Speakers

Roger Goodell is the eighth chief executive of the National Football League. He took office on September 1, 2006, 24 years after he joined the league where he held numerous football and business operations roles prior to being elected Commissioner.

Commissioner Goodell's priorities have focused on improving all aspects of the game for fans, players, and the clubs, while successfully growing the popularity of the NFL and its 32 teams around the world. In 2022, the NFL played its 100th international regular season game and its first regular season game in Germany. Global fan interest in the NFL has soared on all platforms, including the largest domestic audiences in television history, as well as enormous growth in digital and social media engagement.

Under Commissioner Goodell's leadership, the NFL has focused on improvements to player health and safety, benefits for retired players, the league's personal conduct policy, social responsibility programs, diversity in hiring practices, revenue sharing, stadium development, fan experience, media innovation, international development, officiating and rules changes. These enhancements have increased the quality, safety and enjoyment of the game.

Commissioner Goodell has guided the league to two 10-year transformative Collective Bargaining Agreements that secured labor peace for a generation with landmark agreements in 2011 and 2020. In the most recent agreement, the NFL and NFL Players Association agreed to increase benefits for all current and retired players, raise minimum player salaries, and expand active rosters to 55 players.

In 2020, he led the League through an unprecedented season amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. By adopting technology, transforming the offseason, preseason, and long-standing team schedules, and instituting broad safety protocols to protect players, coaches and staff, the league played all 256 regular season and 13 postseason games on schedule. The season culminated with a memorable Super Bowl, highlighted by the NFL honoring and providing 7,500 vaccinated health care workers free tickets to the season finale.

The following year, Commissioner Goodell successfully concluded long-term agreements with media partners Amazon, CBS, ESPN / ABC, FOX, and NBC to distribute NFL games on TV, cable and digital platforms through 2033.

He oversaw the first change to the NFL season format in nearly six decades with the reduction of the preseason to three games and increase in the regular season to 17-games for the 2021 season. That season also was notable for the return of the Super Bowl to Los Angeles after nearly 30 years when the Bengals and Rams met in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium. The latter took place following the return of NFL football to Los Angeles in 2016 after a more than two-decade absence.

Commissioner Goodell and his wife Jane are the proud parents of twin girls. He serves on the boards of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of New York City, National Football Foundation, GENYOUth Foundation, and The Paley Center for Media.

Andrew Parsons is a server of the Paralympic Movement and the athletes. He has been working in the Movement since 1997, starting as an intern at the Brazil Paralympic Committee and subseuqenlty rising the the ranks to serve as President of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee from 2009-2017 as well as President of the Americas Paralympic Committee from 2005-2009. He was elected the IPC President in 2017 and was re-elected for a second-term end of last year. Under his leadership, we saw two incredible Games in Tokyo and Beijing, delivered during challenging COVID times, and the launch of #Wethe15, a campaign to transform the lives of the world’s 1.2 billion persons with disabilities who represent 15% of the global population.

A full list of his career in the Paralympic Movement:

Sports administration
Secretary General of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (2001-2009); Secretary General of the Americas Paralympic Committee (2002-2005) and Chef de Mission, Deputy Chef de Mission and Team Manager of Team Brazil in several international competitions such as Paralympics Games, Parapan American Games, World Championships and World Cups; President of the Americas Paralympic Committee (2005-2009), responsible for the III Parapan American Games Rio 2007 - first edition of the Games jointly organised to the Pan American Games; President of the IPC Regions’ Council (2006-2010); Member of the National Sports Council of Brazil (2009-2013); Member of the Executive Board of the Rio 2016 Bid Committee; Member-at-large of the IPC Governing Board (2009-2013); Chairperson of the IPC Paralympic Games Committee (2009-2013); President of Brazilian Paralympic Committee (2009-2017); Vice-president (2013-2017) then President (2017-) of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)

Membership of other associations
Chair of the Board of Trustees, Agitos Foundation (2017-); Foundation Board member, World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) (2018-); Board member, International Olympic Truth Foundation (IOTF) (2018-)
 
Awards and distinctions
International Fair Play Committee (CIFP) Diploma in recognition for gesture of fair play demonstrated during Paralympic Games Athens 2004; the Order of Rio Branco in the grade of Commander, by the Republic of Brazil (highest distinction offered by the country) (2012); the Order of Ipiranga, by the State of São Paulo (highest distinction offered by that state) (2015); Leader in Sports Management by the Brazilian business community (LIDE) (2013 and 2014); Medal of Sport Achievement by the Brazilian Army (2017).

Robyn Denholm is a leading global technology executive. She is Chair of the Board of Directors of Tesla Inc., Operating Partner of Blackbird Ventures and Chair of The Technology Council of Australia.

Robyn joined the Tesla Board in 2014 as an Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee. She was appointed to serve as Independent Chair of the Board of Directors in November 2018 and re-elected as Chair in 2020.

Robyn joined Blackbird Ventures as an Operating Partner in January 2021, in this role she works with the founders of later stage technology companies to help them scale and succeed.

In addition, Robyn is actively stewarding the Australian technology sector as Chair of The Australian Tech Council, which was launched in 2021, with an ambition to get one million people into Australian tech jobs by 2025.

Her global experience encompasses leadership roles across a range of leading companies, including Telstra, Juniper Networks, and Sun Microsystems. In her time at Telstra Robyn served as Chief Financial Officer and Head of Strategy, where she also served as its Chief Operations Officer.

In 2019 Robyn was awarded a Doctor of Business (Honoris Causa) from the UNSW. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia and holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Sydney and a Master's degree in commerce from the University of New South Wales and is a Member of Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Robyn is a passionate advocate for the technology industry as well as advancing a diversity of voices in the sector.

Jay Monahan took office as the fourth commissioner of the PGA TOUR on January 1, 2017, having been appointed by the PGA TOUR Policy Board on November 7, 2016. He succeeded Tim Finchem, who held the position for more than 22 years starting June 1, 1994.

Monahan, who joined the PGA TOUR in 2008 as Executive Director of THE PLAYERS Championship, most recently held the position of Deputy Commissioner as of April 1, 2014 with Chief Operating Officer added to his title on April 1, 2016.

Prior to his move to the Office of the Commissioner, Monahan served as PGA TOUR Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, overseeing business development, corporate marketing and partnerships, title sponsor relations, retail licensing and media sales. Prior to being named CMO in March of 2013, Monahan was the Senior Vice President for Business Development where he was responsible for securing new sponsors and managing existing PGA TOUR title sponsorship relationships.

As commissioner of the PGA TOUR, Monahan serves on the board of directors of the International Golf Federation, the World Golf Foundation and the European Tour. He is also the co-founder and board member of Golf Fights Cancer, a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for cancer-related charities and research organizations.

Before coming to the PGA TOUR, Monahan was executive vice president of Fenway Sports Group, leading the sales and business development team for the property ownership and representation divisions since 2005. Additionally, he directed FSG’s sponsorship sales operations for the Boston Red Sox, Major League Baseball Advanced Media, NASCAR’s Roush Fenway Racing and Boston College Athletics.

Prior to joining FSG, Monahan spent three years as executive director at IMG Worldwide, where he played an integral role in the development of the Dell Technologies Championship in Norton, Mass., and served as the first tournament director. Monahan began his sports sponsorship career as director of global sponsorships and branding programs at EMC Corporation. Previously, he worked at Arnold Advertising and Bob Woolf Associates.

Monahan graduated from Trinity College in 1993, where he was a four-year member of the golf team and a Division II Academic All-American his senior year. He earned a masters degree in sport management from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1995.

Jay and his wife, Susan, have two daughters, Sophie and Phoebe.

Stefano Domenicali began his role as President & Chief Executive Officer at Formula 1® in January 2021, following his departure as Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Automobili Lamborghini. Mr. Domenicali joins Formula 1® on the back of an
illustrious career within the motoring industry, where he has had success within both motorsport and commercial roles.

After studying business administration at the University of Bologna he began his professional career in 1991 with Ferrari. At Ferrari he held various positions, including heading up the Direzione Sportiva F1 from 2004, before becoming Team Principal for the Formula 1® team in 2008, where he won a total of 14 titles in the F1 Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships.

From 2009 to 2014, Domenicali represented Ferrari in the FIA World Motor Sport Council and recently stepped down as the president of the FIA. Single Seater Commission, before joining Formula 1®. He was Vice President of New Business Initiatives at AUDI AG from November 2014 before taking over his most recent role as Chief Executive Officer in March 2016 at Lamborghini in Sant’Agata Bolognese.

Peggy O’Neal AO has a Bachelor of Arts from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia. She also has a Diploma in Superannuation Management from Macquarie University. In December 2018, she was made an Honorary Doctor of Laws by Swinburne University for her work in gender equality and developing sport leaders.
In June 2019, Peggy was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for her services to Australian rules football, financial services law and women in leadership roles.
Peggy has specialised in superannuation and financial services law for more than 25 years and is presently a consultant to Lander and Rogers and was previously a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills from 1995-2009.
Peggy has been president of the Richmond Football Club since October 2013, having served on the Club's board since 2005 and was president when the Richmond Football Club won the 2017, 2019 and 2020 premierships. In April 2018, Peggy was appointed by the AFL to its inaugural Competition Committee which advises the AFL Commission on issues regarding the design and future of the AFL competition.
In August 2014 she was appointed to chair the Victorian Minister for Sport's year-long Inquiry into 'Women and Girls in Sport and Active Recreation' and until June 2018 was convenor of the Minister's Change Our Game Champions program.
Peggy served for three years on Victoria's Ministerial Council on Women's Equality and in January 2020 became a director of VicHealth.
In June 2019, she was appointed to the Australian Institute of Sport Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement Advisory Committee and, from January 2020, has been a member of the AFL Mental Health Steering Committee. She is also co-chair of the Victorian chapter of the Minerva Network, which develops mentorships between leading Australian businesswomen and professional women athletes.

Peggy has been a non-executive director of several companies in the superannuation and financial services sectors. She is currently the chair of Vanguard Superannuation and is also a director of Infrastructure Specialist Asset Management.
Peggy is on the board of Women's Housing Limited, on the investment advisory panel of Home for Homes (an initiative of the Big Issue) and is an ambassador for micro-finance organisation, Opportunity International. She is also on the board of Australia Dementia Network Limited and the board of Fulbright Australia.
Peggy is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is also a member of Chief Executive Women and the Melbourne Forum.

Greg Barclay is an Auckland-based commercial lawyer and an experienced company director, holding board positions with various New Zealand and Australian companies.
He has had a long career in governance and sports management. He is a founder, and shareholder in, a sport and event management company which for the past 20 years has provided various services to sports organisations in New Zealand. This mainly involves large-scale occasions such as rugby Tests, world tournaments, concert and cultural events.
Born in 1961, he holds dual New Zealand and Canadian citizenship. He has played, or has otherwise been involved in, cricket for most of his life, rising to senior men’s representative level, and was still playing club cricket up until when he was in his forties. He was also a keen (but not particularly distinguished) rugby player.
In 2007, Greg joined the board of Northern Districts Cricket and was chair of that organisation until he joined the NZC board in 2012. He was Chair of NZC from 2016, until he was appointed to the Chair of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2020. He has been on the ICC Board since 2014 and was a member of the board of Cricket World Cup 2015 that delivered the Men’s Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Greg is married to Sally, with whom he has three teenaged daughters. He has educated at the University of Canterbury and has a post graduate business qualification from Auckland University. He was a partner with law firm Claymore Partners up until 2015, when he stepped aside to become a consultant and to continue with his other business interests.

Josephine is a professional company director who works across a range of industries, including property, construction, finance, sport, the arts, medical research, and social services.

Josephine is Principal of Buildcorp, and serves on a number of private, public, government and not-for-profit boards, including The Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited, Growthpoint Properties Australia, the Australian Museum, Green Building Council of Australia, Centenary Institute of Medical Research, and the Buildcorp Foundation.

She is President of Australian Women’s Rugby and through Buildcorp has been a major sponsor of rugby in Australia for over 30 years.

In 2021, Josephine was appointed Chair of the Australian Sports Commission.

Josephine is a Fellow of the University of Sydney, and in 2017 she was recognised for her services to the community, the arts, and sports in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

Michael Miller was appointed Executive Chairman Australasia of News Corp Australia in November 2015.

He has over 3 decades of experience working in senior executive roles in the media industry, most recently as the CEO of the publicly listed APN News and Media (now HT&E).

Michael is a former CMO of News Limited, and the Herald and Weekly Times, and has led media businesses in New South Wales, South Australia, New Zealand and Asia in the radio, digital, out-of home and publishing categories.

He is currently the Chairman of the Premium Content Alliance, the industry body representing Australia’s leading broadcasting, publishing and digital companies and he is a Director of REA Group and Foxtel.

Michael is a former Director of Fox Sports Australia, SKY Television Network (NZ), the Committee for Sydney and Warratahs Rugby.

Andrew N. Liveris AO is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Dow Chemical Company and the former Executive Chairman of DowDuPont. As the company's longest-serving non-family CEO, and with a combined 42 years of experience at Dow, Andrew had assignments in manufacturing, engineering, sales, marketing, and business and general management before becoming CEO and Chairman.

In April 2022, Andrew was named President of the Board of the Brisbane Organising Committee for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games (OCOG). He currently serves as a Chairman of Lucid Motors, Blackrock Long Term Private Capital and The Hellenic Initiative. He is a Director of IBM, Saudi Aramco, Worley (Deputy Chairman), Novonix and the Minderoo Foundation.

