for independent creators and brands. PhotoShelter for Photographers is the most powerful business solution for professional photographers, providing archiving, marketing, website and collaboration tools to the world's top image makers.

The company's second product, PhotoShelter for Brands, is a cloud-based media library used by over 1,000 large brands, pro sports teams and universities to centralize, organize and access their visual content.

In 2014, InternetWeek recognized PhotoShelter among the "Top Companies to Work For in NYC Tech"​ and awarded us the distinction "Happiest Employees in NYC Tech".

Ed Berry is a Football Agent at CAA Sports, a division of leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

CAA Sports represents more than 2,000 of the world's best athletes in sports such as baseball, basketball, football, hockey, soccer, and Olympic/action sports, in addition to icons, on-air broadcasters, coaches, and other pre-eminent personalities. Beyond on-field athlete representation, CAA provides unique opportunities for clients off-field, in areas including entertainment, licensing, endorsements, speaking, philanthropy, video games, and digital.

Berry is based in New York and represents many of the world’s top football players, including Aaron Rodgers, Saquon Barkley, Randall Cobb, Amani Oruwariye, Bud Dupree, and Avery Williamson, among others. He began his career at Berry Brothers Consulting, LLC., prior to joining CAA in 2015. Berry graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in Management and Marketing, minors in Communication and International Studies, and an MBA.

He was selected to Forbes’ 30 under 30 list in 2019.

The Stanford graduate is one of the NFLPA’s most active players both on and off the field. After playing one season with San Francisco as an undrafted free agent in 2012, Thomas spent the next five seasons as a free safety and special teams standout for the Miami Dolphins. In March 2018, Thomas signed a contract with the New York Giants and was named to his first Pro Bowl that same season.

Thomas became a player rep for the Dolphins in 2016 before going on to be the rep for the Giants as well as a team captain. He was voted onto the Executive Committee in 2018 and re-elected in 2020. Thomas currently plays for the Houston Texans.

The defender’s community involvement in Miami, California and his hometown of Houston include: creating the Big Plays for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami program; being named NFLPA Community MVP during both the 2015 and 2016 seasons for his youth mentorship initiatives; hosting “Camp Mike T” to expose kids to unique opportunities through computer science and college prep programs; participating in a ride-along with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office; partnering with Food for the Hungry and traveling to Haiti in March 2017 to help raise funds to reduce poverty in the country.

Thomas was also a part of the NFLPA’s 2018 and 2019 Externship classes, during which he worked closely with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas) to learn more about the political process on Capitol Hill.

Matt Wickline is the Senior Director of Social Media Partnerships for Turner Sports focused on the @NBAonTNT, @NBATV & @MarchMadness handles.

He bridges the social media content team to external partners (leagues, social media platforms & vendors), internal agencies (sales, business development & marketing) and the various distribution platforms (linear, digital, product & social media) within Turner Sports.

Matt has more than 22 years of domestic & international sports experience across television, dotcom & social which is another way of saying that he is old.

Darius Fleming is a Chicago native and alum of the University of Notre Dame (class of 2012). He spent his 4 NFL seasons split with San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots. Darius won Super Bowl 49 in an epic finish against the Seattle Seahawks. He now heads up sports partnerships at Cameo.

Caroline Morgan is an entertainment marketing and digital strategy professional with nine years of experience within the film and sports verticals.

Currently, she works at the Los Angeles Dodgers where she is pursuing her passion for brand marketing, media strategy, and digital innovation in a fast-paced, collaborative, and creative environment.

Previously, Caroline spent 8 years at Lionsgate where she was most recently VP of Digital Media. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from UCLA with B.A. in Political Science.

Dale is reshaping and reinvigorating the Dallas Mavericks brand by taking operations down to the studs, blowing up silos and forming the Mavs Creative Studio.

The Dallas Mavericks creative product is stronger, metrics are better and quality of life for our multi-discipline team is greatly improved. Simply put, Dale is helping to bring the fun and swagger back to the ol’ Horse-head.

Max joined Repucom/Nielsen Sports as Head of Digital UKI in March 2014. Repucom was bought by Nielsen in 2016 where he became part of Nielsen Sports global leadership team. In his role current role as US Head of Consulting and Research, he helps Rights Holders, Teams, Broadcasters and Sponsors maximize the impact and value of their sponsorship and media assets. This is done through the delivery of a range of Nielsen data sets and ROI methodologies that he is responsible for developing with his consulting team, alongside Nielsen product, data science, engineering and commercial teams.

