Features

People on the move: Toronto Raptors, ASM Global, Minnesota Twins and more

Masai Ujiri has signed a new multi-year contract to continue as president of the Toronto Raptors NBA basketball team.

The new deal also names Ujiri as vice-chairman of the team. Ujiri has led the Raptors since 2013 and during his tenure the team has moved into a new practice facility, hosted an NBA All-Star Game, formed its own G League franchise, and won its first NBA Championship in 2019.

Ujiri grew up in Zaria, Nigeria and played college basketball in the US before beginning his professional sports career as a scout. He was appointed general manager of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets in 2011 before joining the Raptors two years later.

Industry pioneer Richard Krezwick (pictured) is to leave his position as chief commercial officer at ASM Global.

Krezwick, who has spent more than four decades in live events, announced on LinkedIn that he is to pursue new opportunities from September after concluding his notice period with his current employer.

Check out our story from last week for more details on Krezwick’s departure.

Major League Baseball team the Minnesota Twins has appointed Meka White Morris to the newly-created position of senior vice-president and chief revenue officer.

Morris will collaborate across the Twins’ senior leadership team to drive business growth and development, with a specific focus to be placed on the exploration and optimisation of potential new and evolving revenue streams.

Morris most recently served as chief revenue officer at global payment and data services company Tappit. She will begin her new position today (Monday).

AMB Sports and Entertainment (AMBSE), which comprises the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United and Mercedes-Benz Stadium, has announced five leadership promotions within its team.

Danny Branch, AMBSE’s vice-president and chief information officer, has been promoted to senior vice-president and chief information officer. Karl Pierburg, currently AMBSE’s vice-president of technology, data and analytics, has been named vice-president and chief technology officer.

Don Rovak, currently vice-president of ticket sales, service and operations, has been promoted to senior vice-president across the three sectors. Georgia O’Donoghue, who had been serving as Atlanta United’s director of strategy and operations, has been elevated to vice-president of business operations of the team, while Gordon Barfield, AMBSE’s director of business strategy, has been promoted to the executive leadership team as vice-president of strategy and corporate development.

Ted Segal, the new owner of MLS team Houston Dynamo and National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) outfit Houston Dash, has joined the board of Houston 2026, the bid committee set up to lead the city’s proposal to host matches at the FIFA World Cup in five years’ time.

Segal also announced financial contributions to help launch two new programmes which form part of the committee’s Grow the Game initiative, which aims to provide under-served communities with access to football.

Jake Lish McCrum has been promoted to chief executive of Indian Premier League cricket franchise the Rajasthan Royals.

McCrum has been working with the Royals since 2018 and played a key role in overseeing the franchise’s growth and participation in the IPL.

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.