Andrew sits on the Advisory Board of Salesforce, the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Teneo and NEOM (an initiative driven by Saudi Vision 2030). He is a Special Advisor to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Andrew serves as a trustee for the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), and the United States Council for International Business.

He has advised three U.S. presidents and served as co-chair of US President Barack Obama’s Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, adviser to President Trump and now President Biden. He is Co-Chair of the Build Together Coalition that successfully advocated for the USD1.2T Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed by President Biden in 2020. Andrew was appointed as a Special Advisor to the Australian Government’s National COVID-19 Coordination Commission. He is a member of the Australian Design Council.

Sophie Moloney is an accomplished New Zealand media leader.

She joined Sky UK’s commercial legal team in 2003 and subsequently undertook a range of legal and commercial secondment roles in the Middle East with Sky News Arabia, Abu Dhabi Media, and OSN. During this time she also held a range of executive directorships.

Sophie returned to New Zealand with her family in 2018 to take up the role of General Counsel at Sky New Zealand, following which she enjoyed additional roles of Chief Legal, People and Partnerships Officer and Chief Commercial Officer before being was appointed as Chief Executive Officer in December 2020.

Sophie has a deep love of sport, arts and culture. With an All Black grandfather and growing up surrounded by, and participating in, sports and the arts, she has a deep appreciation for the important role that entertainment and sport plays in the communities of Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Sophie is also passionate about leadership and development, particularly supporting young women leaders in business.

Kate is the President of the Melbourne Football Club and in 2021 led the Demons to their first premiership in 57 years. A highly experienced company Director, Kate is also Deputy Chancellor of Victoria University, Chair of the Metro Trains Advisory Board and member of the AFL Women’s Competition Committee. She is the former Chair of the Victorian Regional Channels Authority, Member of Ministerial Planning and Building Approval Process Review Board and Member of Ministerial Freight Advisory Committee.

Kate has extensive experience as a CEO and Senior Executive within the commercial, government and not-for-profit sectors. She was appointed CEO of the State Sports Centres Trust in 2022, is a former CEO of the Committee for Melbourne, Director of Deals, Investments & Major Projects for City of Wyndham and Chief Executive Officer of VicSport. As the former Executive Manager at Tennis Australia, Kate also led the master planning and commercial negotiations for the $1 billion dollar redevelopment of Melbourne Park – the home of the Australian Open Tennis Championship.

Kate is actively engaged as an independent expert commentator in the media and is a regular guest on the ABC News Breakfast Show and Q+A. An accomplished public speaker, Kate regularly presents at conferences, seminars, and business events.

Catherine has – and does -wear many hats. Athlete. Coach. Local Committee Member. Volunteer. Anti-doping Officer. CEO. Board Director. Government Official. She’s the Mum of 2 wild little boys. Currently Catherine is a Board Director with the Queensland Rugby Union/Queensland Reds and CEO of Paralympics Australia.

Catherine is a passionate believer in the power of sport to unite, strengthen, inspire and catalyse change.

Her career in sport has straddled multiple countries, codes and levels of governance. Catherine returned to Australia having taken paths less travelled, acquiring a global cache of experience along the way.
In February 2022, she took up the role as CEO of Paralympics Australia, a role she says has it all. Purpose. Excellence. Social change. And the opportunity to play a role in shaping Australia's future through Brisbane 2032.

Chatri Sityodtong is the Founder and CEO of ONE, Asia's largest global sports media platform with a worldwide broadcast to 179 countries.

According to Nielsen, ONE ranks amongst the world's top 5 biggest sports media properties (alongside NBA, F1, Champions League, EPL, etc) in terms of viewership and engagement. Through its marquee sports properties (ONE Championship and ONE Esports) and its passionate millennial community, ONE is a celebration of Asia’s greatest cultural phenomena, Martial Arts and Gaming, and the deep-rooted Asian values of integrity, humility, honor, respect, courage, discipline, and compassion. ONE is on a mission to unleash real-life superheroes, tell stories, celebrate values, ignite dreams, inspire nations, and change the world.

Sityodtong is a self-made entrepreneur and lifelong martial artist from Thailand. He is also the latest star of The Apprentice, the award-winning, global reality TV show on Netflix. His rags-to-riches life story has inspired millions around the world on BBC, CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, and other major media. He was named Asia’s King of Martial Arts by the Financial Times, and Asia's 2nd Most Powerful Person in Sports by FOX Sports. Business Insider also ranked him as one of Asia's top 100 business leaders.

Inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame, Sityodtong has over 35+ years of martial arts experience. He is a certified senior Muay Thai instructor under the legendary Kru Yodtong Senanan. He also holds a Brown Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Master Renzo Gracie.

Chatri Sityodtong holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Tufts University.

Cindy Hook has over 35 years of leadership experience in professional services with Deloitte, including more than seven years as a CEO. She has extensive global experience having lived and worked in the United States, Australia and Singapore. Cindy is known for her growth-focused leadership, her ability to drive transformative change and her track record of building strong, collaborative leadership teams that create innovative approaches for winning and delivering business.

From 2015 to 2018 Cindy served as the CEO of Deloitte in Australia with full P&L responsibility driving 15% CAGR in revenue during her tenure. In this role she initiated the integration of the firm across 19 geographies in Asia and was elected by her peers as the inaugural CEO of Deloitte Asia Pacific where she executed this vision and led a team of over 4,000 partners and 70,000 professionals. She was responsible for setting and delivering the ‘Tilt to Asia’ strategy that drove 50% growth from US$6B to $9B over her four-year term, through the global pandemic. She achieved this by driving regional investments and acquisitions, scaling technology consulting and cyber solutions, and deepening relationships with Deloitte’s clients and key alliance partners. In her CEO roles, she led significant growth of the advisory practices, including technology-enabled business transformation, ESG and climate change, end to end M&A amongst others.

Prior to becoming CEO, Cindy led Deloitte’s Audit & Assurance practice in Australia. During this time, Deloitte was named the ‘AFR/CFO Audit Firm of the Year’ and won an ‘Australian Design Award’ for its transformative and innovative audit services by leveraging advanced technology and analytics. Cindy understands the complexities of leading a highly regulated business and has a strong background in accounting and auditing having served as an audit partner for over a decade.

Cindy has extensive governance experience. As CEO she served as a member of the Deloitte Asia Pacific Board and the Deloitte Australia Board for over seven years, giving her a CEOs perspective on the benefits of a constructive relationship between the Executive and Board. Outside Deloitte, she is a member of the Economic Development Board of Singapore and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation (GBRF). She currently serves as the Chair of the recently established GBRF USA which is building awareness and raising funds in the US. She was also a founding member of the Asia Corporate Leadership Council, a group of business and industry leaders who work together to advance thinking and know-how on corporate purpose and to positively influence regional business practices and policies.

Cindy understands the importance of building inspired leaders and creating purpose-led organizations and has demonstrated this across all aspects of her leadership. Cindy sees diversity, inclusion, and gender equality as business imperatives. As the Chair of Deloitte’s Asia Pacific Inclusion Council, she made these priorities across the region and took tangible steps to accelerate the pace of change. Cindy is an International Member of Chief Executive Women (Australia), a non-profit advocating diversity and women leadership and served as a special advisor to the Champions of Change Coalition, a coalition of Australian leaders redefining men’s role in furthering gender equality.

Cindy loves the outdoors and has a passion for skiing, hiking, and performance training. She and her husband Chris are the proud parents of two young men.

Serial entrepreneur and businessman Larry Kestelman has followed his limitless passion for people and business and has a reputation for taking on passion projects for close to 30 years developing an impressive business portfolio over an expansive variety of industries.

Born in Odessa Ukraine, Larry is a migrant success story, becoming one of the most prosperous self-made
businessmen in Australia and regular inclusion on the under and over 40’s AFR Rich List. One of the passion
project was founding the telecommunications provider Dodo in 2001, before selling the business in 2013.

Larry is the Executive Group Chairman of the LK Group, which oversees close to 20 businesses in property,
private equity, technology, sport, marketing, hospitality and retail. The six star development Capitol Grand
in South Yarra is the jewel in the LK Property Group crown. Within Capitol Grand you find Yugen Dining and
Omnia Bistro & Bar which is part of LK Hospitality, both restaurants have been awarded two hats in 2023.

In 2015 Larry took ownership of the National Basketball League which has grown from strength
to strength and now includes 10 teams across Australia and New Zealand. The newest team the
Tasmania JackJumpers who play their home games at the recently completed MyState Bank Arena that
the LK Group renovated and will manage for the next 50 years. LK Group are proud to be revitalizing
the MyState Bank Arena along with the surrounding Wilkinson’s Point precinct opposite the famous Mona.

Larry still retains a minority owner of Melbourne United Basketball Club. He’s supported the team
for over a decade and has been instrumental in achieving record memberships and game attendance
for the club. The NBL itself has celebrated breaking records season on season. LK Group also owns
sportswear brand First Ever who provides uniforms for the league and custom uniforms for grassroots clubs
around Australia as well as investing in businesses leveraging the sporting connection.

Larry’s passion for business solutions has led to rapid growth for the outsourced solutions provider
Acquire BPO with over 7,500 people across Australia, Philippines and Dominican Republic, the expansion
of the human resources service provider Wall Street, performance marketing agency Frankly, virtualised networking systems provider Saisei and the establishment of Petra Industries. Petra brings together leading building material brands including Signorino, Multiform and Woodcut.

Queens Lane Capital is the private equity investment arm of the LK Group to invest in established
businesses looking to grow. In November 2020, QLC acquired the PAS Group which is inclusive of 166 retail
stores as well as a licensing business and saving some 1,000 local jobs in the middle of COVID19. By mid-2021
the portfolio had expanded to now include leading footwear & stylish apparel business Brand Collective,
the two companies have since been merged and now operate under Brand Collective.

2021 also saw Daniel’s Donuts becoming a part of QLC and thanks to their support, Daniel’s Donuts embarked
on a massive growth trajectory, opening new stores, bringing the total number in Victoria to 36.

Giving back to the community is important to Larry, which is why the LK Group has a strong Corporate Social Responsibility Plan headed up by Anita Pahor. The LK Group takes a considered and strategic approach to supporting community organisations with a particular focus on the needs of vulnerable and at-risk young people.
Larry is a big believer in his people and stands by the adage “you don’t know what you don’t know” and loves learning from everyone he meets. He surrounds himself with leaders and experts in their fields, fostering a culture of strong leadership, rewarding and celebrating people.

Life is Good!

Gillon McLachlan is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Football League.

He has worked for the AFL since 2000, initially as a consultant in strategic planning and in November, 2003, was appointed General Manager, Commercial Operations.

He subsequently assumed additional responsibilities for broadcasting and major projects in 2006 and in 2008, was appointed Chief Operating Officer in 2008 with responsibility for AFL broadcasting, digital media, fixturing, venue agreements and stadia infrastructure.

In December, 2012 he was appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer, a position he held until his appointment as Chief Executive Officer on April 30, 2014 to succeed Andrew Demetriou.

Key outcomes in his various roles with the AFL have included the establishment of the AFLW competition, multiple broadcast deals, including the most recent multi- billion-dollar partnership, the largest in Australian Sports Rights History, the establishment of AFL Media, the $250 million dollar Marvel Stadium redevelopment, expansion of the both the AFL and AFLW competitions and leading the AFL industry through the Covid pandemic.

He has a Bachelor of Laws from Melbourne University, a Bachelor of Commerce from Adelaide University and completed the Senior Executive Program at Stanford University.

Ian is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of SEEK. He commenced in both roles on July 1 2021.

Ian joined SEEK in April 2019 in the dual roles of Chief Operating Officer and CEO of Asia Pacific and Americas. Before joining SEEK Ian spent 11 years at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. He was CBA’s Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director from 2011 until 2018. Prior to joining CBA Ian was a partner of McKinsey and Company.

Ian is also the inaugural non-executive Chair of New Zealand Rugby Commercial, the commercial entity established by New Zealand Rugby, to house all its revenue-generating assets, in partnership with Silver Lake. He also has non-profit board roles in education and the performing arts, and advisory board roles in private equity and fintech.

Ian holds a Bachelor of Arts and Law (Honours) from the University of Auckland, and Masters of Law from Cambridge University (International Corporate Law) and New York University (International Relations).

Pip Marlow is Chief Executive Officer, Salesforce Australia and New Zealand. In this role, Pip is responsible for ensuring Salesforce delivers on its values of trust, customer success, innovation and equality for both our customers and our community across Australia and New Zealand.

Prior to Salesforce, Pip was Chief Executive Officer Customer Marketplace at Suncorp, where she was responsible for driving customer focus into all aspects of Suncorp’s business including strategy, customer care, partnerships and innovative solutions that add value for customers. Prior to joining Suncorp in 2016, Pip was at Microsoft for 21 years where she held a number of roles for them in Australia and the USA. This culminated in her role as the Managing Director of Microsoft Australia for 6 years.

Pip is also a non-executive director of the Rugby Australia (ARU), sits on the Vice-Chancellor's Advisory Board at UTS, is a member of Chief Executive Women (CEW), and is an Executive Ally for Pride Diversity. She is a passionate advocate for flexible and diverse workplaces that empower people. Born and raised in New Zealand, Pip lives in Sydney with her Scottish husband and her two American born daughters, Sophie and Lucy.

Manoj Badale was born in Maharashtra but educated in England and studied economics at Cambridge University. Since 1998 he has co-founded over 40 digital businesses, through the venture-building group, Blenheim Chalcot (BC), that he co-founded with his business partner Charles Mindenhall.

