People on the move: OVG360, AEG Germany and more

Global sports and entertainment company Oak View Group has named Julieta Gutierrez Macias as senior vice-president and chief financial officer of OVG360, which was formed last year as its third-party venue management, venue services and hospitality division.

Gutierrez Macias (pictured left) will oversee the financial and accounting activities for the division and report to Chris Granger, president of OVG360, and Ade Patton, chief financial officer of OVG.

She most recently worked as chief operating officer for Sodexo Live! airport lounges in North America, after previously working as the division’s global chief financial officer and the North America chief financial officer for Sodexo’s sports and entertainment division.

Oak View Group has also promoted Francesca Bodie to the newly established position of chief financial officer. Check out our story from last week for full details.

AEG Europe has announced that Uwe Frommhold will retire from his position as vice-president and chief operating officer of AEG Germany on February 1, 2024.

Frommhold (pictured centre) will continue to serve AEG in a consulting role, working across selected projects. He joined AEG in 2007 as arena director for what is now the Barclays Arena in Hamburg.

Following Frommhold’s retirement, vice-president and chief financial officer Jan Kienappel will be promoted to the role of chief operating officer and chief financial officer of AEG Germany, reporting to AEG Europe president and chief executive Alex Hill.

Fred Whitfield is stepping down from his position as president and vice-chairman of Hornets Sports & Entertainment, which operates the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.

Whitfield (pictured right) has spent more than 17 years overseeing the Hornets’ business operations, having joined what was then Bobcats Sports & Entertainment in July 2006. He served as president and chief operating officer for 12 years before assuming the title of president and vice-chairman in 2018.

Under Whitfield’s leadership, the Hornets secured renovations and a lease extension for Spectrum Center, reached long-term agreements with Ticketmaster and Live Nation, and signed an arena naming-rights deal with Time Warner Cable.

Janet Duch has been appointed executive vice-president of marketing and communications for the NHL’s New York Islanders and the team’s UBS Arena.

Duch will lead the entertainment and venue marketing efforts for UBS Arena and the Islanders, go-to-market plans, performance marketing, digital and social media, and creative strategies. She will report to Kim Stone, president of UBS Arena, and John Collins, operating partner at the Islanders.

Duch most recently led the strategic day-to-day start-up plans for the 2023 relaunch of the XFL American football competition and its eight teams as chief marketing and team business operations officer. She previously worked at On Location Experiences and Madison Square Garden.

Championship football club Coventry City has announced that chief executive Dave Boddy will step down at the end of January and appointed John Taylor as its new chief operating officer.

Boddy has been at Coventry since February 2017, during which time the club has achieved promotion from League Two up to the Championship and faced various stadium challenges. In April, the club secured a new five-year deal to continue playing at the Coventry Building Society Arena.

Taylor will start his role on January 1 and joins Coventry from Premier League club Nottingham Forest, where he most recently worked as chief operating officer. Coventry said the appointment of Taylor, who will report to executive chairman Doug King, will ensure a seamless handover from Boddy.

League One club Barnsley has announced that chief executive Khaled Al-Ahmad will leave the club on December 15.

El-Ahmad, who joined the club in September 2021, will be joining Major League Soccer franchise Minnesota United. Barnsley’s chief revenue officer Jon Flatman will step up as acting chief executive.

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.