A round-up of key appointments from within the sports and events industries over the past week.
Greg Bedalov has been named as the new head of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority (ISFA), the body tasked with constructing and renovating stadiums for professional sports teams in the state. Bedalov was previously the executive director of the Illinois Toll Highway Authority. ISFA is the owner and developer of Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the Chicago White Sox, and helped fund the redevelopment of Soldier Field, the Chicago Bears’ stadium.
Italian concert promoter Fabrizio Pompeo has joined Radar Concerti as a partner. Pompeo joins Radar Concerti, which was founded by Giorgio Riccitelli, from Live Nation Finland.
Brad Paatsch, the former chief operating officer of the recently-opened Optus Stadium in Perth, Australia, has joined Super Rugby franchise Western Force. Paatsch will lead the team’s commercial strategy and operations, initially focusing on the procurement of media partners and sponsors and the implementation of a premium hospitality programme for the Force. Paatsch left Optus Stadium in January just two weeks after the venue opened, having been appointed as chief operating officer back in November 2016.
Sports and entertainment specialist Legends has appointed Paula Portz as chief operating officer of Legends Project Development. Portz joins from Project Control, where she most recently served as president of the PC Sports division, working on facilities such as FedEx Forum, Sprint Center, KFC Yum Center and Mosaic Stadium. In her new role, she will work with partners and projects such as the Los Angeles Stadium and Entertainment District, DC United, Los Angeles Football Club and the Philips Arena renovations.
Legends has also appointed Martin Jennings as its senior vice-president of European development for Legends International. Jennings most recently worked with English Premier League football club Liverpool, for whom he managed and executed the recent expansion of the main stand at Anfield.
Ian Ayre, former chief executive at Liverpool, has been appointed as the new executive chairman of Ubiquity Group, a Cardiff-based marketing and creative agency. After leaving Liverpool last year, Ayre (pictured) briefly worked at German football club 1860 Munich. Ayre was also recently appointed as chair of the board at the ACC Liverpool Group, a multi-purpose events complex in the city.
Do you have news of an appointment that we should know about? Get in touch by emailing news.editor@thestadiu
Image: Web Summit
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