A cricket lover, he has been investing, with BC, in cricket since 2006. In 2007, he set up a consortium to purchase the Rajasthan Royals IPL franchise and the team won the inaugural tournament in 2008 – although sadly that remains the only tournament win!

As the only English-based lead owner of an IPL franchise, Manoj has a unique perspective on the business of cricket, and sport generally, and advises a number of major sporting bodies.
Manoj’s IPL and business experience, which he has documented in the book ‘A New Innings’, provides an interesting perspective on the field of business and sport innovation.
He is also heavily involved in charitable activities, particularly as founding chairman of the British Asian Trust, whose found patron is King Charles III. He was awarded an OBE in 2018 for services to the economy and charity.

Janet is the head of Gilbert + Tobin’s Disputes + Investigations practice in Melbourne.

Janet is recognised as one of the pre-eminent commercial litigators in Australia. Janet’s client portfolio includes global corporations, ASX top 50, governments and regulators.

Janet is the current President of the Council of Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria, the first woman to hold the position since the Gallery was founded in 1861. In 2015, Janet was made a Member of the Order of Australia for her significant service to the community through the arts, health and major events sectors and as a legal professional. She was inducted onto the 2015 Victorian Honour Roll of Women by the Premier of Victoria. Janet was named one of Australia’s 10 Most Influential Women in the Westpac and Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence Awards 2015 and won the category for Culture. Janet was previously named one of Australia’s 100 Most Influential Women in the Westpac Banking Corporation and Australian Financial Review ‘100 Women of Influence Awards 2012 in the category of Boards and Management.

Janet is also currently a director of Hostplus, on the Council of Newman College, The University of Melbourne and Patron of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation. Janet’s previous appointments include Deputy Chair, Victorian Major Events Company, Director of National Australia Day Council, Bell Shakespeare Company, Tourism Australia and President of the Victorian Arts Centre Trust.

Rod Eddington is Chairman of J P Morgan’s Asia Pacific Advisory Council and non-executive Chairman of Lion.

Educated as an engineer at the University of Western Australia and then Oxford University as WA’s 1974 Rhodes Scholar, Sir Rod’s career began in transport and aviation and he went on to become CEO of Cathay Pacific, Ansett Airlines and British Airways, before retiring in late 2005 and returning to Australia.

In 2005, Sir Rod was awarded a Knighthood by the British Government for service to civil aviation, in 2012 was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for service to business and commerce and in 2015 was honoured by the Japanese Government with the Grand Cordon of
the Order of the Rising Sun for his contribution to strengthening the economic relations between Australia and Japan.

Sir Rod is Chairman of Infrastructure Partnerships Australia and Chair of the Advisory Board for the Rugby World Cup Bid 2027. He also sits as a non-executive director on a number of Boards and served as the inaugural Chair of Infrastructure Australia from 2008-2014, a member of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) from 2014-2020 and President of the Australia-Japan Business Cooperation Committee (AJBCC) from 2006-2021.

Marne Fechner was appointed Chief Executive of AusCycling in December 2020 and previous to this, was the CEO of Netball Australia following a long career in various state and national roles within the sport of netball.

Marne was appointed CEO of Netball World Cup Sydney 2015 and delivered the most commercially successful World Cup in the history of the event.

Formerly Head of Netball Australia’s Commercial, Marketing and Events Team, Marne has more than doubled Netball Australia’s commercial turnover since 2007 and was awarded the CEO Magazine Sport Executive of the Year in 2016.

Marne will now lead a team that will drive evolutionary change in the sport of cycling, with a mandate to develop AusCycling into one of Australia’s most successful sporting brands.

As Managing Director of NBA Asia, Ramez Sheikh oversees development and expansion of the NBA in Asia-Pacific, including Australia, India, Japan, Philippines, South Korea and other countries across Southeast Asia and Oceania. Sheikh directs all of NBA Asia and NBA India’s business groups, including media distribution, marketing and marketing partnerships, merchandising, events, digital media, and gaming. Sheikh reports to NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum.

Sheikh, who was appointed Managing Director of NBA Asia in 2022, previously served as Vice President and General Manager of Global Content & Media Distribution, where he played an instrumental role in the expansion of the NBA media and content business in Asia-Pacific, managing key relationships with broadcast, digital and social media partners and overseeing the launch of various new media, content and direct-to-consumer initiatives in the region.

Prior to joining the NBA in 2016, Sheikh was the Vice President of Network Distribution and Development at NBCUniversal APAC, a subsidiary of the Comcast Corporation, where he was charged with the strategy and deployment of its linear channels and branded destinations. Before that, Sheikh held various digital and network distribution and program syndication roles at The Walt Disney Company’s Disney Media Distribution division.

A graduate of the University of Virginia, Sheikh currently resides in Hong Kong.

Hon Kate Jones has around 20 years experience in senior government and leadership positions. Kate served as a Minister in the Queensland Government for more than eight years in a range of portfolios including State Development, Education, Tourism, and Major Events.

Kate was also the Minister responsible for the successful delivery of the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and secured new major events to Queensland including the NRL Magic Round and global sports conference, Sport Accord in 2019.

Throughout 2020, Kate was instrumental in working with many national sporting codes to ensure they could continue to operate safely during the COVID-19 pandemic including staging the historic AFL Grand Final in Brisbane. She also served on the 2032 Olympic Candidature Leadership group.

Last year Kate was appointed to The Australian Rugby League Commission, the national governing body for Rugby League.

Kate now serves on a number of boards and works in leadership roles in both the tech and tourism industries.

Libby is the Chief Executive Officer of Champion Data; a leading Sports Data, Technology and Broadcast team operating across diverse sports including thoroughbred racing, Australian Rules Football, Netball, Lacrosse and Golf. I joined Champion Data as Chief Operating Officer in 2015 after more than 7 years at Cricket Australia in Media Rights. Prior to that, I cut my teeth in government on the regulatory and policy side of digital, communications, broadcast and content. At Champion Data I have the pleasure of blending passions for inclusive and people-centred leadership, and sport, data, and technology.

A key aim of mine is to enable passionate, super clever people to help sport tell stories behind the game. I think it’s a privilege to work in sport and its ecosystem and I never take that for granted. I love hearing and learning from people’s stories as much as I enjoy enabling sports to bring theirs to life for fans. My wonderfully unruly children deserve a special mention for making me a better human being and showing me that kindness is my most important guiding value.

Elis is responsible for leading Goldman Sachs’ Sports Advisory Business in EMEA, whilst also covering additional locations around the world and working very closely with colleagues and businesses in the US. In doing so, Elis covers a large portion of the Global Sports ecosystem across all major Sports, including Federations, Leagues, Franchises and Clubs, as well as Sports Media, Entertainment and Tech business’.

Elis joined Goldman Sachs in 2010 and was named managing director in 2017.

Brendan McClements became Chief Executive Officer of Visit Victoria in December 2019.

His appointment followed local and international leadership positions held with commercial organisations and government entities across a range of sectors, including sport, major events, financial services and food and beverage.

Before joining Visit Victoria, Brendan was the Global Head of Events for TLA Worldwide (2016-2019) and the CEO of the Victorian Government’s Victorian Major Events Company (VMEC) for nine years from 2007.

During Brendan’s VMEC tenure, Victoria acquired the 2015 Cricket World Cup, 2015 International Champions Cup (football) and Melbourne Winter Masterpieces Exhibitions at the National Gallery of Victoria, with each of these major events and attractions reinforcing Victoria’s acclaim as a global events and arts capital. Brendan also initiated and oversaw the creation of Victoria’s renowned ‘White Night’ event.

As General Manager of Corporate Affairs at the International Cricket Council (London and Dubai) from 2002 to 2006, Brendan led global communication, stakeholder engagement and reputation management strategies for the game’s governing body. Before that, at Cricket Australia (CA), he guided the sport through myriad on-and-off-field issues and opportunities, including cricket’s corruption crisis, as the administrator’s Head of Public Affairs (1999 – 2002).

Brendan was also the Australian Marketing Manager at British-headquartered insurance multi-national, Norwich Union (now Aviva), and was part of the corporate affairs team at Australian beverage giant, Carlton & United Breweries. He began his career at Basketball Australia.

Brendan holds a Bachelor of Arts (Communication and Media Studies) from RMIT University.

Mr Neil Wilson was appointed the 22nd Chairman of the Club on 20 November 2020.

Prior to that Mr Wilson held the position of the VRC’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from January 2018 until November 2020. Neil is the first CEO to be appointed Chairman in the 160 year history of the Club.

Neil has been a member of the VRC Board since December 2012 and was elected Honorary Treasurer in February 2017, ahead of stepping into the Interim Chief Executive role in June 2017.

Neil is a Director on the board of Racing.com - Australia’s premier thoroughbred racing media organisation, as well as World Horse Racing – which is an alliance of five iconic global racing festivals, committed to celebrating the sport of horse racing and the incredible athletes who make it happen. Neil is also on the Racing & Sports Network (RSN) board.

Neil also serves on several other technology and digital Boards and Advisory Committees.

Neil’s passion for horse racing led him to the VRC. He has been a horse owner for over 30 years and was a breeder for a period of time. His prior career involves over 35 years’ experience in Information Technology working in corporate roles and as a founder of his own business (Charter Wilson) which was acquired by ASX listed company Oakton, a leading technology services company which employed over 1,300 people. Neil was the Chief Executive Officer of Oakton for nine years until it
was acquired by Dimension Data in 2014.

Neil is a Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) and a member of the Australian Computer Society (ACS).

Patrick is the Chief Executive Officer of the Foxtel Group which has interests that extend from the traditional Foxtel business to advertising, sports production, entertainment creation and new streaming businesses. He was appointed to the role in January 2018 following his successful tenure as Chief Executive Officer of Fox Sports.

Since Patrick became Chief Executive Officer, the Foxtel Group has grown rapidly in streaming with the launch of Kayo Sports in late 2018 and the arrival of the highly anticipated entertainment streaming service, BINGE, in May 2020. Under his leadership, the Foxtel Group of today is a transformed technology-led streaming company with world-class sport and entertainment content, at the heart of the Australian home with more than 4.4 million subscribers.

Previously at Fox Sports, Patrick oversaw an extensive program of renewal and invigoration, including the rebranding of Fox Sports and the introduction of weekly entertainment shows that cemented the company’s reputation as the unrivalled home of sports and game-changing broadcast innovations.

In 2005, Patrick was appointed Executive Director of Content, Product and Delivery at Foxtel and was responsible for introducing a string of product and service innovations including Foxtel iQ, Mobile Foxtel, Foxtel On Demand and Ultra HD. In 2002, as Director of Digital, he lead the rebirth and reinvigoration of Foxtel as a digital product and reshaping its consumer proposition.

Patrick’s career in television began in 1998, at Southern Star Entertainment as Head of Non-Drama, before taking on the role of Chief Executive Officer, XYZ – the channel creation and production business – in 2000. At XYZ, Patrick successfully revitalised and relaunched the Lifestyle Channel, Channel [V], Music Max and The Weather Channel for the Foxtel and Austar platforms.

Belinda has over 25 years of professional experience across training development, program implementation, employment and training and more specifically the social justice sector. Governance and leadership underpin her professional experience across a range of roles. Sport has been a primary thread across her life both personally & professionally as an elite athlete and sport administrator. She has been affirmed for her leadership through appointments in a number of roles including boards, Chair appointments, fellowship appointments, and an AFL industry award.

Belinda is the CEO of Culture is Life, Director of Victoria2026 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, Honorary, Director, Dja Dja Wurrung Aboriginal Corporation, Honorary, Director, Western Bulldogs, Chair, Program Board, Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity, and Honorary Chair and Committee Member, Victorian Aboriginal Cricket Committee an has previously held positions including Honorary, Trustee, Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) Trust, Honorary, Committee Member, Athletics Australia Reconciliation Action Plan, and a Sport Administration position as a long standing Director of VicHealth.

Belinda’s qualifications include Bachelor of Education (Physical Education). Belinda’s professional objective is to lead agendas that address social justice and inequities for First Peoples and other groups by engaging the broader community in leading that change.
Belinda is a proud Wotjobaluk/Dja Dja Wurrung woman who resides in Melbourne, Victoria.

David Hill has spent a lifetime in the medium as a journalist, news anchor, documentary producer/director, Emmy Award-winning sports producer and executive, network chief and now, critically-acclaimed independent producer.

Hill has served as executive producer on many of the world's most prominent television programs, from the Oscars to the Super Bowl to American Idol, and holds numerous patents for production innovations. His creations include football's on-field first down marker and the now ubiquitous constant score and clock graphic (commonly known as the Fox Box).

In 2015, Hill launched Hilly, Inc., and the production company's first undertaking was to produce the 88th Oscars™ which aired on ABC in February 2016, receiving critical acclaim. In 2016 and 2017, Hill produced Alibaba Group's prestigious 11.11 Global Shopping Festival Countdown, as the international e-commerce giant sought to elevate its flagship event to new heights. This past November, the televised gala, held in Shenzhen, China, featured a number of international luminaries, including Nicole Kidman, Pharrell, Jessie J, Maria Sharapova, Real Madrid icon Luis Figo and renowned pianist Lang Lang, and Alibaba set a new Singles' Day record, posting over $25 billion in sales.

Hill was busy with other projects as well in 2017. Earlier in the year, he began advising F1 CEO Chase Carey, his former superior at FOX, on the global racing circuit's television production and was recently hired fulltime to update the sport's multi-platform presentation and offerings. Last summer, Hilly, Inc. and Barry Hearn's Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) co-promoted the U.S. Masters in Las Vegas. The tournament, televised by FS1, represented the first time the PDC World Series of Darts hosted an event in the U.S.