Eric is co-founder and COO of Slate, a content creation SaaS platform that enables teams, leagues, brands, media organizations and influencers to create on-brand social content with ease. Founded in the summer of 2019, Slate has quickly grown to power social content for the biggest sports brands in the world, with customers across the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, Premier League, NCAA and more. Eric oversees ops and business development for Slate, including sales, marketing, customer success, and strategic partnerships.

Before co-founding Slate, Eric spent nearly a decade working at the NFL most recently as the Director of International Marketing & Content Strategy. Prior to that, he spent time at both the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs digital/social teams.

He currently lives in Portland, Oregon with his badass Dr. finance Laura. He is originally from Dana Point, California and graduated from UC Santa Barbara.

Ed Romaine joined Bleacher Report in 2018 and is currently overseeing all of the company's marketing efforts in order to build on investments and grow the preeminent sports culture brand. He oversees the brand, design, and experience teams to consistently bring to life initiatives emanating from B/R’s content, operations, sales, and other key business groups.

Under his leadership, B/R has become the No. 1 partner for sponsored content in the sports market, and the No. 1 partner by engagements for all digital video. B/R has owned engagement with the brand’s authenticity and ability to create content that resonates with its young audience. The company’s bold voice in the sports media world provides the best user experience with both curation and original content creation.

Romaine is a proven sales and branded content executive with more than 15 years of experience overseeing the development and implementation of advertising solutions across digital, mobile, video, social, experiential, and print platforms. Ed sets himself apart not only through his curation of great agency and client-direct relationships, but also through core competencies including team building, ideation, monetization, detail-oriented sell through and execution as well as overarching brand strategy.

Ed began his career in the music industry at Warner Music Group, before moving to Alloy Media+Marketing, Bauer Media Group, and Hearst Media Corporation where he optimized campaign performances for many Fortune 500 clients. Ed then served five years at Conde Nast, where he oversaw Integrated Marketing + Sales Development at both W and GQ US divisions.

In 2016, Ed was appointed Chief Marketing Officer at Kargo Global. His org at the company included product marketing, strategy, research, PR/social communications, creative services, and global experiences. He hosted a podcast, titled Mobilizing Culture, available on iTunes and Google Play.

He lives in New York City with his husband and is a consistent mediator for his family, who has dueling sports allegiances of Boston and Philadelphia.

Xavier currently serves as Vice President of Creative Business Development at FaZe Clan, the world’s most prominent and influential gaming organization. He heads FaZe Clan’s creative team overseeing live(stream) events, creative partnerships such as FaZe Clan x Manchester City + FaZe Clan x NFL as well as spearheading the recently announced FaZe Studios.

Before joining FaZe, he served as Senior Vice President of Marketing at Warner Bros. Records, where he worked over 16 years collectively, leading campaigns for over a hundred artists including My Chemical Romance, Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed, Kid Rock, and Lukas Graham. In addition he worked personally with legendary film directors Tim Burton, Christopher Nolan, Zack Snyder, and The Hughes Brothers on their films’ soundtracks. While Xavier is a massive music and sports fan - and it shows in his work- he is and always has been an avid gamer at heart. Halo, Call of Duty, FIFA and PUBG are his go to games.

Xavier started his career as Director of Artist Development at Interscope Records where he led creative marketing campaigns for dozens of artists including No Doubt, Black Eyed Peas Nine Inch Nails, Eminem, Marilyn Manson, and Limp Bizkit. He also put together the first entertainment partnership with the LA Galaxy during their inaugural year. The Sounds of Soccer sponsorship which included TV, radio, print, retail and in-stadium activations became the blueprint for future MLS entertainment deals.

As the Executive Director, Digital & Innovation, Scott Kegley oversees all aspects of digital media, social media, mobile strategy and online content.

Under Scott's leadership, the Minnesota Vikings have created several innovative social media campaigns such as Vinekings, Viking Quest, Skol Skribbles and The V.I.G. (Vikings Instagram Group). With a unique approach to digital storytelling, the Vikings consistently rank in the top quartile in content consumption amongst NFL teams. The Vikings mobile app has been featured in the “top free sports apps” on iTunes, and is a pillar of the team’s digital ticketing and fan experience initiatives at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Prior to joining the Vikings, Scott spent nine seasons with the San Francisco 49ers as the head of their social and digital team. A four-time Webby Award Honoree including a Webby Award for the Minneapolis Miracle, he was honored to be named to Leaders 40 Under 40 Class of 2017.

Scott is originally from Sacramento, California and graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in broadcast journalism.

