Industry Moves

Two Circles has continued its US market push under new ownership with the creation of a business vertical to help maximise the value of college sports athletes’ name, image and likeness (NIL) rights.

Jonathan Davis has become the latest DAZN media rights executive to join Peak Sport Media, the joint venture set up a year ago by Spain’s LaLiga and Simon Denyer’s Ocho Sport Advisory company.

The Victoria Racing Club (VRC), which runs Australia’s showpiece horse racing event, the Melbourne Cup, has appointed Kylie Rogers as its new chief executive.

OneTeam Partners, the company working with US player unions to derive value from group licensing rights, has created an international venture with the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA).

Chinese electric car brand Zeekr is looking to fill major marketing and brand positions in Europe as it backs an awareness drive that includes sponsorship of the Diamond League

Former Sky UK boss Stephen van Rooyen has been appointed chief executive of VodafoneZiggo, the Dutch telco and pay-television operator

Cricket Australia has filled a key void in its executive team, with the appointment of Ed Sanders as its chief commercial officer.

Structural changes unveiled this morning at the EBU have been put in place with a view to the onboarding of Olympics broadcast rights and to further develop the new Eurovision Sport streaming platform.

Bundesliga International has made a trio of executive hires and promotions across Asia-Pacific and India, as it looks to further build the league's exposure on the ground with media rights deals already locked in across much of the region for the long term.

MLS has named Radhika Duggal as chief marketing officer of both the league and its Soccer United Marketing (SUM) commercial arm, as it continues its global marketing push ahead of the 2026 Fifa World Cup in North America.

The merging of Endeavor’s OpenBet and IMG Arena has led to a high-profile casualty as Max Wright, who has been with IMG for 11 years, negotiating various betting rights deals with sports bodies, leaves the company.

Commercial rights executive Russell James has set up a new consultancy after recently vacating the sales and marketing director position at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)

David Abrutyn, a 30-year sports industry veteran, is joining the sports division of Creative Artists Agency (CAA) to bolster its ice hockey business.

US sports agency Excel Sports Management has hired UK sports marketer Sean McAuliffe as Excel’s first European-based executive dedicated to its property sales business.

Jan Lehmann, a former German Football League (DFL) and Infront agency executive, has been appointed as the first chief executive of the European Olympic Committees (EOC)

Formula 1 has bolstered its commercial team with the hiring of Joel Seymour-Hyde, who joins as head of partnership management, having departed his role as managing director, UK at Octagon in December last year. 

Paramount Global, which is in exclusive merger talks with Skydance Media, has announced the immediate exit of president and CEO Bob Bakish, to be replaced by three executives in a new leadership team amid a period of ongoing financial uncertainty.

FC Porto has elected a new president for the first time in more than 40 years as one of Portugal's Big Three clubs prepares to play a crucial role in the commercial overhaul of the Primeira Liga this decade.