Appointments

People on the move: Co-op Live, Glasgow 2026 and more

Featured image credit: Glasgow 2026/Co-op Live/Angel City FC

Manchester’s Co-op Live arena has appointed Ben Sharman as its new director of booking.

The arrival of Sharman (pictured centre) coincides with Co-op Live’s director of strategic programming, Katie Musham, moving to Oak View Group International. Sharman managed British Athletics’ commercial partners programme ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games and has also secured major sponsorship deals for Premier League football club Aston Villa.

He joined the commercial partnerships department at Birmingham’s NEC Group in 2014, transitioning into arena programming in 2017, and was promoted to head of programming for Utilita Arena Birmingham and bp pulse LIVE in late 2022.

The organising committee for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow has appointed Phil Batty as its chief executive.

Batty (pictured right) served as director of ceremonies for the 2022 Games in Birmingham and has also worked as chief executive of Skymagic, a drone light show business. He has also held senior positions for the UK City of Culture programme and as a board member of Spirit of 2012, the London Olympic and Paralympic legacy funder.

Glasgow 2026 has also appointed Jade Gallagher as chief operating officer, Faye Shaw as chief financial and corporate services officer, Louisa Mahon as chief marketing and communications officer, and Martin Fitchie as chief information officer.

National Women’s Soccer League team Angel City FC has appointed Laura Flynn as its new chief revenue officer.

Flynn (pictured left) will oversee and execute sales strategies across sponsorship, ticketing, events and merchandise. Before joining Angel City FC, she served as senior vice-president of commercial partnerships at the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers.

During her time with the Trail Blazers, she also served as vice-president of premium, managing ticketing sales and service strategies for premium season ticket holders and Moda Center suite owners. Flynn has also had roles with Equinox, The Bay Club and The Sports Club/LA.

The Baltimore Orioles Major League Baseball team has appointed Don Rovak as its chief revenue officer.

Rovak joins the Orioles after completing his 17th year with AMB Sports and Entertainment, which operates the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Rovak led the team that sold out Mercedes-Benz Stadium for all Falcons games and United matches since the venue opened in 2017.

Video display manufacturer Daktronics has appointed John Gandy as executive experience director and Keith Haeberle as creative production manager.

Gandy has previously spent time with the Miami Dolphins and worked on events such as Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix. Haeberle has served as managing director at Blended Frames LLC and The Heat Group.

Premiership Women’s Rugby has appointed Genevieve Shore as its executive chair.

Shore has more than two decades of leadership experience and was part of the England team that won the Rugby World Cup in 1994.

PWR has recently strengthened its executive team with Amy Kimber-Roberts returning from maternity leave as strategy and operations director. Darren Hanley has also joined from Ipswich Town as PWR’s head of marketing, while Emily Lowe has joined from the Lawn Tennis Association as head of finance.

League of Ireland Premier Division club Shelbourne has appointed Tomás Quinn as its new chief executive.

Quinn will join Shelbourne from Dublin GAA, where he has been the commercial and marketing director since 2013. Neil Doyle, Shelbourne’s co-owner, will continue to oversee club operations in the short term before Quinn takes up the role in early April.

The International Skating Union (ISU) has appointed Jessica Roosli as its new chief of events.

Roosli has previously held leadership roles with the NBA, Volleyball World, Nike, UFC and the Red Bull Air Race.

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.