Speakers

David Gandler is Co-founder and CEO of fuboTV, the live TV streaming service that is transforming how people watch sports, news and entertainment.

Under David’s leadership, fuboTV has quickly evolved into a leading virtual MVPD with a focus on innovation. fubo launched in 2015 as a streaming soccer service and today is a sports-focused cable replacement for the entire family. The company is consistently first to market across a number of areas including product and technology (first and still only vMVPD to stream in 4K), advertising (launched dynamic ad insertion in January 2018 ahead of most competitors) and content (distribution agreements with 100+ channels and 600+ local network stations in 98% of the U.S).

Regarded as the world’s premier point guard, Sue Bird is the WNBA’s All-Time Leader in Assists and known for being selfless, driven, encouraging and smart. Bird is a seasoned veteran and a born leader who has dominated at every level. She is one of only seven women to win an Olympic Gold Medal (she’s won four), a World Championship Gold Medal (she’s won four) an NCAA Championship (she’s won two), and a WNBA Championship (she’s won three). Sue is also a five-time Euroleague Champion, an eleven-time WNBA All-Star, was voted by the fans as one of the WNBA’s Top 15 Players of All Time and chosen by the league as a member of the WNBA’s Top 20 players.

Off the court, you can currently find Sue working as basketball operations associate for the Denver Nuggets or advocating for equality, health and wellness and expanding opportunities for girls.

Stefanie Rapp is Bleacher Report’s Chief Revenue Officer. Prior to serving as CRO, Rapp led as the Senior Vice President of Revenue & Strategy, overseeing all aspects of the strategy, coordination and forecasting for the sales and strategy departments. In 2020, she was honored as one of Sports Business Journal’s Game Changers. Her work in driving revenue and devising new strategies for the brand has supported the company’s stance as the #1 most engaged sports media brand in the world.

Rapp focuses on building incremental revenue streams while overseeing the ongoing integration of B/R across Turner Sports, and WarnerMedia. Her appointment to CRO came on the heels of rapid growth for the division sparked by the addition of several portfolio brands, a more mature experiential events and e-commerce business, and massive audience engagement for the B/R app and social channels. She reports to President of Turner Sports, Lenny Daniels.

Tina Shah is Executive Vice President and General Manager for Turner Sports. Shah is a primary day-to-day point of contact with league partners including the NBA, NCAA and MLB, and she is responsible for business strategy on behalf of the NBA Digital portfolio (consisting of NBA TV, the NBA App, NBA.com and NBA League Pass). She leads business affairs, business development, rights acquisitions and strategy functions for Turner Sports, along with the programming and data, analytics and insights teams. Shah also oversees business strategy and operations, products, marketing and analytics for Bleacher Report. She reports directly to Lenny Daniels, President of Turner Sports.

Mahi de Silva is a serial entrepreneur and currently, the CEO of TrillerNet, a first-of-its-kind company consolidating technology and content platforms to lead the move to Internet 3.0. Since 2016, Mahi serves as Co-Founder and CEO of Amplify.ai, the world leader in Conversational AI and the first and only enterprise-class AI-driven omni-channel messaging platform with over 500M users and over 10B, which was acquired in 2021 by TrillerNet. He began his career with Apple in 1989, and prior to founding Amplify.ai, he was a co-founder and CEO of AdMarvel Inc.

As the Founder and CEO at Buzzer, Bo oversees the organization’s daily operations, product development, content licensing, and strategic business development & partnership efforts.

Bo led Twitter’s efforts in Global Live Sports Content Partnerships, and was responsible for driving partnerships with the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, and PGA as well as with broadcasters – ESPN, FOX, NBC and Turner.

TJ leads all U.S. Sports Partnerships at Twitter, after spending the previous few years managing Twitter’s partnerships with major U.S. Sports Leagues, including the NFL, NBA, and MLB. He is responsible for helping Twitter’s sports partners amplify their global content strategies. TJ has been recognized for his diverse experience and expertise on sports trends across the industry and digital landscape, and was recently named to Sports Business Journal’s 40 under 40.

As Vice President of Global Business Operations at the National Basketball Association, Diane Gotua focuses on strategy and business development for the NBA’s international business. Since joining the NBA, Diane has led the formation of various strategic partnerships including the NBA Yao School in China, the Reliance Foundation-Jr. NBA program in India, Econet Media in Africa, and the NBA Experience at Disney Springs in Orlando. More recently, Diane has managed and directed the NBA’s efforts in pursuing various content, event, and marketing partnerships for USA Basketball.

Peter Hutton is Meta’s Director of Sports Partnerships. In this role, he runs sports activities worldwide for the organization.

Previously he was CEO at the biggest Asian, European and Indian sports broadcasters in ESPN/Star, Eurosport and Ten Sports.  He started his career as a journalist and commentator in the UK, but has worked worldwide on some of the biggest events in sports.

