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People on the Move: Raiders, TEG and more

We round up the latest movements from the stadium ecosystem…

Sandra Douglass Morgan has been named as Las Vegas Raiders’ new team president.

The NFL said in a statement that Morgan, the former chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, is the league’s first black female team president.

Morgan’s hire comes two months after interim president Dan Ventrelle left the Raiders after less than a year in the job, reportedly due to claims of a “hostile work environment”.

“It is the honour of a lifetime to join the Raiders at one of the most defining times in the team’s history,” said Morgan. “This team’s arrival in Las Vegas has created a new energy and opportunities we never dreamed possible. I look forward to taking this team’s integrity, spirit and commitment to excellence on the field into every facet of this organisation.”

One business leader staying put is Michael Rapino, who has agreed a new five-year deal to remain as president and chief executive of Live Nation.

According to details revealed by the events giant, the deal includes a significant increase in compensation for Rapino, with an annual target payday of $30m if performance metrics are met.

Rapino joined the group in 2005 and will have spent more than 20 years as its chief executive by the time his new contract expires in 2027.

“Rapino successfully steered Live Nation through two years of pandemic shutdown, emerging better positioned than ever and on pace for a record year in 2022 with over 100 million fans across 45 countries,” the company said in a statement. “Similar to past contracts, 90% of Rapino’s total compensation is tied to continued growth and delivery of shareholder value.”

Luke Bould has been appointed as chief commercial officer at TEG.

Bould will be responsible for all of TEG’s commercial activity, working with all the group’s businesses to identify and drive growth opportunities globally. He will also oversee TEG’s communications and corporate affairs function.

Bould has over 25 years’ experience in sport and entertainment and previously held senior commercial roles at Cricket Australia and was chief commercial officer and chief marketing officer of Football Australia.

Bould said: “I am delighted to join TEG, a great Australian success story that has become one of the world’s top integrated live entertainment businesses. It is an exciting time for TEG, with enormous growth opportunities, so I am looking forward to leading the commercial development of the business.”

AFL Architects has appointed Melanie Fox as business development manager.

Fox joins from construction and property management consultants RLB UK where she has spent the last 15 years and was responsible for business development in the industrial and logistics, healthcare and sports sectors.

Fox said: “I am delighted to be joining AFL who are an impressive practice with a strong client portfolio. I look forward to working with the AFL team and I am excited to have the opportunity to play an active part in their next phase of growth.”

Paciolan has announced the promotion of Christian Lewis to the role of chief revenue officer.

Lewis has been with Paciolan since 2013, most recently serving as the group’s senior vice-president of business development. In his new role, Lewis will continue to anchor the group’s business development efforts, looking to generate revenue, build partnerships, and grow its client list.

“Christian is a remarkable leader who develops meaningful relationships and helps our clients to realise their business goals,” said Kim Damron, Paciolan’s president and chief executive. “His passion for sports and love of our industry are instrumental to Paciolan’s success both now and in the future.”

James Taylor, Wembley Stadium’s senior commercial manager for concerts, is to depart England’s national stadium later this year.

Taylor, who joined Wembley as commercial manager nine years ago, was promoted to run bookings for both sport and music in 2017.

The London stadium set a new record in 2019 by holding 14 gigs in the space of five weeks and is set to surpass that total this year.

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 Monday round-up...