A passionate, globally-minded, modern marketer, Julie Foster has more than 15 years of experience in marketing and communications in the sports, entertainment and technology industries.

From Universal Music and Interscope Records to EA SPORTS, Julie leverages her passion for sports and lifestyle to develop innovative, memorable marketing campaigns that engage millions of consumers across the world.

A passionate, globally-minded, modern marketer, Julie Foster has more than 15 years of experience in marketing and communications in the sports, entertainment and technology industries.

From Universal Music and Interscope Records to EA SPORTS, Julie leverages her passion for sports and lifestyle to develop innovative, memorable marketing campaigns that engage millions of consumers across the world.

Nathan J. Peterson is the Chief Revenue Officer of Tagboard, a cloud production platform that powers storytelling across news, sports, and entertainment. As CRO, Nathan oversees the company's growth through Tagboard's talented sales, marketing, business development and client service teams, helping more than four hundred media entities innovate, and create impact for their fans, and their bottom line.

Prior to Tagboard, Nathan helped build over $1B in portfolio assets for Privateer Holdings and led entrepreneurial efforts starting social media marketing divisions for powerhouse brands like T-Mobile and Microsoft.

Nathan's thought leadership pieces documenting the evolution of media, have been published in Forbes and Adweek. He currently serves as an advisor to Stadia Venture Group, Unrivaled, and sits on the Dean's Advisory Board for the University of Washington School of Business. Nathan lives in Seattle, WA with his wife and two little boys.

Chris Schlosser has positioned Major League Soccer as a leader in sports and innovation. Under his guidance, MLS Digital experienced significant growth driving innovation, reach and revenue across a wide range of digital, social and mobile platforms while developing a robust and integrated content programming strategy.

While at Columbia Business School, Chris wrote the original business plan for MLS Digital. After graduation, Chris joined MLS full-time to start MLS Digital and launch the SUM Ad Network. In 2010 Chris migrated all of MLS’ digital assets in-house and built out the development, editorial, video and social teams by recruiting key talent from the United States, Canada and around the world.

Today, as the Vice President and Head of MLS Digital, he is a thought leader at MLS and in the sports industry. Chris is a featured speaker at leading media events and is always a driving force for innovation.

Sandra E. Lopez is VP for Intel Sports and is responsible for partnering with the sports and media industry to provide the future fans with the next generation of immersive media experiences.

In her role, the team is focused on leading the business, marketing and market development efforts of Intel Sports and Studios. Lopez is also the co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on VR/AR/XR. Previously, she led and managed the fashion wearable business for Intel’s New Technology Group.

Earlier in her Intel career, Lopez held various roles within corporate marketing, including director of new business marketing and consumer marketing. Over the course of her career, Lopez has received numerous recognitions, including “Most Powerful Women in Tech” (National Diversity Council), “Top Women in Media” (Cynopsis), “Top 10 Latina Executives” (LatinaStyle), “Most Influential and Notable Hispanic Professionals in Information Technology” (HiTec) and “Game Changer” (Sports Business Journal).

Prior to joining Intel in 2005, Lopez held various positions at Adobe Systems Inc., Macromedia, Computer Associates International Inc. and several other technology companies.

Lopez earned a B.S. in Economics and Textiles and Clothing from the University of California at Davis. In addition, she attended the Stanford’s Executive Accelerator Program in 2016. As part of contributing to the community, she is focused on building the next generation of women leaders.

Aubrey Levy heads-up marketing and content at theScore, the first media company in North America to create and operate a mobile sportsbook in the United States. theScore Bet launched in September 2019 and is uniquely integrated with theScore’s highly-popular sports media app to deliver an immersive and holistic mobile sports betting experience. Natively built for iOS and Android devices, theScore Bet currently supports wagering in New Jersey with more states set to follow.

Marguerite Schropp Lucarelli has spent her entire career, 27 years, as a picture editor for Sports Illustrated.

For the past four years, she has been the director of photography for the brand; Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated Kids, and SI.com. She and her team work with world class photographers producing award winning portraits and action photography. The photography she oversees is distributed and published on every Sports Illustrated platform.

Lucarelli has edited countless Super Bowls, Olympic Games, NBA Finals, World Series, NCAA Basketball Tournaments, Stanley Cups and countless other sporting events. She has had the opportunity to produce stunning portraits of every world class athlete. She enjoys encouraging her photographers to create pictures that will make our audience crave more!

Marguerite lives and works in Manhattan with her husband Tony and their two children, Anthony and Eileen.