Peter Murray, a senior sports executive is the Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of the Professional Fighters League (PFL). Murray oversees all business strategy and operations, fighter roster, event management, production, content, and marketing for the mixed martial arts league.

The PFL is the first organization ever to present MMA in a true sport format with individual fighters competing in a Regular Season, Playoffs, and World Championship. PFL is distributed on ESPN and additionally on 160+ countries worldwide.

Before joining PFL, Murray served as VP Global Brand and Sports Marketing at Under Armour. In this role, he was responsible for category management of football, baseball, basketball, soccer, combat, and Olympic Sports. Prior to Under Armour, he was Co-Founder and CEO of Insignia Sports Agency and EVP Marketing & New Business at William Morris Endeavor. For the previous 13 years, Peter was also a senior executive at the National Football League, including roles as SVP of Business & Content Development, SVP of Global Brand Partnerships.

Julia Polloreno is the Vice President of Content Production and Distribution for The IRONMAN Group. A 12-year veteran of the endurance sports media industry, she has held leadership roles across print, digital, and broadcast platforms. As the former Editor-in-Chief of Triathlete magazine, she guided the sport’s premier media brand through a successful redesign and into an expanded digital presence. Julia joined The IRONMAN Group in 2019, and manages all aspects of content production, from Emmy-nominated documentary projects to livestreamed broadcasts, creating new and innovative formats designed to showcase the inspiring stories of athletes. She is a graduate of Stanford University, where she earned a double B.A. in Communications and American History. An avid IRONMAN triathlete and gravel cyclist, she lives in Encinitas, California with her husband and two children.

Regina Breslin is the Head of Content Partnerships at Roku. Breslin leads the Domestic distribution and business development team that negotiates Roku’s third-party content distribution deals, sources content and advertising inventory for Roku’s first-party video and audio initiatives, maintains relationship with Roku’s content partners and helps them grow and scale their Roku applications.
This highly visible role has placed her front and center for many of the biggest streaming launch negotiations of the past several years. From Disney+, to Peacock, to HBO Max, to Discovery+, to Paramount+, Regina has helped the biggest media companies in the world successfully navigate their entrance into the streaming market with partnerships that not only drive strong growth for the streaming services but also enable Roku to benefit from the secular shifts to streaming that have remade today’s TV landscape.

Prior to joining Roku, Breslin was Vice President of Content Distribution at Univision Communications where she was responsible for negotiating affiliate distribution sales and licensing agreements as well as new media agreements for Univision NOW, the direct-to-consumer service. Prior to joining Univision, Breslin spent 16 years with the Walt Disney Company including roles in Affiliate Sales and Content Distribution, where she was responsible for negotiating complex distribution agreements across the Disney, ABC and ESPN portfolio of broadcast, kids and sports content.

Jennifer Dill is the Vice President of Gaming at Turner Sports. In this role, Dill oversees partnerships, operations and strategic planning for Turner Sports’ gaming division, including B/R Gaming and ELEAGUE, the esports and gaming entertainment brand.

Since the launch of ELEAGUE in 2016, Dill has played an integral role in coordinating the internal and external resources needed to drive its premium content initiatives and live events, including global syndication and distribution, finance, production, legal, marketing, digital products, sales, research, and talent. She helped fuel its growth by expanding its portfolio of key publisher partnerships brokering agreements with EA Sports, Xbox Game Studios, Nintendo, Psyonix and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, and is a recognized industry expert on how to make these partnerships mutually beneficial from conception to execution.

Most recently she was tapped to lead business operations for B/R Gaming, Bleacher Report’s gaming vertical, as it solidifies its place as a leading digital media brand for Gen Z gamers.

Dill also has more than a decade of experience in media planning and strategy.

Jessica Berman is Deputy Commissioner and Executive Vice President of Business Affairs at the National Lacrosse League where she provides strategic direction on all growth initiatives and legal matters facing the NLL.  Among her areas of responsibility, Berman oversees human resources, team services, marketing and communications, media, broadcast and content, commercial growth, lacrosse operations, community engagement, legal affairs and the governance of the League.  When hired in 2019, she became and continues to be the first female Deputy Commissioner of a men’s professional sports league.

Jessica Robertson joined TOGETHXR in January 2020, where she serves as Chief Content Officer. In her role, she oversees all content initiatives, development and strategy, and helps drive partnerships and revenue initiatives. Prior to joining the company, she served as Head of Content at The Players’ Tribune, where she oversaw creative development and content strategy across all brand platforms. Previously, she’s built multiple brand channels at media companies including MTV and AOL, after beginning her career as a journalist at Rolling Stone. She’s also executive-produced a number of Emmy-nominated and award winning series. She was named a Cynopsis Top Woman in Digital in 2018.

As the NHL’s Senior Vice President of International Strategy, Jaka Lednik is responsible for the development and implementation of the NHL’s strategy in Europe. Since joining the NHL in 2017, Lednik has been instrumental in the introduction of new NHL initiatives in Europe designed to expand the NHL’s footprint abroad and super-serve fans worldwide.