Hill, Australian by birth and naturalized American by choice, began his distinguished career as a 17-year-old copy boy at the Daily Telegraph in Sydney. Later, he became a television journalist, in front of and behind the camera, followed by a period as a documentary producer/director. Eventually, Hill shifted to live television production with Australia's 7 Network, followed by a move to sports at the Nine Network, working closely with the owner, Kerry Packer, creating The World Series of Cricket and Channel 9's Wide World of Sports.

In 1988, Rupert Murdoch lured him to England, hiring him to help launch Sky Television, Britain's first satellite distributed television service. He then became Executive Producer of Eurosport, the first pan-European sports service. Following that effort, Hill was responsible for the creation of Sky Sports, which, with the addition of the English Premier League, became a critical division of British Sky Broadcasting.

After the fledgling FOX network gained the rights to televise the National Football League's prestigious NFC package in late 1993, Mr. Murdoch dispatched Hill to the U.S. to serve as the first President of FOX Sports. Hill launched an innovative, fully functional major U.S. television network sports division in just eight months. Over the next 20 years he also directly or indirectly oversaw the launch of several media outlets, including FOX Sports Net, FOXSports.com, Big Ten Network, FOX Sports 1 and others.

In 1996, with FOX running in fourth place behind ABC, CBS and NBC in prime time, Hill was appointed its Chairman, and within three years, with shows like Ali McBeal, Family Guy and When Animals Attack, the network jumped to No. 2 overall and No. 1 in the key adult 18-49 demographic.

His next challenge came when News Corporation purchased the satellite video provider DirecTV, and Hill was appointed President, Entertainment in 2005. There, he developed enhanced viewing experiences such as NFL Sunday Ticket SuperFan and NASCAR HotPass.

During his time at the FOX network and at DirecTV, Hill continued running FOX Sports, which eventually grew into the FOX Sports Media Group in the U.S., later expanding worldwide.

For more than 20 years, Hill oversaw thousands of events aired by FOX Sports, and it's affiliated national and regional channels, including NFL Super Bowls (6), MLB World Series (14), NHL Stanley Cup Finals (5) and NASCAR's Daytona 500 (8). He also created and served as Executive Producer of countless studio shows, including FOX NFL SUNDAY, the most-watched NFL pregame show since its debut in 1994. Many of the techniques and innovations he introduced upon launching FOX Sports ushered in a modern era of sports television production.

In 2011, Hill shifted the lion's share of his focus to entertainment television when he was appointed executive producer of the long-running hit series American Idol, which he oversaw for three seasons, as well as running the National Geographic Channel.

Hill was described by Murdoch, for whom he worked for almost 30 years, as a "dynamic and imaginative leader who has changed the experience of nearly all major sports on three continents. Whether launching Sky Sports, the FOX network, FOX Sports or our regional sports networks, we owe him an enormous debt."

In 2017, Hill became the first executive/producer since Roone Arledge in 2001 honored with the Pete Rozelle Radio/Television Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Sports Video Group's Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2014. He also received Lifetime Achievement honors at the 63rd Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards in 2012, and at the New York Festivals Television & Film Awards in 2016. He currently sits on advisory boards for the Professional Fighters League, the Association of Tennis Professionals, Southern California Public Radio, INVIVO Media Group and Planetary Resources, a space exploration company.

Hilly, Inc. is currently involved in the development of a film (based on the life of Queen Isabella of Spain) and several television projects, ranging from eSports for ESL to a prime-time network game show. Earlier this year, the company produced and promoted the Masters Darts Championship in Las Vegas, the first World Series of Darts tournament ever held in the United States.

Will Lopes is the Chief Executive Officer of Catapult, a role he has held since November 2019. As the former Chief Revenue Officer of Amazon subsidiary Audible, Will brings world-class technology and growth experience from one of the world’s most successful technology businesses.

Consistent with Catapult’s strategy, a key focus for Will is accelerating the development and international roll-out of Catapult’s unique platform, underpinning its elite sports performance technology portfolio.

As CRO at Audible, Will was responsible for revenue growth across the company and was a key leader on the executive management team responsible for overall business performance. His experience at Audible spanned 18 years and he was present through its various corporate structures, including as a NASDAQ-listed public company and through its acquisition by Amazon in 2008 as a significant subsidiary.

Rachel is an international director and consultant with significant experience delivering business growth for brands, rights-holders, media and charities in Aotearoa New Zealand and globally. Over the past 20 years, she has worked in numerous commercial roles across Formula 1 and other motorsport, football, rugby, cricket, athletics, and more, based in Europe and APAC.

Inspired after working on the London 2012 Paralympic Games, for the past 8 years Rachel has been dedicated to advancing social change and driving financial investment into sport and not-for-profits in support of disabled people, women and girls and most recently, indigenous peoples.

Rachel recently stepped down from her role as Secretary General of the International Working Group (IWG) on Women & Sport and Chief Executive of Women in Sport Aotearoa, Ngā Wāhine Hākinakina o Aotearoa (WISPA). This very successful 4.5 year tenure included the staging of the 8th IWG World Conference on Women & Sport in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland over 4-days last November, attended by 1,850+ global sports leaders from over 300 organisations in 90+ countries.

Rachel launched her own business in January 2023. ‘Away We Go – Matike Mai’ specialises in supporting organisations at the intersection of business growth and social impact. Her purpose is to help progress equitable inclusion of all peoples in sport and society.

Matike Mai means ‘get up and go’ or ‘rise up’ in the indigenous culture of Aotearoa New Zealand. She was honoured to have been gifted this name by recognised mātauranga (Māori knowledge) expert, Moe Milne (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi). It represents her ongoing journey in Te Ao Māori (the Māori world), her commitment to the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in Aotearoa, and her respect for the rights and cultures of indigenous peoples worldwide.

Gavin Kirkman has served the PGA of Australia and its members for more than 15 years, including the past six as Chief Executive Officer. The PGA owns and operates the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia which exists to provide the best playing pathways to Australasian golfers, along with representing more than 2,400 plus vocational members who are charged with growing and servicing the game of golf in Australia and globally.

With more than 35 years’ experience in the golf industry, Gavin is committed to innovation and changing the perception of the game.

Collaboration has been a major focus for Gavin having built strong global relationships through the PGA World Alliance, the International Federation of Tours, the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour, along with working together with the peak bodies in Australia. The PGA of Australia has recently increased its collaboration with the WPGA Tour through providing shared services, while the partnership between Golf Australia has flourished under Gavin's leadership, highlighted by the move of the PGA's head office to the Australian Golf Centre as both organisations strive to make golf a sport for all and a fun sport for life.

Prior to working at the PGA, Gavin’s career has seen him in senior management roles at coveted golf clubs, facilities and brands, including senior executive roles with Panasonic, Club Corp and Morgan Stanley, Royal Pines and Lakelands Golf Club.

Sanjog Gupta leads the Sports business for Star and Disney India which includes a portfolio of 17 channels. In this role, he is responsible for the business, product (programming & production), marketing, and strategy for the Sports network.

Sanjog has been pivotal in driving the Sports broadcasting space in India. Prior to his current role, he was the content head for sports where he shaped and delivered marquee national and international broadcasts watched in over 200 countries ranging from IPL to ICC Cricket World Cup. Sanjog also played a significant role in driving growth for home-grown Indian sports properties such as Pro Kabaddi League and Indian Super League. He pioneered the regionalization of sports broadcasts by delivering live feeds in seven languages and launching regional sports networks in Hindi-speaking markets, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka & Tamil Nadu. He has championed grassroots development in sports by launching properties such as KBD Juniors and partnering with the Sports & Youth Affairs Ministry to launch Khelo India, which seeks to drive youth participation in Sports. The delivery of interactive consumer experiences and deployment of live AR/VR on broadcast – both world firsts – along with the use of state-of-the-art production technology have been crucial milestones in his vision of putting Star Sports at the forefront of the global broadcasting space.

Having been with Star India for 10 years, Sanjog also led content development for Life OK – Star India’s GEC channel for two years, prior to his role in Sports. He has been in the broadcast industry for almost two decades and has donned content leadership roles across English & Hindi News, Hindi General Entertainment, and Sports.

He is also the Chairperson of the Sports & Youth Affairs Committee at FICCI. In this capacity, he has been influential in bringing the focus of corporate India to sports development and holistically driving a strong multi-sport ecosystem in the country.

Sanjog is a Graduate in Economics (Honours) from Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi.

Lisa is an internationally recognised business and thought leader and author of the book Inspired INC. become a company the world will get behind. She believes in and is inspired by the best version of the corporate sector.

As a former Vice President at Nike, she has worked internationally for almost 2 decades holding global leadership roles across Apparel, Corporate Strategy, Sales and Retail, the Nike Foundation and Nike’s global community impact.

As founder and chief strategist of Inspired Companies, Lisa and her team now support companies on how to transform into purpose led, resilient and inspired brands, capable of navigating the pace and complexity of the 21st Century marketplace.

Inspired Companies was created as a benchmark for the best version of the corporate sector. Companies that outperform their peers financially because they pursue and deliver big exciting ideas - in harmony with people and planet.

Jeremy Loeliger is the Commissioner of the National Basketball League, having previously held the offices of Chief Executive Officer and General Manager.

Since his appointment in 2015, Jeremy has overseen the League’s emergence from the brink of bankruptcy to become a flourishing mainstream national sporting league that has captured the attention of basketball fans around the world.

In this period the NBL has undergone a major transformation and is now Australia’s fastest growing sporting league and widely regarded as the second best domestic basketball league in the world, after the NBA.

In his role, Loeliger has overseen the successful Next Stars program offering an alternative pathway for budding NBA superstars such as LaMelo Ball and Josh Giddey. The program has generated worldwide interest and enhanced the NBL’s status as a global entertainment product. He has also played a key role in establishing the NBL’s relationships in the NBA and China Basketball and building the league’s profile both domestically and globally.

Before joining the NBL, Loeliger was a partner of a national law firm, practising corporate and commercial law with a focus on mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets. In that time, he also carved out a successful sports law practice. He sat on the Executive Committee of the Victorian Chapter of the Australia China Business Council, is an Adjunct Fellow to Victoria University's Victoria Business Confucius Institute and is a champion of Sino-Australian trade and sports diplomacy.

Kelly is a sound business professional who has established a strong results driven career through the media and sport industries.

Having completed a Bachelor of Business majoring in Marketing, Kelly has held multiple Executive roles leading disciplines such as Marketing, Commercial, Consumer Business, Customer Experience, Member Acquisition and Retention, Stadium Operations, Major Events and Women’s Strategies.

She has a demonstrated ability in every core aspect of business including innovative strategic planning, stakeholder management, financial management, commercial growth and people management. She is a strong leader and passionate about building great leaders.

Kelly has spent the last 15 in the AFL industry working across AFL HQ, Western Bulldogs, Gold Coast SUNS and Marvel Stadium. She joined Netball Australia as CEO in 2021.

Kelly has also graduated from Harvard Business School completing the Authentic Leadership Program and is on the Board of Athletics Victoria.

Most importantly she is a proud mum to two beautiful girls.

James Rushton is the Founder and former CEO of DAZN Group the world’s largest sports streaming platform. Combining his passion for sports and technology James has led the creation of some of the most innovative and disruptive businesses in the sports media industry across both B2B and D2C verticals.
Previously, James held a variety of leadership roles at PERFORM Group including Chief Revenue Officer and Managing Director of APAC.
Having recently moved to Melbourne, James is an LP in Real VC where he is using his scale-up experiences to help grow some of the most exciting and innovative start-ups in Australia including the in-game advertising pioneers Livewire, to which James has recently been appointed as Chairman.

Stephanie is one of the Australia’s most accomplished sports media executives with more than 20 years’ experience in the industry.

Through her career she has overseen transformational commercial growth in Australian cricket and been a trail blazer in advancing women’s cricket, driving the broadcast coverage and equity agenda.

A member of the CA Executive Team, Stephanie has led Australian cricket’s global media rights sales (achieving 500% + growth over the past decade) with her current portfolio encompassing responsibility for all major revenue streams including commercial partnerships, ticketing, venue business, production, licensing and new rights.
Together with her team, Stephanie recently led the 7-year $1.512b renewal with the Foxtel Group and Seven, secured new partnerships with Disney Star & NRMA Insurance and launched fan-focussed initiatives including CA’s NFT program CricRush and Season Two of The Test on Amazon Prime

Troy de Haas is a Partner and Head of the Sport & Entertainment Practice for Asia-Pacific.

Troy has held senior executive positions within a range of organisations including Head of Sport at BMC in Switzerland, and Director of Sales & Marketing at Thanyapura sports resort in Thailand before founding TDH Sport & Entertainment marketing agency in Hong Kong.

As a former elite athlete, he has represented Australia at the international level in Mountain Running and Orienteering where he became the first ever Non-European to medal at the World Championship level. His innate understanding of all sports and the requirements of CEOs and boards throughout Asia-Pacific makes him a rare and trusted advisor to both clients and candidates alike.

Troy has experience in leadership having sat in various executive management groups which included leading one of the world’s most recognized endurance sports properties, BMC Racing (incl. road, mtb, triathlon & ambassadors). Prior to that, he was responsible for attracting prominent international talent to launch Thanyapura with it being awarded Asia’s Premier Sports Resort within a year and guiding Flight Centre Asia’s sports travel department to record sales.

He has spent the past two decades competing, studying, and working internationally with a proven track record of building lasting partnerships and cross-border relationships.

