Features

People on the move: AEG, Acrisure Arena and more

AEG Global Partnerships, a division of sports and live entertainment company AEG, has appointed Ingrid Petri as vice-president of AEG global portfolio sales.

Petri (pictured centre) will be based in AEG’s New York office and will report to Nick Baker and Andrew Klein, chief operating officer and managing director at AEG Global Partnerships, respectively.

Petri will drive innovative business solutions for new partners and grow strategic relationships with companies across AEG’s portfolio. Petri previously spent eight years with the NBA basketball league as associate vice-president of business development and global partnerships, and also had stints with the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles.

Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, California has appointed Marcus Kroulik (pictured right) as vice-president of ticketing ahead of its opening later this year.

Kroulik’s appointment was announced by arena operator Oak View Group. He will begin his new role immediately and report to John Bolton, senior vice-president of entertainment – facilities and general manager of the arena.

Kroulik will be responsible for planning and implementing the ticketing strategy, including all day-to-day ticket operations for Acrisure Arena and the Coachella Valley Firebirds ice hockey team, which will play its home games at the venue. Acrisure acquired naming rights to the 11,500-seat arena last month.

Kroulik previously served as ticketing director at Target Center, home of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves, and prior to that was director of ticketing operations for the NHL’s Florida Panthers.

Tepper Sports and Entertainment, parent company of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and Major League Soccer’s Charlotte FC, has named Nick Kelly as its new chief executive, while Kristi Coleman has been appointed president of the Panthers.

Kelly previously served as team president of Charlotte FC and joined Tepper Sports and Entertainment from Anheuser-Busch InBev. Coleman has been with the Panthers for eight years, having worked as director of finance before becoming chief financial officer in 2019.

The reshuffle will also see Joe LaBue become president of Charlotte FC and Nicole Tepper assume the role of chief administrative officer at Tepper Sports and Entertainment.

Tepper Sports and Entertainment’s president of business operations Tom Glick, who had been with the team since 2018, is also stepping aside to pursue other opportunities. Glick formerly worked at City Football Group.

John Abbamondi has resigned from his position as chief executive of BSE Global, the parent company of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center.

Abbamondi will step down at the end of July and will continue serving as chief executive until the end of the current NBA season. A search for a new chief executive will begin immediately.

Abbamondi joined BSE Global in July 2020 at a time when the NBA was shut down due to the pandemic.

The Baltimore Ravens NFL franchise has announced that president Dick Cass will retire after 18 years, with the team naming Sashi Brown as his successor.

Brown is expected to join the Ravens in March and the transition will become effective on April 1. Brown will assume the exact responsibilities currently held by Cass, overseeing all business areas of the organisation including finances, budgeting, non-football personnel, corporate sales, operations, communications and business ventures.

Brown has 13 years of NFL experience, including five seasons with the Cleveland Browns where he served two years as executive vice-president of football operations. For the past three years, he has served as president of Monumental Basketball and as a special advisor to the office of the chief executive at Monumental Sports & Entertainment.

Paolo Dal Pino has stepped down as president of Lega Serie A, the governing body of the top division of Italian football.

Dal Pino has held the role since January 2020 but he is stepping down after moving to California.

David Cook is stepping down from his role as chief commercial officer at Championship football club Nottingham Forest.

Cook assumed the role in July 2017 and joined from Etihad Airways. He previously worked as a business development manager at Scottish Premiership club Celtic.

Brett Williams (pictured left) has joined concert promotion and artist development company AEG Presents as senior vice-president of global touring and talent.

Williams joins AEG Presents after more than 15 years at Los Angeles-based management company Monotone, Inc. His role at AEG Presents will include identifying, signing and booking talent for AEG Presents’ global touring and talent division.

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.

Kroulik image: Oak View Group