Appointments

People on the move: ARound, New Zealand Cricket and more

Featured image credit: ARound/United Soccer League

Next-generation fan engagement platform ARound has hired Dana Ware as its first chief creative officer, while Lauren Fisher has been appointed as an advisor on creative direction and live-action content.

Ware (pictured right) will oversee creative strategy and interactive storytelling for ARound’s stadium-level shared AR experiences as it expands to new venues and partners. She joins from The Void, where she served as creative director for projects in location-based virtual reality.

Fisher (pictured left) has over 15 years of experience in the entertainment and sports industries and will advise on creative direction and storytelling. ARound has partnerships with the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, and Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins.

New Zealand Cricket has announced that long-serving chief executive David White will be stepping down from the role in August.

White was appointed to the position in February 2012, becoming just the fourth chief executive in the organisation’s history. White, who informed the NZC board of his decision last week, said it “feels like the right time” to step aside from the job.

He said: “NZC is in a secure financial position with a solid balance sheet and long-term commercial agreements in place. The Blackcaps are strong; women’s cricket is healthy, our high-performance programme is producing excellence, and the community game is stable.”

United Soccer League has named Paul McDonough as its president and chief soccer officer.

He will lead the USL’s ongoing strategic efforts to elevate the USL Championship, USL Super League and USL League One. McDonough (pictured centre) will focus on laying out the strategic vision for evolving and implementing the USL’s business and sporting initiatives, including competition reforms.

McDonough most recently worked as chief soccer officer at player representation agency Wasserman. He also worked as chief operating officer and sporting director at Major League Soccer team Inter Miami.

Chris Jurasek is reportedly set to be appointed chief executive of Premier League football club Chelsea.

Jurasek is an operating executive at Clearlake Capital, which co-owns Chelsea alongside US businessman Todd Boehly. His appointment at Chelsea would reportedly form part of a wide restructure of the club’s management team.

Elsewhere in the Premier League, Aston Villa is reportedly set to hire Chris Heck, the former president of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, to its senior management team.

The Athletic reported that Heck has been targeted by Villa owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens to drive forward the club’s development. Heck left the Sixers in June last year and previously worked as president of business operations at MLS team New York Red Bulls.

European Arenas Association (EAA) has welcomed Paris Entertainment Company (PEC) chief executive Nicolas Dupeux to its board of directors. He will be directly responsible for EAA members from the central European region.

Prior to taking up his position at PEC – the umbrella organisation operating Accor Arena, the Bataclan, and Adidas Arena – Dupeux was general manager of business solutions at Disneyland Paris, where he was in charge of business tourism and music and sports special events.

Alex Perkins has started a new position as commercial director for The Hundred at the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

Perkins previously spent over eight years at Edgbaston, where he worked as T20 project manager, head of commercial, and, most recently, sales and marketing director. Prior to that, he worked at NEC Group, Stoke City and Leicester City.

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.