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Appointments round-up: MSG, Six Nations, Kansas City Chiefs and more

This week saw the Madison Square Garden Company (MSG) name Keri Elmsly as its senior vice-president of immersive design and production.

Elmsly (pictured) will be tasked with leading the development of multi-sensory, immersive elements for MSG Sphere, the company’s planned new venue in Las Vegas. She will work with MSG’s internal creative team and external partners to create immersive experiences at MSG Sphere.

Elmsly previously served as chief creative officer of Second Story and produced the world’s first live Drone Orchestra as part of The Barbican Centre in London’s ‘Digital Revolution’ show.

Kansas City Chiefs president Mark Donovan has signed a long-term contract extension to remain at the NFL American football team.

Donovan originally joined the Chiefs as chief operating officer in 2009 and was promoted to president in 2011. During his tenure, he has helped the Chiefs re-establish Arrowhead Stadium as a major sports and entertainment venue.

Donovan joined the Chiefs after spending six years with the Philadelphia Eagles as senior vice-president of business operations. He previously held leadership roles as the NFL’s senior director of sales and marketing, and as director of sales and marketing for the NHL ice hockey league.

Rupert Hunter has been named as the new chief commercial advisor of Six Nations Rugby.

Hunter most recently served as head of brand partnerships for the International Cricket Council and prior to that worked for the IMG agency. At Six Nations, Hunter will replace Dave Kavanagh, who is leaving to become head of commercial and marketing at Pro14 team Munster Rugby.

Design, engineering and project management consultancy Atkins has named Edward McIntosh as its regional design director for the Middle East. McIntosh will be based in the United Arab Emirates and focus on expanding Atkins’ design and architecture business presence.

McIntosh has 16 years of experience leading architectural design teams and projects in sport, commercial, retail, residential and hospitality markets across South America, UK, China and Southeast Asia. He spent six years at Populous in London, where he led the design of a range of arena and stadia projects.

TickX has appointed Rentalcars co-founder Laurence Marlor as its new chairman to support the firm’s international growth.

Marlor helped grow Rentalcars.com into a leading online car rental retailer, offering cars in more than 60,000 locations, before being acquired by Booking.com’s owner in 2010.

He joins TickX as chairman with the aim of guiding the operator towards its goal of becoming a category leader in the experience economy.

Read the full story on Marlor’s appointment on our sister site TheTicketingBusiness.com.

Digital media company ChyronHego has formed a new sports venue team for North America.

Doug Price will serve as the team’s director of venue sales, while Jennifer Paonessa has been named national account executive of sports venues. Price previously helped shape Avid’s sports portfolio, while Paonessa has helped in the growth of LED business for the Indiana Pacers and Seattle Mariners.

John Greer has also been appointed as system integration engineer, with Aungelina Taglia joining as product specialist. Greer’s previous experience includes work with the Tennessee Titans, while Taglia has held key video roles with Sporting Kansas City, the University of Kansas and the Kansas City Royals.

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: MSG