Written By: Sportico Staff
Source: Sportico
Welcome to Sportico’s transactions wire, a weekly rundown of personnel, partnerships, products and purchases across the sports business industry.
PERSONNEL
LIV Golf Makes Two Key Hires to Its Executive Team
LIV Golf has named John Ruzich as its new chief legal officer and Denise Taylor as head of product & technology. Ruzich will oversee all legal functions across the LIV Golf League and its 13 teams, including international operations and events. Taylor will lead the league’s department for global technology solutions and products. Both industry veterans will be based in New York and officially begin this month.
Ruzich joins LIV Golf after serving as chief administration officer and chief legal officer at Legends. Taylor’s career spans executive roles at major organizations including AEG, Westfield, Legends and Tottenham Hotspur FC.
Paley Center for Media Makes Appointments to Board of Trustees
The Paley Center for Media has added four leaders spanning sports, business, media and journalism to its Board of Trustees. Newly appointed to the Paley Center Board of Trustees are Robert Kraft, founder, chairman and CEO of The Kraft Group; David Solomon, chairman and CEO of the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.; Steven R. Swartz, president and CEO of Heart; and Maribel Perez Wadsworth, president and CEO of The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Unrivaled Names Clare Duwelius as Executive V-P and GM
Clare Duwelius has been named executive vice president and general manager of Unrivaled, the new 3-on-3 women’s professional basketball league. Duwelius will play a pivotal role in shaping the direction of the Unrivaled’s basketball operations and is tasked with leading the league’s efforts in contract negotiations with players and coaches, overseeing the league’s referees, regulating playing rules and managing additional league administration. Duwelius will work closely with president of basketball operations Luke Cooper as well as Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell. Duwelius joins Unrivaled from the Minnesota Lynx, where she recently completed her 11th season with the team and her second as general manager.
DC Power Football Club Adds Vernon Davis to Ownership Group
Former NFL star Vernon Davis, a Washington, D.C., native, has been added to the ownership group of DC Power Football Club “Power FC” in the USL Super League for women’s soccer. Davis initially planned to join the team’s ownership group alongside his late brother, Vontae, who died earlier this year. Davis joins an ownership group that includes former and current professional athletes and celebrities including WNBA star Angel Reese, Washington Nationals pitcher Josiah Gray, Washington Capitals center Hendrix LaPierre and actress Crystal Renee Hayslett. In 2022, Davis joined the ownership group of the Brisbane Bullets of the Australian National Basketball League.
Wave Sports + Entertainment and Creative 7 Add Guest Co-Hosts
7PM in Brooklyn, a Wave Sports + Entertainment (Wave) and Creative 7 original series, will return for a second season with new episodes slated to debut starting Friday. The hoops and culture series brings back host Carmelo Anthony, alongside a fresh cast of rotating co-hosts joining The Kid Mero, including former NBA star Rudy Gay, rising NBA & WNBA media personality and analyst Monica McNutt and Emmy-Award winning TV host Kazeem Famuyide. 7PM in Brooklyn will also launch Anthony-led digital exclusive content to the 7PM universe, and debut the show’s inaugural end-of-year awards special episode, the 7PMMYs.
Creative Artists Agency Appoints John Storey as Chief Financial Officer
John Storey has been appointed the chief financial officer for Creative Artists Agency. Storey most recently served as president of finance and operations at Asurion, a technology protection and support firm. Storey worked in various corporate development, strategy and financial roles at Asurion for 19 years, serving as chief financial officer for five years. Prior to Asurion, Storey worked as a research analyst for a public equities hedge fund and as an investment banker with Robertson Stephens and Alex. Brown & Sons.
DDA Expands Corporate Comms Division to Include Sports, Finance
Communications agency DDA is further expanding its Corporate Communications Division with the hires of Chloe (Gatta) Srivastava, Meghan Kilkenny, Emma Tomas and Caroline Tomaselli, who have joined the company’s New York office. Srivastava, who will serve as a senior vice-president for corporate communications, was a senior VP at Hiltzik Strategies, where she worked collectively for 10 years and built the firm’s finance and technology communications division. Kilkenny, who will serve as director of corporate communications, brings valuable experience to DDA from both her agency work at Hiltzik, Wachsman and FleishmanHillard and her in-house work as manager of global and corporate communications at The Ironman Group. Before joining DDA, Tomas, who will serve as an account director, was an account manager on the technology and finance team at Hiltzik. Tomaselli, who will serve as account manager, served as an account manager on the technology and finance team at Hiltzik Strategies.