Jane Fernandez is the Chief Operating Officer, Australia, FIFA Women's World Cup Australia New Zealand 2023TM.

Jane led Football Australia’s successful bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, one of the world’s largest international sporting events. Previously, Jane was Head of Sport for the Australian Olympic Committee managing key aspects of Australia's participation in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, and Tournament Director of the AFC Asian Cup 2015. Jane is passionate about the power of sport and major sports events to drive social change and to leave a positive legacy.

As Vice President, Marketing & Communications, NBA Asia, Sheila Rasu is responsible for the overall marketing, communications and social responsibility efforts for the NBA across Asia-Pacific.

Rasu has more than 20 years of experience in public relations and marketing. Before joining NBA Asia in May 2011, Rasu served as Senior Vice President of Fleishman-Hillard in Singapore, where she oversaw its consumer and healthcare practice and spearheaded various large-scale regional campaigns. Prior to that, Rasu held positions with Fulford PR and Mission Hills Group.

Throughout her career, Rasu has received a variety of professional distinctions including being named to Marketing Magazine’s ‘Rising Personalities under 35’ list, Top 50 Asia Women Leaders and earning Marketing Magazine’s ‘2010 Digital Campaign of the year award’.

Rasu earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and a master’s degree in economics from the University of Southern California. She resides in Hong Kong with her husband Kenny, her son Skai, and two rescue dogs.

Described as the ‘First Man of Sports’ in an article by SportzPower, India’s leading sports business publication, Ravi Krishnan is a key and prominent name in the business of Sports, Entertainment and Media in India. He has been awarded the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year in Service Business – Fitness’ award at the 5th edition of the Entrepreneur India 2015 Awards. Ravi was featured in Sports Illustrated at No. 27 in the 50 Most Influential People in Indian Sport (February, 2010). He was also featured in Business Today (2004) as one of India’s Top 25 Executives under the age of 40.

In April 2012, Ravi co-founded Stepathlon Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd. (SLPL), a global wellness company that aims to create an engage fans and communities across Sports, Media and Entertainment.
Ravi, a lawyer by training, was part of the four-member team that was sent, in 1995, to set up IMG’s operations in India. The ensuing 25 years has seen Ravi develop an enormous well of experience in conducting business in the Indian subcontinent. Through various sponsorship and marketing deals with India’s largest companies, Ravi has cultivated a formidable range of business and personal relationships. At IMG, he was instrumental in creating properties such as the Sahara Cup, The Aircel Chennai Open, (India’s only ATP event) Lakme India Fashion Week, Royal Challenge Indian Open Golf Tournament, Avantha Masters and Philips National Football League amongst many other events across several genres.

Ravi also played a key strategic role, in the capacity of Vice Chairman, with the Rajasthan Royals, champions of Indian Premier League 2008, in advising the Franchise on Commercial, Player, Operational and Strategic matters. In April 2009, Ravi returned to IMG India as the Managing Director South Asia/ Senior VP IMG. In addition to consolidating and growing events such as DLF IPL, Aircel Chennai Open, Lakme Fashion Week, Ravi was charged with developing potential new business opportunities in the field of Sports, Entertainment and Media. Other notable achievements include being involved in the formation of a Joint Venture with Reliance Industries Ltd to form IMG Reliance, which oversaw the securing of long-term arrangements with both the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and the ALL India Football Federation (AIFF) to develop those Sports in India. With Stepathlon, Ravi has created a niche product in the health and wellness category which has become one of the biggest mass participation events across the globe.

Jacqueline Comer serves as the Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder of Areto Labs, a social impact technology firm led by women. Areto Labs specializes in creating safe and welcoming virtual communities for sports organizations, utilizing cutting-edge machine learning software to track, moderate, and counteract instances of social media abuse directed towards athletes and brands. Jacqueline is responsible for spearheading the company's product development and technology initiatives, and has recently obtained a master's degree focused on leveraging machine learning to detect microaggressions. Over the course of her 20-year professional career, Jacqueline has held diverse roles, including as a sports journalist, creative director, and product manager.

Craig is recognised as one of Australia’s most innovative and forward-thinking chief executives. His charismatic and passionate nature, together with his business acumen, has leveraged him to the forefront of sports administration and the leader behind Australia’s largest and most successful annual international sporting event.

In 2021, he was the driving force behind the Australian Open being the first Grand Slam tennis event (and first truly global sporting event) to be held safely and successfully during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite some enormous obstacles, AO 2021 was hailed a massive success and kick-started the international tennis tour at a time when it was most needed. This has since been followed by delivering AO 2022 at the height of the COVID Omicron wave in Australia and was again a massive success.
Craig’s incredible relationship with the players has long been a key to the success of the Australian Open right from when he was appointed Tournament Director for his first event in 2006. He was later appointed CEO of Tennis Australia in 2013.

In that time the Australian Open has broken attendance records and delivers more than $377 million in economic benefit to Melbourne each year while reaching a global audience of more than one billion households.

Craig has also led the introduction of successful initiatives to shift the historical decline in tennis participation including the rollout of digital platforms, which has increased access to courts by over 350%. He has led the diversification of Tennis Australia with the creation of a global production unit, the launch of a venture capital funds and a successful incubator partnership.

He also serves as the Chair of the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports (COMPPS) in Australia and is on the Board of Safety Culture and Rising (Melbourne’s International Arts Festival).

Prior to joining Tennis Australia, Craig was Director of Tennis at the University of Illinois, where he led the fastest tennis program turnaround in US collegiate history, breaking a 100-year-old record for most consecutive wins.

A highly successful global sports industry leader based in New York, Glenn Lovett has previously held roles as Global CEO of Nielsen Sports and Regional MD, Europe for Octagon. Before joining Nielsen, Glenn was a key player in the transformation of private-equity-backed Repucom, the world’s leading supplier of sports media and commercial data, ultimately leading to its sale to The Nielsen Company. He has also held key strategy roles at Booz Allen Hamilton and Nike Australia, and was a former professional Australian Rules Footballer (AFL) and club leader for the Melbourne Demons.

Dr Bridie O'Donnell graduated Valedictorian from the University of Queensland Medical School and was awarded the JRS Lahz prize the following year for Most Outstanding Intern at the Mater Adult Hospitals.

She competed as an elite rower and an Ironman triathlete while working as a junior doctor, and then gave up working full time to race in as a professional cyclist in Europe and the United States from 2008-2012, working part time every summer as an ICU Fellow and Orthopaedic assistant to fund her cycling career.

Bridie represented Australia three times at cycling world championships, and then returned home to Melbourne to work at the Epworth hospital as a behaviour change physician and provide dietary and exercise advice to breast cancer patients. In 2016, she broke the UCI Women's Hour World Record riding 46.882km at sea level.

In 2017 Dr O'Donnell was appointed the inaugural head of the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation. Her role in the Victorian Government led the first office of its kind in Australia and directs investment into the community to level the playing field for women and girls in sport and recreation.

In 2018 she published 'Life and Death - a cycling memoir’ detailing her experiences as a professional cyclist in Europe and the United States and the challenges of being an elite athlete in a system with significant gender inequality and power imbalances.

In 2020 she joined the SBS commentary team for the Tour de France and in 2022 joined the team in France to cover both the men’s race and the inaugural women’s our de Frances Femmes.

In 2021 Bridie graduated with a Master of Public Administration at the Australian and New Zealand School of Government through Melbourne Business School.

During the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bridie took on four key roles across two departments in the Victorian Government, including supporting the event industry in re-opening after lockdowns and managing outbreaks in sensitive settings across the state including for residents in aged and disability care.

In August 2022, she was appointed as Executive Director of Strategy and Coordination for the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee. Victoria 2026 will promote access, inclusion and equal opportunity across all aspects of the unique, regional Games delivery model, from the promotion of para athletes to commitment to workforce and volunteer inclusion.

Leigh has worked within the Sports & Entertainment sector for 15+ years, and is currently a leader within News Corp Australia’s Growth Intelligence Centre, a dedicated centre-of-excellence focused on consumer research and audience intelligence to drive growth for NCA and its partners. Leigh is also currently part of News Corp Australia’s Sport Network’s Leadership Team.

Prior to his time at News, Leigh was heavily involved in several Tier 1 Australian Sports Media Rights deals including the NRL’s revised Media rights negotiations during the shutdown to relaunch the 2020 NRL season, as well as working on behalf of Telstra in their AFL 2017-22 Broadcast Rights.

Charlotte Offord is the General Manager of NFL Australia and New Zealand, who is responsible for driving fan growth, football development and revenue generation. Charlotte has recently relocated to the Gold Coast from the UK, where she led marketing and fan growth for the NFL for over 10 years.

Prior to this role, Charlotte had a career in Sports Ticketing and Marketing at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as through Ticketmaster.

Martin is the Chief Innovation Office at Be. by Animoca Brands who specialize in the creation of blockchain enabled sports and entertainment experiences.

As a recognised leader in emerging technologies, digital innovation and transformation, Martin has worked with many global brands ranging from Barclays, NAB, SEGA, The British Army, RNLI, IKEA, Virgin, The Premier League, RAC, Treasury Wines and Simplot. Within Animoca Brands, he’s working with numerous sports brands on their future Web3 programs including the AFL, Queens Park Rangers, AFF and more.

Previously at WPP with Wunderman Thompson, he led their innovation and technology practices across Australia, driving enterprise technical transformation programs and delivering multi-platform solutions. With over 25 years’ experience in creative innovation and technology, he’s been at the forefront of many of the technical evolutions we’ve seen and is now supporting organisations into their Web3 future.

Sarah is the Chief Technology Officer – Enterprise for Microsoft Australia and New Zealand. In this capacity her role is to support the development of Microsoft’s industry strategy across a range of industries including retail, manufacturing, energy and telecommunications, as well as bringing innovation and insights to commercial customers, helping them plan for the future. Sarah is passionate about supporting veterans in their careers outside of the military and has recently been appointed as a co-chair for Microsoft’s global military board.

Prior to Microsoft Sarah served in the Australian army, followed by a decade travelling the world and working across a broad range of industries in both Europe and the Middle East. She has supported Think Tanks, built custom business applications and attended ballet for a living. Her varied experience and perspective across industries brought her back to Australia, first to telecommunications, and then to IT. Her degree in fluvial geomorphology from the University of NSW has only ever proved useful for boring friends on long road trips, but as a lifelong learner her MBA from the City of London University and current pursuit of a PhD are proving far more applicable.

With over 15 years’ experience, Marissa is a globally recognised marketing executive that has worked at the highest levels sports including Formula One, World Rugby, NFL, NASCAR and the PGA. She is commercially driven and has launched social strategies, brand campaigns and international marketing plans

Through her career, she has managed brand, communications, content and broadcast teams that have led to international awards in both F1 and Rugby, including a Clio. Marissa is now Chief Marketing Officer at Rugby Australia and is using her position to help grow rugby in the country, from grassroots to the Wallabies / Wallaroos.

Nick Hockley has established himself as one of sport’s top administrators having been a driving force behind the success of several major events, including the London Olympic and Paralympic Games, the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015 and the ICC T20 World Cup in 2020, when 86,174 fans filled the MCG for the Women’s T20 World Cup final.

Now leading Cricket Australia as CEO, Nick has brought that commitment and drive to the governing body of Australia’s national sport. During his tenure Cricket Australia has successfully navigated two years of the pandemic, toured Pakistan for the first time in 24 years, won both women’s and men’s Ashes and T20 World Cups, as well as the Women’s Cricket World Cup and Commonwealth Games Gold Medal.

Nick is passionate about connecting communities through sport and growing the game worldwide, not only through engagement with all Australians but also with an eye to how Australian cricket can lead discussions around diversity, inclusion and integrity.

Nick hails from Birmingham in the UK but following the London Games moved to Sydney, where he lives with his wife and two daughters.

He studied geography at Oxford University and held senior corporate finance roles at PwC, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant, before moving into the sports arena. While his cricketing talents did not extend beyond representing Warwickshire at under-13 level, he played rugby union for Oxford, England Students and Moseley in Birmingham.

Andrew Every was appointed as Executive General Manager Strategy and Transformation of National Rugby League in June 2021. Andrew is serving as Acting Head of Participation, Pathways and Community since July 2021.

Prior to joining the NRL Andrew spent 7 years across media and sports roles at Telstra and 10 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Andrew is an experienced executive with expertise across consumer and digital media products including Subscription Television, Video and Audio Streaming Products, Publishing and Telecommunications. His experience includes revenue responsibility for over $700m of consumer media revenues. Andrew has deep experience in corporate and business unit strategy both as a consultant and as an executive.

At the National Rugby League Andrew is responsible for supporting the Commission and NRL Executive in developing and executing transformational strategy, growing participation across Australia in partnership with NSWRL and QRL, strengthening pathways to our elite game, Indigenous strategy, the NRL’s Reconciliation Action Plan and Community programs.

Outside of work Andrew is a board member of disability services charity Solve-TAD and volunteers as a surf life saver. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Commerce from UNSW, is a Member of the Institute for Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at the Sloan School of Business Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Amanda is Foxtel’s Chief Commercial and Content Officer, with responsibility for entertainment and sports strategy and acquisitions, the Foxtel linear and VOD product, and wholesale and channel partnerships. She was appointed to this expanded role in August 2020, after joining Foxtel as Chief Commercial Officer in 2018.

Amanda is a highly respected media executive with extensive experience across Australia’s free-to-air, broadcast, print, digital and streaming landscape. She has particular expertise in the structuring and negotiation of content rights, commercial development and media mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining Foxtel, Amanda served in senior leadership roles at Nine Entertainment Co. including Group General Counsel and Commercial Director before assuming the position of Managing Director.

