US media group Discovery has appointed Mike Rich to the new role of head of sports marketing solutions, with particular oversight of advertising sales at its international sports broadcaster Eurosport.
Rich joins Discovery from Fox Networks where he served as executive vice-president of sales and content partnerships in Asia. During his time at Fox Asia, he transformed the product portfolio and sales approach offering across Asia and the Middle East, building out its digital product offering, social media and digital video and creating an in-house content creation studio.
In the newly created role at Discovery, Rich will lead Eurosport’s commercial sales organisation and help execute a strategy that will seek to leverage Discovery’s premium sports portfolio, to create unique solutions for marketers and advertisers around the world.
Rich, who will assume his position on September 23, will be based in London and report to Andrew Georgiou, who joins next month as president of Eurosport and global sports rights and sports marketing solutions. He will work closely with the wider Discovery local market and direct to consumer leadership teams.
Commenting on the appointment, JB Perrette, president and chief executive of Discovery International, said: “We have a big untapped opportunity to work much more closely with marketers to take advantage of our world class sports portfolio, and Mike is the perfect person to lead this.”
Rich added: “With a clear focus on powering people’s passions, an existing portfolio of premium sports content, including next year’s Olympic Games, and a range of products and services to meet the needs of all partners, there is a huge opportunity to leverage the scale and reach of the group’s trusted brands.”