PARTNERSHIPS
Premier Rugby Sevens All-Star Tourney to Air on FS2 and Rugby Pass TV
Premier Rugby Sevens will broadcast the 2024 PR7s All-Star Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 17, on FS2 and the PR7s YouTube channel for fans in the United States. Canadian and international audiences can tune in live through Rugby Pass TV. The live event begins at Providence Park in Portland, Ore., at 1 p.m. PT for attendees, and the broadcast will start at 2 p.m. PT. The historic event marks USA Rugby’s first competition on home soil since Paris. It also sets up a highly anticipated matchup between the silver medal-winning Canadian women and the bronze medal-winning USA women’s team. The U.S. and Canadian women, in addition to the U.S. men, will compete against their counterparts from the PR7s All-Stars, which features past Olympians, legends of the game, and other top players. The broadcast will showcase the fast-paced, high-scoring format unique to rugby sevens, with fans able to watch multiple 14-minute games in a tournament-style event.
Revolve to Become the Online Fashion Retail Partner for League One Volleyball
Revolve will become the official online fashion retail partner for League One Volleyball (LOVB). LOVB and Revolve will launch a campaign highlighting five of LOVB’s pro athletes—U.S. Olympic medalists Kelsey Robinson Cook, Chiaka Ogbogu, Jordyn Poulter and Jordan Thompson, and Brazilian international superstar Keyla Alves. The Revolve logo will be prominently displayed on the back of LOVB league jerseys across all six teams, worn by 84 players throughout the season. Fans can expect an exclusive “Players’ Tunnel Walk presented by Revolve,” where athletes will showcase curated fashion looks. Additionally, Revolve will engage fans during game time with “Timeout Fancam Fit Check” presented by Revolve at games throughout the 60-match season.
Rich Eisen Partners With Yahoo Sports Network
Yahoo Sports and The Rich Eisen Show are partnering to bring the three-time Emmy-nominated sports talk show to fans across the Yahoo Sports network. Through the partnership, the Yahoo Sports website will have a new page that features VOD clips from the show and clips will be shared on Yahoo Sports social channels. The partnership enables The Rich Eisen Show to tap into the significant scale of the Yahoo Sports network (which averages 115 million monthly unique visitors, per Comscore) to reach new audiences and drive tune-in for its live broadcast. The deal comes as Eisen continues to expand his media presence through Rich Eisen Productions.
Trainula Named Official Onboarding Partner of Phoenix Suns and Mercury
Trainual, an SaaS platform for business process documentation and employee training, has been named the Official Onboarding Partner of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury. The Suns and Mercury will implement Trainual’s software to elevate the onboarding and training experience. The partnership will be further emphasized through courtside signage and Trainual logos projected on the court.
NHL Partners With Vast Data on Media Production Operations
Vast Data, an AI data platform company, and the NHL announced a multiyear North American partnership to help transform the way the NHL manages, stores and distributes its media content. As part of this partnership, the NHL is using the Vast Data Platform to enhance its archival data processes and improve real-time game footage operations across league arenas. Over the last five years, Vast and the NHL have built a foundation of co-engineering to serve the rapidly growing data management needs of the league. The NHL can now run AI-powered discovery tools on all of its data assets.
Angel City FC Moving to Largest Training Center in NWSL
Angel City Football Club will relocate to a nine-acre site on the campus of California Lutheran University. The new performance center, which offers a full-size pitch and a half and approximately 50,000 square feet of indoor space, is the largest dedicated solely to a National Women’s Soccer League club. The performance center will serve as the home of ACFC’s players and first-team staff for up to four years. The performance center, formerly the home of the Los Angeles Rams, is undergoing a multimillion-dollar custom remodel to the interior and outdoor spaces, which will be completed for the 2025 NWSL preseason. Cal Lutheran University has been the training home of ACFC since its inaugural season, and the relocation to the remodeled performance center continues the partnership.