Earlier in her career, Amanda served as General Counsel for ACP Magazines managing legal affairs across Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and the UK.

Amanda has served the boards of several regulatory and corporate organisations in advisory roles as well as holding board positions with Australian media companies and sports bodies, including the Australian Rugby League Commission and the Australian Sports Commission.

David is a Growth focused executive and non executive director who has held numerous senior executive roles for some of the world’s leading sports organisations.

David spent 17 years at Nike working up from the shop floor in Melbourne to becoming Vice President leading a $5b commercial business across 156 countries. His other roles at Nike included leading the $4b Greater China commercial business where they opened 6000 Nike stores, leading the global soccer commercial business including the 2010 World Cup, Asia Pacific leadership roles and leading the commercial business in Australia / NZ. David also lived and worked in Australia, Hong Kong, Portland, Oregon and Shanghai and worked across numerous Olympics and World Cups.

David was also previously the CEO of the Western Bulldogs where the team won the 2016 AFL and VFL Premierships, secured a foundation AFLW license and delivered record revenue, membership and engagement.
David is currently the GM Operations for the AFL where he created and commercialised the Gather Round concept in Adelaide which has sold over 155,000 tickets, including 53,000 from interstate. David has also led a number of AFL industry priorities including the Covid response, Grand Finals in Queensland and WA, Attendance, China games, AFLW season 7, Bushfire response, Auskick and many others.

David is also the Board Chair of Dental Health Services Victoria, which is the state government health board responsible for the oral health of all Victorians.
He also represented Australia and Victoria in Volleyball

Annabelle is the Head of Content Verticals for TikTok Australia & New Zealand where she is responsible for the development of content strategy and partnerships with creator communities and media publishers across multiple verticals, with a strong focus on sport.

Prior to this Annabelle worked in Content Insights & Marketing at Facebook APAC (now Meta), and during her early career - content development at the Seven Network, McAvoy Media, Warner Bros. International Television Production and Eyeworks Television.

Jeffrey Cole has been at the forefront of media and communication technology issues both in the United States and internationally for the past three decades. An expert in the field of technology and emerging media, Cole serves as an adviser to governments and leading companies around the world as they craft digital strategies.

In July 2004 Dr. Cole joined the USC Annenberg School for Communication as Director of the newly formed Center for the Digital Future and as a Research Professor. Prior to joining USC, Dr. Cole was a longtime member of the UCLA faculty and served as Director of the UCLA Center for Communication Policy, based in the Anderson Graduate School of Management. Cole founded and directs the World Internet Project, a long-term longitudinal look at the effects of computer and Internet technology, which is conducted in over 35 countries. At the announcement of the project in June 1999, Vice President Al Gore praised Cole as a “true visionary providing the public with information on how to understand the impact of media.” Twenty years into the project, the World Internet Project, through its unique data on Internet users around the world, is the leading, unrivaled international project examining the ways in which technology changes our lives.

Cole regularly presents trends and insights of the project to the White House, FCC, Congress, Department of Defense and heads of governments around the world. He has worked closely with the CEOs of GroupM, Ericsson, Telstra, Wesfarmers and others. On the advisory side, his long-term relationships have included Microsoft, Sony, Time Warner, AT&T, AARP, CBS, NBC, ABC, CPB, PBS, HP, Coca-Cola and many more as they learn to navigate the digital future. He also sits on Unilever’s (the world’s second largest advertiser) Global Digital Strategy Board.

In 2016 Cole was one of the founders of the Global Disruption Fund (GDF), a technology investment fund based in Australia (www.globaldisruptionfund.com.au). Cole is one of the members of the Investment Committee identifying innovative companies and those about to be disrupted, making investments based on his work. The Fund is now worth close to $1 billion and growing; it achieved a 40% return in its first year. Since 2017 he has written a popular and widely circulated column on disruption, media, technology and entertainment (www.digitalcenter.org/cole).

Under Cole’s leadership, the Center has conducted deep examinations of the entertainment, sports media, transportation and banking industries to identify where the next wave of disruption will occur. More than just identifying trends, the Center works closely with industry to create policies and make the concrete changes that will keep them competitive. That work includes all five (formerly six) motion picture studios, all four networks and now streaming companies, as well as sports networks, leagues, automotive companies and banks.

In the 1990s, Cole worked closely with the four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) dealing with television programming issues under an anti-trust waiver that allowed the networks to work together for the very first time. He issued annual reports to the television industry, Congress and the nation. Upon the release of the 1996 report, Cole held a joint press conference with President Bill Clinton, who referred to the Center for Communication Policy as “the premier educational institution setting trends in entertainment.” Nationwide there was unanimous praise for the quality of the reports and their contribution to the television content debate.

Cole has testified before Congress on television issues and has been a keynote speaker at more than 750 conferences on media and technology (many can be seen on YouTube). He has worked with the White House during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations on media and telecommunications issues. He regularly makes presentations across the U.S., Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

Cole was a member of the Executive Committee of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) from 1997 to 2001 and was the founding governor of the ATAS Interactive Media Peer Group. At UCLA, Cole taught over 35,000 students. In 1987 he received UCLA's Distinguished Teaching Award. In 2020 Cole received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor awarded to distinguished Americans including Presidents, Nobel Prize Winners and CEOs who exemplify a life dedicated to their community and the world at large.

A values-led sports executive, spearheading footballs national Legacy'23 plan, an inclusive strategy aimed at leveraging the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™.

In her role as Head of Women's Football, Women's World Cup Legacy & Inclusion at Football Australia, Sarah leads a team that is squarely focused on driving long lasting social and economic change for football, working with key stakeholders, in football, all levels of government, and the corporate sector to achieve this.

As an athlete for 20 years, and former CommBank Matilda, Sarah represented Australia at football’s top tier, including at the 2004 Olympic Games, the 2006 and 2010 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2007.

Beyond Sarah’s professional playing career, she transferred the skills developed as an athlete, into leadership roles in football, accumulating extensive experience in driving gender equity in governance. Sarah is qualified in driving high performing teams and building frameworks that create more inclusive environments for grassroots and elite level sport.

As an agent of change, Sarah brings unique and progressive insights, adopting a results driven approach to business, with people at the centre of all decisions.

Adrian Tobin is Founder and Chief Design Officer of Kinlab, a global innovation firm dedicated to making sport better. Better for fans and participants. Better for business. Better for society.A research and strategic design expert, Adrian has dedicated his career to understanding people and designing experiences that have a positive impact in the world.

After 15 years tackling complex social challenges, Adrian launched Kinlab in 2017.Adrian and his team work with leading sport and lifestyle brands to deeply understand the people they serve and design experiences with impact. Adrian has researched and designed for global sport brands including Nike, Formula 1, Cricket Australia and Movember.

Adrian played a leading role in designing the digital vision for the Australian sport sector for the Australian Sports Commission. A vision that guides how the Australian Government invests in sports technology to achieve world-leading physical activity and high-performance outcomes.

Adrian is also the Founder and Chief Experience Officer for Crest Surf Clubs, a property development company creating wave venues around the world. Crest’s first surf club is currently under construction in New York (USA), being readied for a June 2025 opening.As a wave venues expert, Adrian has helped wave technology companies, property developers and investors collaborate to create successful surf lifestyle properties.

This includes Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch (USA), Alaia Bay (Switzerland) and Wisemans Surf Lodge (Australia).Adrian is a former professional surf ironman and lives with his family on the Tweed Coast, NSW. He is in the ocean at every opportunity.

Andrew Westacott is the longest serving Chief Executive of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC).

Andrew commenced at the AGPC in 2006 as the General Manager - Operations before later being appointed Deputy CEO. He was appointed as CEO in February 2011. He is currently a Director of Karting Australia and a Member of the Organising Committee for the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame Awards. He has previously been a Member of the Formula 1® Commission and the Australian Motorsport Foundation.

Prior to commencing at the AGPC, Andrew started his professional life as a chemical engineering project manager before taking up senior positions in logistics, procurement and supply chain management with MasterFoods Australia New Zealand and Uncle Ben’s of Australia. He then moved into major events in 2005 and played a key part in the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games as Group Manager for Venue Delivery and Capital Projects.

He has a love of sport and sporting events and is committed to showcasing Melbourne and Victoria to the world through the Formula 1® Australian Grand Prix and the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Bailey Mackey is of Ngati Porou, Tuhoe and Rongowhaata descent and fluent speaker of Maori. He has been a director on the New Zealand Rugby Board since 2020. Mackey is the Founder and CEO of Pango Productions – a privately owned film and television company, as well as the founder of tech startup and online production management tool KAHA.

Mackey is the representative for the Creative sector on the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council. In 2017, he was named Māori Entrepreneur of the Year. He holds a number of other key strategic governance positions and is a driven by the role sport can play in improving indigenous people’s social, cultural and economic outcomes

Arthur Gillion is CEO of Kinlab, a global innovation firm dedicated to making sport better. Better for fans and participants. Better for business. Better for society.

Arthur and his team work with leading sport and lifestyle brands to deeply understand the people they serve and design experiences with impact. Kinlab’s partners include Cricket Australia, World Surf League and the Australian Sports Foundation.

Arthur has an insatiable desire to understand the relationship that people have with sport and lifestyle pursuits. He knows that putting the customer first is the secret sauce for sports businesses.

Arthur is a sports tragic and has dedicated his career to the industry. He started his professional life in Marketing for Powerboat P1, delivering the Powerboat World Championships across Europe and Superstock Championships in the UK. He began his career in Australia in 2010 as Marketing Manager of Hyundai A-League giants, Melbourne Victory, and during his five years with the club helped grow attendance, membership, fan experience, brand and digital.

In 2016, Arthur joined the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, where he was General Manager – Marketing and Experience. Arthur was responsible for the marketing and brand strategy for the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix and Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix annual events. This included research and insights, creative strategy, advertising, digital channel performance, product development, customer experience and ticketing. Both events saw significant growth during Arthur’s time, and he feels fortunate for his role in growing and showcasing the Formula 1 and MotoGP brands on the global stage, contributing to Victoria’s visitor and experience economy.

Arthur is now using his wealth of experience and knowledge at Kinlab to help sporting organisations across the globe design experiences that change the world.

Working within social media for 14 years now, Tyson has led the Australian Football League’s social media strategy over the past decade - from social’s infancy through to today where social plays a central role in almost all storytelling, products and events.

Tyson is a passionate believer in the ability of tech, innovation and new media to more deeply connect fans with the sports they love, to show a different side to the people behind the game, and to drive business outcomes.

Growing up in the country and with a background in community sport, Tyson believes strongly in the power of new media to take elite sport into the hands of fans anywhere and anytime, but also to amplify the unique stories emerging from the grassroots level.

Nathan is the executive of Home, Energy & Entertainment as part of Telstra’s Product & Technology group.

Since joining Telstra in 2012, Nathan has held several key product and innovation leadership roles across Digital, Media and Telecommunications. Under his leadership, Telstra has become a leader in streaming aggregation through Telstra TV and continued to evolve Telstra’s technology partnerships with major sporting codes such as the AFL and NRL.

In 2022 he appointed into an expanded role that also included Telstra’s foray into Energy.

Scott has been a globally recognised leader in digital, technology and business transformation for over 25 years. As a c-suite executive he guided Bertelsmann, Merrill Lynch, Sony, and the Hollywood studios into the digital age.

He co-founded iconic start-ups Computer Innovations, Data Broadcasting and Firstlook. Most recently prior to founding strategy consultancy FutureNext, Scott built Accenture’s Asia Pacific Media & Entertainment practice from the ground up with clients ranging from the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Mediacorp, NewsCorp, NHK, Shanghai Media Group, Singtel, Tabcorp and Telstra to Alibaba, Google, Facebook and Rakuten.

A resident of the bush of northern New South Wales, Scott is an alumnus of Queen’s University and MIT, chaired the Digital Advisory Panel to the Australian Sports Commission, is a Senior Fellow at The Annenberg Centre for the Digital Future (Los Angeles), and an All-Star Mentor with incubator TechStars.

Adam Silver was unanimously elected NBA Commissioner on Feb. 1, 2014, by the NBA Board of Governors.

Silver presides over a global sports and media business built around four professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, Women’s National Basketball Association, NBA G League and NBA 2K League. He is dedicated to growing basketball around the world, embracing innovation and new technologies, increasing transparency and using basketball to bring people together and promote health and fitness.

Silver was named SportsBusiness Journal’s Executive of the Decade and has been ranked No. 1 on the publication’s annual list of the 50 Most Influential People in Sports Business. He was also named to TIME’s 100 Most Influential People, Fortune’s World’s 50 Greatest Leaders, and The Bloomberg 50, Bloomberg Businessweek’s list of 50 people who defined global business. Additionally, Silver has earned Sports Executive of the Year honors at the Sports Business Awards and was named Sports Illustrated’s Executive of the Year.

Prior to becoming commissioner, Silver served as NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer for eight years. He has been instrumental to many of the league’s signature achievements, including the negotiation of three collective bargaining agreements with the National Basketball Players Association; the development of the WNBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and the Basketball Africa League; the partnership with Turner Broadcasting to manage the NBA’s digital assets; and the creation of NBA China.

Before serving as the league’s second-in-command, Silver spent more than eight years as President and COO, NBA Entertainment. Since joining the league in 1992, Silver has also held the positions of Senior VP & COO, NBA Entertainment; NBA Chief of Staff; and Special Assistant to the Commissioner.

