Advisory Board

As Senior Vice President, Media for Major League Soccer and Soccer United Marketing, Seth Bacon is responsible for developing and executing the direction of the League’s media properties and overseeing the distribution of content and programming on international, national and regional levels through advanced multimedia platform channels.

Bacon works closely with all current and future MLS/SUM broadcast partners — ESPN, NBC Sports, Fox Sports, Univision, TSN and RDS — to integrate the League’s television agreements to televise MLS games in the United States and Canada.

Bacon brings nearly 15 years of broadcast experience to MLS and SUM and most recently served as Managing Director, Broadcasting for NASCAR, where he was a core member of the team that negotiated the sport’s multimedia rights agreements. During his 11 years with NASCAR, Bacon managed and maximized relationships and sponsorship opportunities with broadcast partners, developed the organization’s first Hispanic broadcast partnership and was instrumental in renewing NASCAR’s international business with more than 30 broadcast partners.

Before joining NASCAR, Bacon served as an Associate Producer at Fox Sports Net where he was a member of the original production team that launched “The Best Damn Sports Show Period.”

Bacon is a graduate of Emerson College. A native of Maine, Bacon currently resides in Greenwich, Connecticut with his wife Katie and their two sons.

Zachary Leonsis is Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), a multi-platform sports, media, entertainment, and technology company located in the heart of the “DMV” in downtown Washington, DC. MSE is best known for its fan-facing brands which include the NHL’s Washington Capitals, the NBA’s Washington Wizards, and Capital One Arena, as well as seven additional team brands, three more venues, and equity in two media networks: NBC Sports Washington and Monumental Sports Network. As senior vice president of strategic initiatives, Leonsis manages MSE’s media rights relationship with NBC Sports Washington, all venture capital investment opportunities, and its growing esports division. Leonsis represents MSE on NBC Sports Washington’s board of directors as well as on Team Liquid’s board of directors.

Scott oversees the Digital Product Development and Revenue Operations teams as well as the TOUR’s Broadcast Technology groups. These teams focus on delivering the best digital and live streaming experiences for the fans of the PGA TOUR daily.

He led the transition team which brought the TOUR’s digital assets and capabilities in-house in 2013. In 2020 the Digital and Broadcast tech teams implemented Every Shot Live during round one of the THE PLAYERS Championship which live streamed every shot from every player for the first time.

Scott came to the TOUR in September 2005 having previously worked for Turner Broadcasting, Viant Corp. and New Era of Networks.

Les was appointed Chief Technology and Operations Officer, Foxtel Group following his role as the Chief Operating Officer for Kayo Sports and BINGE, where he was instrumental in the development, build and implementation of Kayo Sports, ensuring a successful launch of the ground-breaking streaming service.

In his new role, Les is responsible for all technology platforms, services and operations across the Foxtel Group’s Broadcast, Streaming, Enterprise and Studios. This includes all services and operations across the group’s broadcast, streaming, enterprise solutions and studios.

Les previously formed part of the Fox Sports executive team as Director of Digital, Technology and Broadcast Operations where he oversaw all broadcast and digital operations, technology, sports statistics and digital accountability. He also introduced a transformative world-first broadcast operating model to Fox Sports.

Prior to joining Fox Sports, Les was the Director of Commercial Development at News Ltd, where he was responsible for managing news’ digital business across the group. He has also held corporate and commercial finance roles at British Pay TV operator BSkyB.

More than 20 years’ experience working in sports media with experience leading marketing leading multi-platform sports properties. In 2015 co-founded Goal Studios, Perform’s football digital agency that represents global clients such as UEFA, Nissan, Toyota, Rakuten and Hyundai. Martyn relocated to Tokyo in 2017 to join the DAZN Japan leadership and assumed overall responsibility for the business in August 2018.

Anouk oversees ELEVENS’ market & business operations globally. Anouk joined ELEVEN when the platform launched in 2015 to lead the Belgium division, before taking on the role of Group COO in 2019. She has previously held senior roles with cable platform Telenet and media company Sanoma in Belgium.

Elliot Renton has been entrenched in the Asia sports and media industry for over 16 years. He is currently the Senior Director & Head of APAC for GRABYO, the market leader in cloud-based video production, live streaming, editing and distribution.

Prior to joining Grabyo, Elliot served as Regional Director and Head of Sport for Discovery Networks Asia and before that, he was with PERFORM Group, the world leading sports digital media company as the Managing Director for Emerging Markets Asia. His experience in the region includes successfully leading and launching ambitious growth activities for new and established businesses covering technology, rights, content distribution and advertising.

Elliot has previously also held commercial roles at Nokia, Getty Images and Thomson Reuters in Asia. Elliot is originally from London and has been based in Singapore since 2003. He holds a Bachelors of Arts, Honours in Information and Media Studies from Brighton University.

Naturally curious, part of Carlo’s role as Group Chief Evangelist is to push boundaries and ensure innovation remains at the heart of Deltatre. “I’m constantly researching,” he says. “I read between 50 and 200 articles every day.” Today, he is an innovator, challenger, thought-leader, public speaker – a true Deltatre evangelist.

Growing up near Turin, Italy, Carlo studied computer science before joining Deltatre as the Head of Software Development in 1988. From a family of journalists and photographers, his curiosity pushed him to pursue a more technical path.

When he joined Deltatre, he was one of just five employees – a far cry from today’s 1000-strong global team. In the early days, he would spend up to 200 days a year travelling the world to support the company’s work with many of the world’s leading sporting events. Over the years, he has worked alongside Formula 1, the Alpine Ski World Cup, The IAAF Athletics, the UEFA Champions League, the FIFA World Cup, NFL, MLB, and the Olympics.