Mediapro North America, Unrivaled Bring Pro Women’s Hoops to Miami
Professional women’s basketball league Unrivaled and Mediapro North America announced a multiyear partnership to execute the production of the League and host the 2025 season in Miami. Together, the organizations are building a 129,981-square-foot, state-of-the-art production facility to host all Unrivaled games, highlighted by a compressed full-court stage built in collaboration with Wide Angle Group (WAG) for a building capacity of 850 and incorporating the latest digital technology. The facility will be equipped with training facilities, a childcare room, an athlete content creation hub, a fan zone area, office space and a mobile production unit.
Chivas Regal Enters Global Partnership With Scuderia Ferrari HP F1 Team
Luxury Scotch whisky Chivas Regal has been appointed Official Team Partner of the Scuderia Ferrari HP Formula 1 team in a new global multi-year partnership that unites two iconic heritage brands with a shared legacy in craft, innovation and luxury. The collaboration will focus on telling the untold stories of teamwork off the track that are critical to success. Through behind-the-scenes access, alongside exclusive content and live experiences, Chivas Regal and Scuderia Ferrari HP will spotlight contemporary racing culture, championing the Tifosi, Ferrari’s fan base, and putting the focus on the sport’s international fan community. The integrated campaign, due to launch next year, will follow recent responsible drinking campaigns run by Chivas Regal in markets such as Mexico and Japan.
Keeper Security and Williams Racing Debut Livery for Las Vegas Grand Prix
Keeper Security, a provider of zero-trust and zero-knowledge cybersecurity software protecting passwords, passkeys, privileged access, secrets and remote connections, will debut an exclusive engine cover takeover on the Williams Racing FW46, adding a new element to Keeper’s existing brand placements on the car. This event-specific livery will highlight Keeper’s commitment to safeguarding its customers’ digital assets.
PRODUCTS
Kevin Garnett, Pro League Network Debut Streetball Tournament
Kevin Garnett & Pro League Network will cap the inaugural str33t tournament with str33t LA Run in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood, a streetball-style 3×3 tournament featuring professional 3×3 teams competing for the title of str33t LA Run Champion. Str33t LA Run will feature five men’s teams—Calabasas, Creators, F4M, B-Ball Junkies and str33t n3xt? Champions Fentwood—and two women’s teams—Final Touch and Big Dawgs—competing for their respective championship titles.
PURCHASES
Packers Make Lead Gift to Establish and Endow UW-Green Bay AD Position
The Green Bay Packers are making a leading gift to establish and endow the Mark Murphy director of athletics position at the university. The gift of $250,000 is being made by the Packers in honor of the organization’s longtime president and CEO as he approaches retirement in July after 17 seasons. The Packers’ gift will kickstart a fundraising campaign with a goal of $1 million that will help ensure UW-Green Bay athletes are able to excel in the classroom, in competition and continue to make a positive impact in the Green Bay community. Current UW-Green Bay director of athletics, Josh Moon, will become the first “Mark Murphy endowed director of athletics,” effective immediately.
Fastbreak.ai Acquires SEQL to Drive Youth Sports Impact and Fan Engagement
Fastbreak.ai, an AI-driven scheduling solutions for the sports industry, has acquired SEQL, a sports impact company dedicated to connecting youth athletes with resources from consumer brands, leagues and cities. This acquisition enhances Fastbreak.ai’s mission to provide technology solutions to the youth sports market while fostering equity in youth sports and providing resources to underserved communities. SEQL partners with top brands and organizations to provide athletes with free, high-quality media content, educational resources and community-driven programs. SEQL has established partnerships with industry leaders, including the Jr. NBA, Adidas, and Gatorade. Following the acquisition, SEQL will be rebranded as Fastbreak Connect, with SEQL’s co-founders—Robert De Wolff, Bryant Drayton and Jarmal Bevels Jr.—joining Fastbreak in leadership roles within the business unit.