Silver was appointed to Duke University’s Board of Trustees in 2015. He received a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015 from Duke University and in 2016 from the University of Chicago Law School, and was a recipient of the University of Chicago’s Professional Achievement Award in 2020. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and The Business Council, and serves on the Board of Trustees for The Rockefeller Foundation and as a Vice Chairman of the Board of the Lustgarten Pancreatic Cancer Foundation.

Before joining the NBA, Silver was a litigation associate at the New York law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where he concentrated on media and antitrust cases. He also served as a law clerk to Federal District Court Judge Kimba Wood in New York City. Silver graduated from Duke University and the University of Chicago Law School.

11/2020

Two-time World Cup Champion and co-captain of the US Women’s National Team, Megan Rapinoe is a fan favourite and one of the team’s most technical players.

A vocal leader on and off the pitch, Megan helped lead the USWNT to the 2019 Women’s World Cup Championship scoring some of the biggest goals of the tournament. Megan took home the tournament’s two top honors – the Golden Boot for top scorer, and the Golden Ball for the best player in the tournament. Megan is an advocate for equality for all, and has been able to intersect her passion for humanity and authenticity. Megan and her teammates will get ready to go again as they prepare for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics this summer.

Sebastian Coe is the UK’s most prolific world record setter and arguably the greatest runner to compete for his country.

Born in London in 1956, Coe began his athletics career age 12, at Sheffield’s Hallamshire Harriers squad, where his father was his running coach. In 1977 he made his first mark as a professional athlete, winning the 800m at the European Indoor Championship. After a string of world records, Coe won his first Olympic medal in 1980 at the Moscow games, taking gold in the 1,500m. His second gold came in 1984 at the Los Angeles Olympics. His famous rivalry with fellow runner Steve Ovett dominated athletics through much of those years, and he quickly became the UK’s best known and most cherished athlete - setting 12 middle-distance world records.

Coe retired from athletics in 1990 and moved into politics. In 1992, he was elected as Conservative Member of Parliament for Falmouth and Camborne, a seat he held for 5 years, when he became Private Secretary to William Hague, the Leader of the Opposition. In 2000 he was appointed a life peer, becoming Lord Coe of Ranmore.

With his sporting and political nous, Coe was asked to head London’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He led London to victory over Paris, with many pointing to his rousing speech at the 2005 vote in Singapore as the decisive moment. Despite early public cynicism, Coe helped win over the media and London went on to host a phenomenally successful Olympic Games, with Coe at the helm.

Following the games, Coe was elected Chairman of the British Olympic Association - a post he held until 2016. He is also Non-Executive Chairman of CSM Sport & Entertainment marketing agency. In 2015, he was elected President of the world governing body for athletics, World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), having been a Vice President since 2007. In 2020 he became a member of the IOC.

Packing his speeches with anecdotes from his time as an Olympic athlete, an MP, his chairmanship of London 2012, his turnaround of the British Olympic Association and his presidency World Athletics through troubled times, Lord Coe demonstrates to audiences his political and strategic expertise in guiding large organisations on the global stage.

His themes include leadership, collaboration, crisis management, building resilience, handling change and challenging the status quo. Lord Coe believes in creating a clear, strong vision for an organisation - a simple, transferable set of values which are adhered to at every moment and by every employee whatever their role. This vision, he contends, is key in times of change and turbulence.

Throughout his career Lord Coe has found success by leading from the front to make vision a reality. He turned London 2012 into one of the UK’s most successful missions of all time. Lord Coe brings energy, passion and innovation to all his work - qualities which captivate his audiences the world over.

Lord Coe’s example keynote speaking topics include, but are not limited to:

• Change, risk & handling uncertainty
• Teamwork and collaboration & breaking down silos
• Leadership & resilience
• Innovation & challenging the status quo

Coe, has four children, has received numerous honours throughout his life. He was the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year in 1979 and in 1982 he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). Eight years later he was made OBE. Following his appointment to the House of Lords, Coe was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) for his services to sport and in the 2013 New Year’s Honours List he was appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH).

He relaxes by walking in the Peak District, supporting Chelsea FC and listening to jazz.

Raelene is the Chief Executive of Sport New Zealand. She joined the organisation in December 2020 after seven years working in Australia as Chief Executive of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and then Chief Executive of Rugby Australia. She was previously Chief Executive of Netball New Zealand from 2007 to 2013.

Before beginning her career in sports administration, Raelene built a successful corporate career in communications, sales and marketing. This included general management and other senior roles at Telecom New Zealand (now Spark), Bank of New Zealand and Fuji Xerox.

Raelene has held several governance roles in sport, previously serving as a board director of the ANZ Championship Netball, International Federations of Netball Associations, SANZAAR Rugby and the World Rugby Council.

She also has a rich sporting background as a former representative-level netball, tennis and lawn bowls player.

Raelene was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in 2015 for services to Business and Sport.

Richard Goyder AO is the chairman of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Qantas Airways Ltd, and the AFL Commission. He also chairs the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and the Channel 7 Telethon Trust. Formerly he was Chairman of the Australian B20 (the key business advisory body to the international economic forum which includes business leaders from all G20 economies).

Richard was the Managing Director and CEO of Wesfarmers Limited from July 2005 to November 2017. In 2007, Richard transformed Wesfarmers with the successful acquisition of the Coles Group of companies. At more than $19 billion, this purchase was the biggest transaction in Australian corporate history. Wesfarmers became a top 10 Australian company, with more than 500,000 shareholders and with a workforce of more than 220,000 people, it became the country’s largest private sector employer.

He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2013 for distinguished service to business through executive roles and through the promotion of corporate sponsorship of the arts and Indigenous programs, and to the community.

Richard was named West Australian of the Year for 2021, recognising his commitment to the community through his philanthropic endeavours.

Andrew Georgiou is President of Sports at Discovery and responsible for all of Discovery’s sports businesses, including the recent launch of sport on discovery+, the Olympic Games, Global Cycling Network (GCN), Discovery Sports Events and represents Discovery’s interests on the Board of Formula E.

Andrew is responsible for all rights acquisitions across Discovery platforms, as well as the integration of all sales and marketing efforts across the Group.

Discovery’s sports businesses reach over 130m unique individuals per month across its owned and operated platforms and over 200m when including third party platforms.

Before joining Discovery, Andrew had a successful 13-year association with Group Lagardère, firstly as CEO of Lagardère Sports Asia and latterly Lagardère Sports and Entertainment where he served as Global Chief Executive Officer.

Prior to linking up with Group Lagardère, Andrew was CEO of the PGA TOUR of Australasia.

Andrew lives in London with his wife and four children.

Kylie Watson-Wheeler is the Senior Vice President & Managing Director, of The Walt Disney Company Australia and New Zealand and the President of The Western Bulldogs (AFL Club).

Kylie is responsible for The Walt Disney Company in Australia and New Zealand across Film, TV, live events, digital, home entertainment, content distribution and streaming services. She manages a portfolio of content and products across Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, ESPN, ABC Studios (US), 20th Century Fox and National Geographic. She also has regional responsibility across Asia Pacific for ESPN and National Geographic.

Kylie has 17 years of entertainment industry experience and has led multiple areas of business across The Walt Disney Company including content, marketing, sales, and theatrical distribution. She has also held responsibility for the Publishing business across the region including India, South East Asia and Korea.

Before joining Disney, Kylie was the Director of Advertising and Brand management for Hallmark Cards Inc., based in Kansas City, USA, where she oversaw and managed the marketing function for Hallmark’s US$4 billion global business. Prior to moving to the US, Kylie spent four years at Hallmark Australia. She has also held various marketing positions at Coca-Cola Amatil and Penguin Books.

Kylie is a Board Member of Mentone Grammar School and the Motion Pictures Distribution Association of Australia (MPDAA).

She holds directorships for the following entities:

• The Walt Disney Company (Australia) Pty Ltd
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment South Pacific Pty Ltd
• Twenty-First Century Fox Film Distributors Pty Ltd
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (Australia) Pty Ltd
• The Walt Disney Company (New Zealand) Ltd

She is based in Melbourne and has two children.

Alan Gilpin is the Chief Executive Officer of World Rugby.

Alan leads World Rugby and the delivery of an ambitious new strategic plan focused on the global growth of rugby, and making the sport more accessible and more relevant around the world. He is also responsible for the management of the globally-renowned Rugby World Cup brand, including the preparations and delivery for Rugby World Cup 2021 in New Zealand (women’s), now playing in 2022, and Rugby World Cup 2023 in France (men’s).

Previously a lawyer, and with a strong track record in sport and business, Alan has been involved in the management and delivery of Rugby World Cup since 2001 in a number of roles.

Alan joined World Rugby from his previous role as Chief Operating Officer of official hospitality provider, Prestige Ticketing Ltd, where he oversaw the award-winning hospitality programme for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Prior to the London 2012 role, Alan spent nine years with IMG, including responsibility for commercial rights negotiation across Rugby World Cup 2003, 2007 and 2011.

As Chief Marketing Officer, Heidi Browning leads the National Hockey League’s growth marketing strategy with a focus on digital, innovation and social media. With more than 25 years of marketing experience, including success with major brands in Silicon Valley, Browning brings a valuable mix of client, agency and media owner perspective to the NHL. Browning is known as a passionate pioneer in digital, mobile and social marketing and as an executive who advances new ideas and innovation within the industry. Inspired by the intersection of media, technology and culture, Browning studies generational trends in attention and brand engagement. Her experience marketing to Millennial and Gen Z audiences is essential for engaging young sports fans and will help guide her leadership of the NHL’s new fan database/analytics initiative.

Under Browning’s leadership, the NHL has experienced a 33% growth in followers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. She spearheaded the introduction of eight new Twitter accounts, including six international language, @StanleyCup; @NHLGIFs; NHL Europe on Instagram; and TikTok, Weibo and WeChat accounts. As a result of a focused strategy on video content, video streams have increased 111% across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Since Browning’s arrival at the NHL, the League’s Instagram engagement has increased by 58%, while followers on that account increased 46%.

Prior to joining the NHL in 2016, Browning served as SVP, Strategic Solutions, at Pandora, overseeing the development of marketing experiences creating value for fans, bands and brands. Leveraging Pandora’s passionate fan base, first party data, and personalization, Browning’s team launched live music and content experiences pairing Fortune 500 clients with emerging and iconic artists.

As Senior Vice President of Client Solutions for Fox Interactive Media/MySpace, Browning evangelized the value of social media in the marketing mix and positioned brand communities as a new way to build audience, create engagement and establish a two-way dialogue between consumers and brands. She led the first in-depth consumer segmentation and ROI study for social media - Never Ending Friending, A Journey Into Social Networking, which quantified the impact of The Momentum Effect.

Browning is a sought-after featured speaker at industry conferences, including CES, SXSW, TEDx Women, Variety Entertainment Marketing Summit, Adweek and the Youth Marketing Summit, among others. Her honors include Adweek’s Most Powerful Women in Sports, Most Powerful Women in Music by Billboard and Forbes CMO Next among others.

Browning earned a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Colorado, Boulder and resides in San Francisco and New York.

The Hon Julie Bishop served as Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 until 2018. She was the first female to be appointed to the role as well as the first female Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, serving for 11 years.

As Foreign Minister, Ms Bishop was responsible for strengthening Australia’s key strategic and economic relationships with Ministerial responsibility for more than 5,000 departmental staff, 110 overseas missions as well as government agencies Australian Secret Intelligence Service and Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research.

In 2014, she led the international response to the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine, and was awarded the Commander of the Order of Merit of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Under her leadership, the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper was developed providing a comprehensive policy framework for the next decade; a sports diplomacy initiative in the Pacific was implemented and the New Colombo Plan was established, enabling Australian undergraduates to live, study and work in the Indo-Pacific region. Within five years more than 40,000 students participated in the Plan.

In a political career spanning over 20 years, Julie also served as Minister for Education, Science and Training, Minister for Women’s Issues and Minister for Ageing.

Prior to entering politics, Ms Bishop was Managing Partner of the law firm Clayton Utz in Perth.

In 2020 Julie was awarded a Fisher Family Fellowship for the Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs. In 2021 Julie was awarded the Kissinger Fellowship at the McCain Institute of International Leadership at Arizona State University.

Julie is the Chancellor of Australian National University, Chair of Telethon Kids Institute, Chair of Prince’s Trust Australia, member of the international advisory boards of Afiniti and the Human Vaccines Project and is the Patron of Shooting Stars (an education programme for young aboriginal girls)

She has also established a boutique advisory firm, Julie Bishop and Partners.

Julie has been a board director and number one ticket holder of the West Coast Eagles AFL Club.

Andy Penn became the CEO and Managing Director of Telstra, Australia’s largest telecommunications company, on 1 May 2015. At Telstra Andy is leading an ambitious change program transforming Telstra to be positioned to compete in the radically changing technology world of the future with 5G at its core.

Andy has had an extensive career spanning more than 4 decades across 3 industries - telecommunications, financial services and shipping. He joined Telstra in 2012 as Chief Financial Officer. In 2014 he took on the additional responsibilities of Group Executive International.

Prior to Telstra, Andy spent 23 years with the AXA Group, one of the world’s largest insurance and investment groups. His time at AXA included the roles of Chief Executive Officer 2006-2011 AXA Asia Pacific Holdings and Chief Financial Officer.  At AXA, Andy was instrumental in building one of the most successful Asian businesses by an Australian company sold to its parent in 2011 for more than A$10bn.

