The Jockey Club, which oversees the running of a number of UK-based racecourses, has promoted Nevin Truesdale to the position of group chief executive.
The 46-year-old, who has led the company in an ‘acting’ capacity since the end of August, will take up the role on January 1. Truesdale has served as a senior executive of The Jockey Club for the past seven years, having joined as group finance director in 2013 from Centrica.
Truesdale’s appointment comes after Delia Bushell resigned as chief executive of The Jockey Club earlier in the year. Bushell stepped down from the role after an independent investigation upheld allegations of bullying, racist language and the sharing of offensive material.
The Chicago Blackhawks NHL team has restructured its executive leadership team by naming Danny Wirtz (pictured centre) as chief executive, hiring Jaime Faulkner (pictured right) as president of business operations and promoting Stan Bowman (pictured left) to president of hockey operations and general manager.
Wirtz has served as interim president of the team since last spring, during which time he has led an in-depth process to set the Blackhawks’ long-term vision for the future. As chief executive, he will liaise with ownership and other Wirtz family businesses, overseeing operations of the team’s finance and human resources departments and the Chicago Blackhawks Foundation.
Faulkner will focus on advancing the fan experience and business model while generating new revenue, overseeing strategy and operations across corporate partnerships, ticketing and customer relations, and integrated marketing communications.
The 2020-21 season will mark Bowman’s 19th with the Blackhawks and he has spent the previous five years as senior vice-president/general manager.
Major League Soccer expansion franchise Charlotte FC has named Nick Kelly as club president.
Kelly joins Charlotte FC, which will debut in MLS in 2022, after spending six years with Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev). Kelly most recently worked as vice-president of partnerships, beer culture and community for AB InBev.
Kelly will begin his new role on February 1 and will be responsible for Charlotte FC’s day-to-day business operations. Prior to joining AB InBev, Kelly served as the senior manager of integrated marketing communications at Charlotte-headquartered NASCAR.
Elsewhere in MLS, FC Cincinnati has hired Megan Ryan as its new chief marketing officer.
Ryan will oversee the team’s branding, advertising, communications, promotions and marketing, and will report to FC Cincinnati president Jeff Berding.
Ryan spent the last two seasons with Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, where she served as vice-president of marketing for the Denver Nuggets NBA team. She previously worked as vice-president of marketing strategy for the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks.
Olivier Létang has been named as the new president of Lille after the French Ligue 1 football club was taken over by Callisto Sporting, a division of Luxembourg-based investment fund Merlyn Partners.
Létang has previously held roles at Stade Rennais, Paris Saint-Germain and Stade de Reims. Marc Ingla has also resigned as managing director of Lille but will continue to serve on the club’s board of directors.
The Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team has hired David Burke as its executive vice-president of sales and business development.
Burke will oversee ticket sales, premium sales, partnership sales, event sales and business analytics departments, with a focus on enhancing fan and partner engagement. He joins the Pirates from Kroenke Sports and Entertainment Group, where he served as executive vice-president and chief strategy officer since 2012.
Formula 1 team Williams Racing has appointed Jost Capito as its new chief executive.
Capito will join the team on February 1 and will report to Williams chairman Matthew Savage. He will take on full responsibility for the day-to-day running of Williams F1, which has also named Simon Roberts as its new team principal.
Capito is a former racing driver and most recently led Volkswagen R GmbH, the department in charge of the company’s performance cars. He has previously worked in F1 with McLaren and Jordan.
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: Chicago Blackhawks
