Industry Moves

Alex Kay-Jelski, a UK football journalist and editor, has today (Thursday) been named director of sport at the BBC, an appointment likely to be viewed as a surprise choice given his lack of sports media rights buying experience.

DAZN has continued its pivot towards free, advertising-supported content with the appointment of Elena Novokreshchenova as its first ‘global chief executive of freemium’.

Joe Markowski is leaving his role as chief executive of DAZN in North America with IMG’s Michael Ridout to take on certain duties heading up the broadcaster’s combat sports activities, SportBusiness can reveal.
USA

The new joint venture streaming service of ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery today (Friday) named Pete Distad, the experienced media, sports and technology executive, as its chief executive.

DAZN has appointed former Canal Plus executive Brice Daumin to lead its French operation as it continues to target domestic rights to the country’s top football league.

DAZN has hired Yu Sasamoto as chief executive of its Japan business, one of the global subscription streaming service's most important markets

The IMG agency has recruited James Clement from UK pay-television broadcaster Sky to lead technology and operations for its production studios business

IMG Arena president Freddie Longe is leaving his position as owner Endeavor opts to combine the sports data and betting rights division with OpenBet and bring it under sole leadership

Tom Broom, one of the agency sector's most experienced media executives in the Asia-Pacific region, is to leave IMG after more than two decades at the Endeavor-owned company, SportBusiness has learned

Mediapro has reorganised its business structure, part of which will see industry veteran Oliver Seibert joining the management committee and officially heading the agency and production group's sports…
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Daily fantasy and sports betting company DraftKings has appointed Marie Donoghue as its new chief business and growth officer after she left her role as vice-president of Amazon’s US sports content and partnerships.

Sportradar's chief strategy officer Ulrich Harmuth has become a high-profile exit from the sports data and betting services company, which cut 10-per-cent of its global workforce late last year

Stephen van Rooyen has announced he is to leave Sky, the pay-television giant where he is group chief commercial officer and chief executive of the UK and Ireland business, at the end of next month

Iris Sport Media, the company set up by Ioris Francini and his former IMG colleagues Floris Weisz and Luca Baldanza, has recruited Graham Wallace as chief corporate and financial officer

Roger Lodewick, president of sports games at esports’ ESL FACEIT Group and previously of Team Marketing, has been recruited by Viaplay to lead its operations in the Netherlands.

DAZN has recruited Walker Jacobs from Twitch to the newly created position of global chief revenue officer and president of DAZN’s US operation.
USA

Marie Donoghue, who played an integral role in growing Amazon's sports rights portfolio in the United States, is to leave the online retail giant

The PGA Tour has begun the search for a senior media rights executive with experience across the Asia-Pacific region, following a decision taken at the start of the year to manage the sale of its international media rights in-house.