Devneet (Dev) Bajaj is the Chief Corporate Development Officer at Dream Sports. He leads investments and global strategic partnerships in various sectors such as Fantasy Sports, Sports Technology, Skill-Based Gaming and many more. Dev also supports Dream Sports brands on future fundraising and strategic business planning.

Dev has over 17 years of experience across entrepreneurship, venture capital, private equity and investment banking. Prior to joining Dream Sports, Dev was a Venture Partner with Kalaari Capital, where he evaluated and managed early-stage investments in a variety of sectors including Fintech, Gaming, SportsTech, SAAS, and AgTech.

As an entrepreneur, Dev successfully founded and built MITRA, which is now one of India’s leading AgTech startups that was acquired by Mahindra & Mahindra in 2018. He began his career in investment banking in the US and worked with companies like Paine Schwartz, where he gained in-depth knowledge about investing in mid-stage buyout transactions.

Dev has a Masters in Business Administration from INSEAD and a Bachelors of Science from the University of Southern California. He is a passionate sports enthusiast and was a competitive tennis player.

Geoff Jones is the Chief Executive Officer of TEG and the architect of the company’s integrated model across live entertainment, ticketing and technology.

Geoff’s association with the company began in 2007 when he was appointed CEO of Ticketek. He spent three years aggressively growing Ticketek’s market share, partnerships and ticketing technology innovation.

After a stint as a Partner and Director of SEL, one of Australia’s leading sports and entertainment companies, Geoff returned in 2011 to lead the diversification of Ticketek and its affiliated companies into touring and data analytics.

TEG has expanded rapidly under Geoff’s leadership to become a global leader in live entertainment, ticketing and technology.

Geoff has previously held senior executive roles at IMG and Foster’s.

Pete Giorgio is a Principal in Deloitte’s Strategy practice and is the leader of Deloitte’s Sports practice. In his work with clients, Pete has helped with issues in a number of different areas including customer strategy, analytics, fan engagement/experience, growth strategy, innovation, technology, and organization excellence.

Pete joined Deloitte after spending 12 years with Monitor Group (a boutique strategy firm) and multiple IT strategy and development consulting firms. Prior to that, Pete served in the United States Air Force, achieving the rank of Captain.

Pete earned a B.A. in Computer Science from Amherst College where he was a four year varsity basketball player, three year starter, and still holds the single game rebounding record.

Pete currently lives in Belmont, MA with his wife and two children. He spends his time coaching youth basketball, fishing, cooking, pretending to still be competitive in various men’s basketball leagues, and digging holes in golf courses with his four iron.

Eddie is an accomplished businessman and one of Australia’s most acclaimed media personalities, with over 40 years’ award-winning experience.

In roles ranging from CEO of the Nine Network to top rating radio show host, hosting rating blockbusters including The Footy Show and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, live sport caller of the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, Melbourne Grand Prix, AFL Grand Final, McGuire is undisputedly regarded as one of the major influencers on the Australian media landscape.

Off the air McGuire owns one of Australia's fastest growing independent media production companies, JAM TV a division of McGuire Media, that produces sports and entertainment programs across all platforms of media around the world.

McGuire was President of the Collingwood Football Club for 23 years and led the Magpies to be one of the most successful sporting clubs on and off the field in the country.

McGuire was the inaugural President of the Melbourne Stars 20/20 Cricket Club helping establish the Big Bash League into one of the fastest growing sports and television products in the world.

Amongst his philanthropic leadership roles, he is Chairman of the Michael Long Learning and Leadership Foundation. He served on the Board of Victorian Major Events Company for 15 years at a time when Victoria was named the International Sports City of the decade. He is now on the Board of Visit Victoria.

Sports marketing professional with extensive experience from 25 years involvement in the business of sport across the UK, North America and Australasia.

Over 17 years in London Bart had several leadership roles as Executive Chair, Group CEO and Group COO at sports marketing agencies including TLA Worldwide, Chime Group plc’s CSM and Essentially Group plc. In 2019 he started a boutique events agency, Left Field Live, working with blue chip rights holders to take their content to new markets of strategic importance, with a focus on Asia Pacific and North America.

Bart moved from London to Melbourne in 2013 where he lives today with his wife and two children. For the first seven years in Australia he was a shareholder and Chairman of the NRL club Melbourne Storm and Super Netball team Sunshine Coast Lightning, finishing up those roles in May of 2020 to reconnect with his more than twenty years of work in rugby union.

Since May of 2020 Bart has been a member of the New Zealand Rugby Board, served as a New Zealand Rugby representative on World Rugby Council and an elected member of the World Rugby EXCO board. From August 2020 Bart has been a director of Rugby World Cup Limited, the arm of World Rugby tasked with the commercialisation and delivery of Rugby World Cups, both fifteens and sevens.

Bart has a first class global sports network with expertise ranging from broadcast rights, constitutional reform, major events promotion and delivery, high performance, commercial program development, player contracting, financial and data analytics.

A former practicing sports and commercial lawyer, with a BA and LLB from Otago University, a Masters in Commercial Law (Hons) from Auckland University, Bart had also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2010, (AMP 179).

Simon Cummins is the Global Head of Odgers Berndtson's Sports, Gaming & Media Practice placing senior leaders into all major Sports organisations and International Federations for the past 18 years. Prior to Odgers Berndtson, Simon was a Director of GEMS schools and a Director at Gabbitas. He was also a Headmaster for ten years and whilst at Millfield he was Head of the Prep and a member of the Management Group for all three Millfield Schools and Millfield Enterprises.

Simon’s non-executive and board experience has included a NGB, PR Agency, hospitality provider, experiential marketing agency, several schools and a Leadership Development Organisation. Simon currently Chairs the national charity, Sported and the digital marketing agency WePlay. Simon is an accomplished sportsman, having played rugby and cricket to a high standard. Skiing, cycling, sailing and golf now dominate his spare time. Simon was educated at Borough Road College, London and Bath Universities.

Hamish McLennan has over 30 years’ experience in the media industry. He is currently Chairman of REA Group Limited (appointed 21 February 2012 and Chairman since 10 April 2012), a global online real estate advertising company, Chairman of HT&E Limited (appointed 30 October 2018), an Australian media and entertainment company, and Chairman of Rugby Australia (appointed June 2020).

Hamish is also a Non-Executive Director of the tech firm Claim Central Consolidated (since January 2020) and an independent director of Scientific Games, a US gaming and lottery company (since November 2020). He was previously Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman, News Corporation, and Global Chairman & CEO of Young & Rubicam (Y&R) in New York, part of WPP, the world’s largest communications services group. Mr McLennan joined Young & Rubicam in 2002 as Chairman and CEO of Y&R Brands Australia/New Zealand, one of the largest marketing services groups in Australasia, and led the firm’s global business operations from 2006 to 2011.

He was also previously Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (March 2014 to July 2015) and Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director (February 2013 to March 2014) of Australian media company Ten Network Holdings Limited. He has previously served on the Boards of Directors for the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and the US Ad Council.

Joe is a Director at ColganBauer - a strategy consulting firm. Alongside his colleagues, Joe advises sport governing bodies, clubs and investment firms on matters ranging from the commercialisation of media and wagering rights, to collective bargaining agreements and competitive balance mechanisms.

In addition to several “watching briefs” at global clients, Joe and his colleagues most frequently provide short-term strategic support to internal client teams during their strategy setting and commercial rights deals processes. Like many of us, courtesy of COVID, Joe has traded the fuselage of a plane for the glare of a WebCam and never thought he’d crave terrible plane food as much as he does today.

Mel’s playing days included two successful World Cup and Ashes campaigns with Australia and a then world record hundred (131) on Test debut against England.

A qualified Physical Education teacher, Mel worked across cricket development and sports management before moving into fulltime broadcast and commentary in TV and radio across Australian and International cricket in 2017. This was initiated in 2015 after becoming one of the first four female commentators in the worlds most watched cricket competition the Indian Premier League. Her inclusion into the Big Bash that summer lead her to becoming the first T20 female cricket lead in Australia. This was then followed by the same accolade in the Pakistan Super League in 2017.

Alongside her commentary, Mel is fast developing an administrative and governance career. Sitting on the Victorian State Government Inquiry into Women and Girls in Sport, Mel was part of the taskforce that resulted in a 40% mandate for women on boards and led to the introduction of the Office for Women in Sport.

Mel also became Australian cricket’s first ever female state nominee for the board of Cricket Australia in 2019 and recently was nominated onto the International Cricket Council’s women’s committee.

Through her media and governance roles Mel is driven to helping the sports industry becoming a more diverse and inclusive space for everyone at all levels.

After 25 years working for some of the best companies in the world and a decade successfully leading the Global Sponsorship teams of Visa and The Coca-Cola Company, Ricardo launched Sport by Fort Consulting.

At Coca-Cola (Atlanta), Ricardo led the Company’s global portfolio of sports and entertainment partnerships, including the IOC, FIFA, UEFA, athletes, McLaren and countless entertainment properties.

Prior to this role, Ricardo was the SVP of Global Brand, Product & Sponsorship Marketing at Visa (San Francisco), where he was responsible for all global consumer marketing initiatives including branding, advertising, digital, design and sponsorships.

Ricardo also worked for the Group Danone (Paris), and held several other Marketing roles at Coca-Cola in Brazil, USA and India, and multiple roles at Kellogg’s and Unilever.

Ricardo obtained a Bachelor of Civil Engineering at the Universidade de São Paulo and has a Specialization in Business from Fundação Getúlio Vargas, both in Brazil.

Lior is a medical doctor with a passion for health technology, big data, DNA and personalization. He will be speaking on genetic testing for exercise prescription and injury prevention. Developing a cost-effective one-time test to help coaching staff personalize training and nutrition to help keep players injury-free

Collette Roche is the Chief Operating Officer at Manchester United Football Club and in 2018 was listed by Vogue as one of the 25 most influential women working in Britain.

She joined from the Manchester Airport Group, where she was part of the Executive Team responsible for doubling the value of the group over a 5-year period, serving a variety of roles, including MD Manchester Airport and MAG Chief of Staff. Prior to this Collette held a number of senior leadership positions with several international companies including Ford Motor Group and Siemens.

Collette lives in Cheshire with her husband and two daughters.

Lisa Walton works in Deloitte Digital at the intersection of human centred design, customer and digital strategy, and innovation. She has over 20 years’ experience working for global technology businesses, agile start-ups and digital consultancies here in Australia, NZ, UK and Singapore.

Lisa’s ability to navigate complex challenges and unleash the potential of teams was founded in her career as an elite Athlete, she competed at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games for the NZ hockey team the Black Sticks and won bronze at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. She is also the Executive Co-Chair of the Pride Pillar nationally at Deloitte.

A passionate gamer and creative marketer, Flo 'ElChikito' GUTIERREZ has been part of the gaming and esports space for more than a decade and has built an international reputation through multiple successful global experiences.

During his time in Red Bull from 2013 – 2019, he conceptualized and built their global esports and gaming strategy, before joining Team Vitality as CMO for 2 years.

An expert in 360 marketing, global and local strategies, Flo is also most enthusiastic about talent and event marketing. He joined Razer in 2021 as the Director of Global Esports to lead their global esports strategies.

Gareth co-founded Two Circles – the industry-leading sports marketing and data technology company – following a successful athletics career, representing Great Britain in the 800 metres.

Gareth was Managing Director in the early years of Two Circles, leading the delivery of client work that helped revolutionize the UK sports landscape through a data-driven approach. This was recognised in 2014 when Two Circles was named Agency of the Year at the prestigious Sport Industry Awards, recognition Two Circles has received an additional two times since.

Since 2015 Gareth has acted as Chief Executive of Two Circles, and currently leads a global network of 350 in Europe and North America driving commercial growth for over 150 of the world’s leading sports properties including the Premier League, NFL, UEFA, Formula 1 and Wimbledon.

Since 2019 Two Circles has been part of Bruin Capital, the international investment and operating company founded by George Pyne.

One of Australia’s leading commercial and media executives,
having worked at Network Ten for 17 years in a number of roles,
including National Commercial Director, and National Head of
Generate, the network’s in-house content, strategy and
integration agency.

Rogers joined the AFL in December 2017 from Mamamia,
Australia’s largest women’s media company. As Commercial
Director and then Managing Director, she oversaw significant
growth and profitability for the organisation in Australia and
internationally.

EGM Commercial and Customer is responsible for the AFL’s
Corporate and Consumer Business Divisions, which includes
corporate partnerships, advertising, licensing and retail, Club,
Stadium & AFL memberships, premium hospitality products,
ticketing and events, which generate total AFL non-broadcast
revenue of more than $230 million a year.

From November 2020, the portfolio was expanded to now
oversee marketing, digital media including the AFL’s website
(afl.com.au) and App, Marvel Stadium operations and the
customer and fan experience.

Todd has 20+ years of experience in leading and managing high growth FinTech businesses.

His passion is solution and business building and he has a proven record of taking de-novo concepts and fledgling businesses and developing them into industry warping leading positions. With a focus on helping tier-1 global financial services firms - the largest and most demanding customers in the most heavily regulated industry - manage their risk and regulatory obligations, quality of a team-wide execution were absolution requirements.

It is Todd's belief that execution will be the primary difference in who wins with blockchain, crypto, and machine learning technologies. New innovation is crucial, but without the right team that can execute, innovation can never achieve its potential.

Catherine Murphy is a presenter and journalist with ABC TV and radio. She presents sports news on ABC News Channel as well as News Breakfast. She's also a regular contributor on 'Offsiders' and co-hosts 'Saturday Morning Sport' on ABC Radio Melbourne with Matt Preston.