Nathan Homer has been appointed chief commercial officer of the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC).
Homer (pictured left) will be responsible for maximising the commercial potential of the Olympic Park and its venues, including London Stadium. Homer has an existing connection to the Park having led Procter & Gamble’s Olympic and Paralympic sponsorship through the London 2012 Games.
Homer has also worked on title and naming-rights partnerships with the Premier League, NFL, AEG and Live Nation, working with sponsors such as Rolex, Emirates and Tata Communications. He also worked as chief commercial officer of golf’s European Tour and led the commercial programme at the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris.
The English Football Association has named Edleen John (pictured right) as its new international, corporate affairs and co-partner for equality, diversity and inclusion director.
John begins her role today (Monday) and will be responsible for the international and corporate affairs strategy across the entire FA portfolio. She has previously worked as a director at KPMG and vice-president at Morgan Stanley and is currently a director of Tech Talent Charter.
City Football Group, which oversees the running of Manchester City and a number of other football clubs around the world, has named Roel De Vries as its group chief operating officer.
In the newly-created role, De Vries (pictured centre) will report directly to CFG chief executive Ferran Soriano and assume responsibility for the leadership and coordination of business operations across CFG’s 10 clubs worldwide. He previously worked for Japanese automotive manufacturer Nissan, managing its commercial businesses in South Africa and Europe, and spent 10 years as global chief marketing officer.
Koji Murofushi has been unveiled as the new commissioner of the Japan Sports Agency and will leave his role as sports director of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Murofushi had been with the Tokyo 2020 organising committee since June 2014 and his departure comes ahead of next year’s rescheduled Games. Murofushi won Olympic gold for Japan in the hammer throw at Athens 2004 and picked up a bronze medal at London 2012.
The US Soccer Federation has named David Wright as its new chief commercial officer.
Wright most recently served as chief marketing and commercial officer at Minor League Baseball, where he led all marketing and commercial business units. He joined MiLB from Major League Soccer and Soccer United Marketing, where he served as senior vice-president of global sponsorship.
Venue management firm ASM Global has appointed Marie Lindqvist as senior vice-president of ASM Europe.
Lindqvist will be based in ASM Global’s European headquarters in Manchester, where she will oversee the European venue portfolio. She previously held the roles of general manager and vice-president for Stockholm Live and ASM Global in Sweden.
The French Football League (LFP) has named Vincent Labrune as its new president.
Labrune replaces Nathalie Boy de la Tour and was elected ahead of Michel Denisot. He was elected by the LFP’s board of directors at its general assembly meeting last week.
Sports and entertainment consulting firm Elevate Sports Ventures has named Chip Bowers as president.
Elevate is a joint venture between the San Francisco 49ers NFL team, Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, Ticketmaster, Live Nation, and Oak View Group. Most recently Bowers was the president of business operations of Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins.
Elevate has also promoted Flavil Hampsten to chief operating officer and Shawn Doss to executive vice-president of sales and marketing.
Barney Francis, the former head of UK broadcaster Sky Sports, has been appointed to the advisory board of WePlay, a performance marketing agency for the sports industry.
Francis will advise WePlay on business growth strategy, joining as an advisor to the company’s board, which was formed in late 2019 following an initial round of investment.