In 1994, Carlo started developing websites for many of the company’s high-profile sport clients. “It was one of the defining moments of my career,” he says. “We entered the digital space incredibly early.” In the same year, he created a real-time sports websites for the World Athletics Championships – it was one of the world’s first; if not the first, websites of its kind.

Over the years, projects have included managing web and mobile properties of FIFA.com, UEFA.com, as well as work within multiple high-profile sporting events and live streaming projects. Today his focus has moved to innovations surrounding the combination of data, UX, and content as well as OTT and direct-to-consumer experiences.

In the world of sport, being a leader, of course, couldn’t be more key. However, it is not enough to reach the finish line first and then stagnate – and so, embracing change and continually evolving has been a constant theme throughout Carlo’s career.

He has risen through the ranks, with titles ranging from Director of Web Technologies to CTO and Chief Product & Marketing Officer – and many more in between. “Innovation is the only way to survive,” he says. “We must always challenge the way we do things, the way we work with our clients, and the user experiences for fans.”

With nearly 30 years of sport entertainment experience under her belt, Micky Lawler was appointed President of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in the fall of 2014 and is responsible for driving the WTA’s international growth strategy, business development, marketing, new fan engagement programs, and member & industry relations. The WTA is the global leader in women’s professional sport with more than 2,500 players representing 92 nations competing for a record $130 million in prize money at the WTA’s 57 events and four Grand Slams in 33 countries.

During her nearly three decades in sport entertainment, Lawler has played an important role in expanding the geographic footprint of women’s tennis, including the development of important initiatives in China. She has driven growth in several aspects of the tennis business including athletes, events, sponsorship sales and consultancy. In addition, she has provided strong strategic leadership during her 11 years as a WTA Board member, a role to which she dedicated an enormous amount of time in recent years.

She is known for her big-thinking, innovative initiatives and ground-breaking business development skills and was on the WTA Board when equal prize money as well as record breaking sponsorship and television partnerships were secured. Lawler began her career in sports in 1986 as a Communications Liaison for the Men’s Tennis Council, the predecessor to the ATP World Tour. She joined Advantage International (now Octagon) in 1988 as one of the first female agents in the industry and quickly made her mark in the representation business with her work for Alberto Mancini, Richard Krajicek, Paul Haarhuis, Amelie Mauresmo and several other top athletes.

Jeff Nathenson is the international Managing Director at Whistle Sports, a global sports entertainment network that creates and delivers compelling sports content across multiple platforms. Jeff focuses on building the international operations of Whistle Sports, expanding the company’s reach and relationships with content creators on different digital and social platforms and works closely with brands looking to increase their engagement through sport and social media. Previously Jeff was head of football at YouTube where he developed the global football strategy, helping to transition the platform from user-generated uploads to official content offerings. He worked with big global sports brands such as UEFA, FIFA La Liga, Bundesliga and Lega Calcio. While Jeff was at YouTube he also negotiated ground breaking global sponsorship deals with the likes of Adidas and Gillette. Jeff was also previously the Strategic Partnerships Manager at YouTube where he negotiated and executed commercial deals with brands like BBC Worldwide, Fremantle, Time Warner and Al Jazeera.

Digital Marketing, Product Development and Data Expert focused on growth of audiences strategies. Love helping companies engage with their audiences in exciting new ways across Mobile, Web, Email and Social Media. Currently leading the FIVB’s digital unit. Some of my previous work included projects with a number of brands such as FIBA, NBA, Reebok, P&G and Heinz.

Michael Sutherland is the Chief Transformation Officer at Real Madrid, which is consistently ranked as the highest earning european football club and is one of the most valuable sports brands in the world. Prior to Real Madrid, Michael was the Director of Virtual Reality and Director of Product and Design for Emerging Technologies at HP Inc in Silicon Valley. He has been an active angel investor, founder and advisor in early stage companies and has led the growth and commercialization of technology startups in Silicon Valley. He is a global technology leader and expert in corporate innovation and commercialization of new technology products.

More information coming soon…

Elizabeth is a Canadian expat, and passionate sports fan, who relocated to the UK in 2017 to join Twitter’s Global Content Partnerships team, managing Sport partnerships. She works closely with some of the UK’s largest broadcasters, leagues, teams, and federations including Sky, Eurosport, BBC, and Wimbledon, as well as several international sporting organizations to help bring the best sport content to Twitter, for fans and brands. Prior to her move across the pond, she worked in Twitter’s Toronto office. She started her professional career in sport sponsorship with the Canadian Olympic Committee, where she funnelled her passion for sports and marketing and, specifically “ice” hockey, into her day job.

Beer is Facebook’s Global Sports Programming Lead. He leads a team responsible for developing and implementing the sports content strategy that supports growth for both Facebook and its partners’ video businesses. This spans live, in-game, catch-up, short-form and shoulder content across Facebook’s family of apps and covers both established and emerging sports rights holders and broadcasters.

Rhys previously held leadership positions at NBCUniversal, DAZN, the English Football Association and Setanta Sports. He recently received the prestigious honor of being named to the Leaders Under 40 Class of 2019.

Rufus has overall responsibility for the content, production, media sales, business development, strategy, finance and legal areas of the business as Chief Operating Officer.

He is also the Manging Director of European Tour Productions, which is the largest producer of live golf globally, producing all the European Tour’s events including the Ryder Cup as well as content for other rightsholders such as The Open.

Prior to joining the PGA European Tour, he was a Partner at OC&C Strategy Consultants working with other sports bodies and leisure firms to drive strategic growth.