One of these new initiatives includes the NHL Global Fan Tour, an interactive fan experience and touring tribute to the NHL. In its first two years, the Fan Tour visited 12 cities in three countries in Europe. The fan experience pays tribute to extraordinary players, championship teams and the Stanley Cup with an innovative museum that includes original video content as well as interactive content.

For the fourth straight season, Lednik leveraged the NHL’s relationships with its international broadcast partners to deliver games live in primetime every weekend throughout the 2021-22 season to fans in more than 24 countries and territories across Europe. Presented by SAP, NHL Saturday and NHL Sunday (previously NHL European Game of the Week™) provides a destination viewing experience for loyal NHL fans across Europe.

Prior to joining the NHL, Lednik served as a Principal at The Boston Consulting Group in London, United Kingdom, where he advised leading national and international financial services, insurance and sports organizations on their key strategic and operational issues.

While in London, Lednik was part of the London Organizing Committee for the 2012 Olympic Games. In the lead-up to the Games, he was responsible for identifying and monetizing new revenue opportunities. During the Games, Lednik was the lead representative for the Commercial Function at the Main Operations Centre, the ‘control room’ for the Games, and coordinated the approach and response to live games issues across ticketing, sponsorship and merchandising. One of his key roles was managing the venue-by-venue operational response to empty seats across both the Olympics and Paralympics.

Throughout his career, Lednik has been involved with nonprofit organizations that have are committed to service, education and volunteerism. He was a trustee and board member for the ABCTT, a charity that aims to introduce young people to climbing.

Lednik earned a first class master’s degree in Chemistry from Oxford University in the UK. He is fluent in German and Slovene and is conversational in French.

Lednik also has an MBA from Harvard Business School. During his time in Boston, Lednik supported the Boston Celtics in sponsorship sales, focusing on the NBA team’s digital assets as well as innovative new business ideas.

Amanda Weiner, Senior Director of Digital Media, joined the USGA in August 2011. In her position, she oversees all consumer-facing products including the suite of U.S. Open digital products, the U.S. Women’s Open app the organizations enterprise website usga.org, YouTube and connected TV apps for Roku and Apple TV.  Her team is focused on delivering the championship fan experience both on- and off-site, including video displays, wi-fi infrastructure and integration of the organizations new digital ticketing platform, AXS.  Outside of championship related duties, Amanda manages the USGA’s relationship with Topgolf to put on premier virtual golf events, ensures both internal and external partners are seamlessly integrated into USGA digital experiences and is charged with discovering new platforms to distribute and monetize USGA content.

Since launching her own company, Slane has orchestrated numerous successful sports betting business opportunities, including the Sinclair Broadcasting Bally’s media partnership, and authorized gaming operator deals between the NHL, PointsBet and Bally’s. She has conducted the most Team market access deals in the U.S. having aligned gaming partners for NASCAR, PGA Tour, Arizona DiamondBacks and The Dallas Stars. She serves as an advisor to multiple gaming, sports and sports betting companies, including GeoComply, Arctos, SimpleBet, Streamlayer, US Integrity, Boom!Sports, Rebric and KB Partners and as a fellow for The International Center for Gaming Regulation at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Dr. Mintas is a high-profile entrepreneur, investor and thought leader in the technology, sports and sports betting industry on a global level. She has been involved in various roles as a high Executive and deals as Strategic Advisor in the space.

Mike Kelley is a sports & entertainment executive with over 25 years of experience working at the intersection of content, distribution & technology.  Currently, Mike is President, Americas for Grabyo – managing a team that works with various sports & entertainment properties, broadcasters, and publishers in North & South America.  Grabyo is the leading cloud-based video production platform in the industry – providing efficient tools for clipping, editing, & live production across social, OTT, and broadcast channels. Grabyo’s clients include UFC, PGA Tour, WWE, NFL, USTA, DAZN, NASCAR, Univision, Big Ten Network, Premier League, La Liga, Wimbledon, Formula E, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Chelsea FC, and many others.  Ultimately, Grabyo is on the forefront of a quickly evolving media distribution & monetization business for content – that now includes social media platforms, OTT products, & mobile devices.

Prior to Grabyo, Mike led business development & strategy for the leading OTT streaming company, NeuLion, before they were absorbed by Endeavor/IMG.  From 2007-2013, Mike led BD for Ensequence, the leading interactive TV provider – working with top networks, broadcasters, and distributors in the US – as internet functionality began to merge into the TV experience.  Previously, Mike was also VP of Marketing for Yahoo!’s Media & Entertainment division, having led their partnership with FIFA for the 2002/2006 World Cups, and many other sports & entertainment properties.  Mike was also Director of Sponsorships for MasterCard for several years, and worked at US Soccer in marketing & broadcasting around the USA World Cup ‘94.