FIFA, football’s global governing body, has named Kay Madati as its chief commercial officer.
Madati assumes his duties today (Monday) and replaces Simon Thomas, who left FIFA last year.
Madati has a 20-year background in the international media, sports and entertainment industries, having worked at Twitter, Viacom, Facebook, Time Warner and LinkedIn. He will lead FIFA’s commercial division to enhance marketing and digital innovation, in addition to further developing and strengthening relationships with commercial partners.
Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE), parent company of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and the latter’s Prudential Center home arena, has named Thaddeus Brown as its new chief executive.
Brown will replace Scott O’Neil, who announced his exit from HBSE on June 30. O’Neil had been in the role for eight years but elected to step away from the organisation to pursue new opportunities.
Check out our story from last week for full details on Brown’s appointment.
English Championship football club Nottingham Forest has named Dane Murphy (pictured) as its new chief executive.
Murphy joins Forest after a two-year stint at fellow Championship club Barnsley. Born in Connecticut, he was a professional footballer for eight seasons in the US and Germany.
After retiring as a player, Murphy held senior technical and recruitment roles at Major League Soccer, New York Cosmos, Real Salt Lake and DC United before joining Barnsley as the youngest serving chief executive in the Championship in 2019.
Barnsley has announced that Khaled El-Ahmad will replace Murphy as the club’s chief executive.
El-Ahmad joins Barnsley from City Football Group, where he has worked since 2016. Following a period of transition, he will become the first Swedish chief executive within British football.
El-Ahmad’s roles in football and business include director of CONCACAF at CFG, chief scout at Djurgården Elitfotboll AB, analyst at AaB and chief executive with a number of startup companies.
Vincent Gaillard is to leave his position as chief executive of European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) after six years to pursue various business opportunities and non-executive functions.
After a handover transition period and planned departure from EPCR in the autumn, Gaillard will take on a new role as both an investor and developer with a New York-based apparel startup brand ahead of its international launch in early 2022.
He will also take up non-executive functions with Geneva-based Centre for Sport and Human Rights, and with a leading sports innovation network. EPCR will communicate details regarding the recruitment of Gaillard’s successor and the general management transition in due course.
The Golden State Warriors NBA basketball team has announced four executive promotions, with Jen Millet becoming chief marketing officer, John Beaven named as executive vice-president of ticket sales and service, Mike Kitts becoming executive vice-president of partnerships, and Erin Dangerfield stepping up to the role of senior vice-president of people and culture.
Millet is entering her fifth season with the Warriors and oversees the franchise’s and Chase Center’s marketing team, including oversight of all brand, web and digital platforms. Beaven is entering his 19th season with the team and holds responsibility for ticket sales and service groups.
Kitts is entering his 10th season with the Warriors and oversees the club’s sales, development and insights teams, with responsibility for all partner strategy and revenue performance. Dangerfield is entering her fourth season with the Warriors and holds responsibility for the team’s people operations department and diversity, equity and inclusion department.
Major League Soccer team Minnesota United has announced that Chris Wright will step down as chief executive following the 2021 season.
Wright joined United in 2017 having previously spent more than two decades in leadership positions with the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx.
Wright’s time as chief executive of United included the team’s move to the 19,400-seat Allianz Field in April 2019. United said it expects to name a new chief executive in the next month.
SecuTix, a cloud-based ticketing engagement platform, has made three new hires to its leadership team in the UK and Ireland following significant growth in the region.
Jane Sloan, formerly of the Ambassador Theatre Group, joins SecuTix UK’s senior leadership team as head of delivery. SecuTix has also appointed former ticketing manager at Exeter Chiefs Rugby Club, Hannah Sutheran, as its new business analyst and Harry Nutt has been named as senior business analyst from CRM specialist Green 4.
Head to our sister site TheTicketingBusiness.com for the full story.
Image: Nottingham Forest
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