Features

Appointments round-up: Columbus Crew, NHL Seattle, AEG Presents and more

This week saw Major League Soccer team Columbus Crew name Steve Lyons as its executive vice-president and chief business officer.

Lyons most recently served as executive vice-president and chief counsel of the Columbus Partnership, a civic alliance of the 75 chief executives of the city’s leading companies and institutions. In his new role, which he will assume on August 5, Lyons will oversee the Crew’s revenue-generating departments, as well as marketing and stadium operations.

The appointment comes after the Crew earlier this week appointed IBM Services and IBM iX to create a vision for the design and technology to transform the fan experience at its new stadium. The 20,000-seat stadium is due to open in the summer of 2021.

NHL Seattle has announced the appointment of three new members to its management team ahead of its entry into the ice hockey competition in 2021.

Kendall Tyson has joined as vice-president of strategy and analytics, Eric Jaeger has been named vice-president of arena finance, and Stephany Keeley becomes vice-president of team finance.

Tyson will be responsible for developing operational and financial models that aid strategic decisions for the team and its new state-of-the-art arena. Jaeger will oversee financial planning, budgeting, forecast preparation, concert and event settlements and other financial responsibilities. Keeley’s responsibilities will include financial planning, budgeting, forecast preparation, daily financial accounting, internal controls, audit requirements and NHL financial reporting.

The appointments come after NHL Seattle and OVG-Seattle last week announced April West would be joining the organisation as vice-president of human resources, with Don Graham and Katie Townsend joining as vice-president of events and vice-president of communications, respectively.

AEG Presents has promoted Jim King, its live music executive vice-president, to head up a new European Festivals division.

King (pictured) will report to AEG Europe president Alex Hill and will seek out and develop new opportunities in the festival space. King has worked at AEG Presents for more than a decade.

For more information on AEG Presents’ new division, head to our sister site TheTicketingBusiness.com.

John Jeffrey has been elected chairman of the Six Nations Council on a three-year term. He will replace Pat Whelan in the role.

Jeffrey has been a member of the Six Nations Council since 2012 and has also been Scottish Rugby representative for World Rugby since 2010.

Football Federation Australia (FFA) chief executive David Gallop is to step down from the role on December 31. The FFA said Gallop’s replacement would assume what will be a “reshaped role” in 2020.

Gallop had been contracted with the body until 2020. He first joined the organisation in 2012 after previously serving as chief executive of the National Rugby League (NRL).

Do you have news of an appointment that we should know about? Get in touch by emailing news.editor@thestadiumbusiness.com and we’ll include it in our next round-up.

Image: AEG Presents