Now Available to Watch On-Demand
GlobalVC Sports has partnered with Advertising Week present the 7th Annual “Future of Sport.” On Thursday, October 8th from 2:00-4:30pm ET, we brought together some of the biggest sports business executives, investors, and entrepreneurs to discuss how new platforms, technologies and trends are transforming our industry. As part of our partnership, Advertising Week granted GlobalVC Sports members free access to the entire week, which features 750+ Speakers and 350+ Virtual Events.
GlobalVC Sports Four (4) Panel Segments:
I. One-on-One with David Levy: What’s Next in Sports Media, Rights, Betting, and Investing
David Levy: Founder, Back Nine Ventures and Former President, Turner
Moderator: John Kosner: President, Kosner Media
II. Navigating the Unknown: How to Stay Optimistic When It Feels Seemingly Impossible
Brandon Marshall: Former NFL Wide Receiver and 6X Pro Bowler
Charlie Davies: Soccer Analyst, MLS and Former U.S. Olympian
Mandy Antoniacci: Author, Founder, Marathoner, Creator of The Daily Uplift
Tonia O'Connor: CEO, CHOPRA GLOBAL
Moderator: Julie Alexandria: Host, LaVidaBaseball
III. Live from Roland Garros with France Tiafoe
Frances Tiafoe: ATP Tour Tennis Player, Currently #29 in the World
Moderator: Daniel Cohen: SVP, Global Media Rights Consulting, Octagon
IV. The Resurgence of Golf
Annika Sorenstam: Former LPGA Tour Player, World Golf Hall of Famer
Alex Kaplan: President and General Manager, Discovery Golf
Chris Wandell: VP, Media Business Development, PGA TOUR
YuChiang Cheng: President of Topgolf Media
Moderator: Jeff Eisenband: Golf Journalist, Analyst and Host
Now Available to Watch On-Demand
BIOS:
John Kosner: President, Kosner Media: John Kosner is an internet pioneer and four-decade veteran of sports media. Today, he is president of Kosner Media, a digital media and sports consultancy. In 2018, John and the late NBA Commissioner Emeritus David Stern created Micromanagement Ventures, a portfolio of sports technology start-ups focused on media, betting and player health. John continues to serve as an advisor to and an investor in the 15 current companies in Micromanagement Ventures which include WSC Sports, WHOOP and Bit Fry Studios. Separately, John is an advisor to Sportradar, the Big East Conference, Molekule, EDO and the PRCA; he and his former NBA colleague Ed Desser negotiate sports media agreements for rightsholders and they write periodic columns for the Sports Business Journal. Previously, John led ESPN digital media from 2003-2017, after stints at Sports Illustrated, the NBA, where he was in charge of U.S. broadcasting during the Dream Team era, CBS Sports and NBC Sports. Kosner is the president of the Alumni Association and serves on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, the Collegiate School in New York City. He was graduated with distinction from Stanford University in 1982 with a bachelor of arts degree in American History.
David Levy: Founder, Back Nine Ventures and Former President, Turner: Long regarded as one of the media industry’s most influential executives, David Levy currently serves as the Founder at Back Nine Ventures, LLC, his recently formed sports consulting and investing firm. Prior to Back Nine, Levy served as President of Turner, offering content and advertising solutions to some of the most valuable brands in the world to audiences in sports, entertainment, news and children’s programming. In 2018, Turner programming was nominated for 33 Emmy Awards. He was instrumental in deepening and expanding Turner’s media rights and defining the division via its association with premium sports content, brands and events, including the NBA, Major League Baseball and the PGA Tour. In 2010, Levy orchestrated a landmark NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball deal, partnering with CBS for multi-media rights, including exclusive televised rights to the 2014 Final Four and National Championship Game in 2016. This marked the first time in the event’s history that these key games were televised by a cable network. In 2017, under Levy’s guidance, Turner added to its portfolio of premium sports properties by acquiring rights to UEFA, including UEFA Champions League, Europa League and the UEFA Super Cup. David has been the recipient of multiple awards for his professional achievement, including being elected to the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in 2012 and being named in 2018 by Sports Business Journal as one of the most influential executives over the past 20 years. In 2016, JDRF, the leading research and advocacy organization funding type 1 diabetes, honored Levy and his wife Niki, with the organization’s annual Humanitarian of the Year Award.
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Jeffrey Volk: Head of Business and Revenue Americas, Deltatre and Co-Founder, GlobalVC Sports: Jeff is the Head of Business, Americas at Deltatre (a Bruin Sports Capital company), where he works with the biggest sports and media properties in the world (MLB, NFL, GolfTV, Sinclair, WWE…) and focuses on creating, delivering, and scaling digital solutions across live streaming video and real-time data/graphics innovation. Previously, Jeff was with MLB Advanced Media and BAMTech Media (acquired by Disney in 2017), where he oversaw new businesses and revenue generation for new technologies and live streaming. Previously, Jeff was President of Digital Media at Athletes Performance (now Exos) and Director/General Manager of Advanced Media at the USTA/US Open. He is an active investor and entrepreneur, having founded GlobalVC Sports, NYVC Sports (now in New York, Boston, San Francisco, and London), Osun Labs, DIDiT, and others. Jeff, a Boston native, received his BA with honors from University of Pennsylvania and earned his MBA at NYU Stern.
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Brandon Marshall: Former NFL Wide Receiver and 6X Pro Bowler: Brandon Marshall is an American football wide receiver who played college football at the University of Central Florida and was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Brandon has also played for the Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears, New York Jets, and New York Giants. As the founder of the House of Athlete, Brandon believes that everyone can “athlete”. To “athlete” is to commit - to show up. This is where you recover your inner potential. At our house, we want you to achieve your best: mind, body, and self. Did you know fitness of body and mind are connected? We’ll give you the training, tools and support to achieve your total fitness goals. As the Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of PROJECT 375, Brandon Marshall is passionately dedicated to his work in the mental health community. Brandon believes strongly that football is his platform and his work in the mental health community is his mission in life. With suicide being the 2nd leading cause of death in youth ages 10-24, he is dedicated to ensuring youth across the nation receive prevention and early intervention services. Aside from his work with the foundation, Brandon is an active participant in other mental health organizations such as Child Mind Institute as an ambassador for the Healthy Brain Network. Brandon also advocates for the NFL Life Line and McLean Hospital. He has also been a participant in the Senate Finance Committee in Washington, D.C., testifying about mental health issues in our healthcare system. Mental illness is all around us. It hits both ends of the spectrum. It doesn’t matter whether you’re old or young, male or female, rich or poor or even your skin color. It affects 1 in 4 people reading this message. We’re changing the conversation. Educating across age groups on this important topic. Because for every one person we educate on mental illness, one less has to suffer from it.
Charlie Davies: Soccer Analyst, MLS and Former U.S. Olympian: Charlie is the first-ever Club Ambassador for the New England Revolution, where he’s deeply involved in the day to day business operations of the club, including corporate partnerships, marketing, fan engagement, community outreach and digital content. Prior to starting his media career, Charlie enjoyed an 11 year professional international soccer career playing in the top leagues of Sweden, France, Denmark and in Major League Soccer. He was also a member of the U.S. Men’s National Team and an Olympian playing in the 2008 Beijing games. He’s also a tv/media personality and soccer analyst for various networks including NBC Sports Boston, Fox Sports, Turner Network, Major League Soccer and DraftKings. Charlie was an All American soccer player at Boston College and Brooks School. Charlie is a member of the Philanthropic Board at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Mandy Antoniacci: Author, Founder, Marathoner, Creator of The Daily Uplift: Mandy Antoniacci is an author, founder, and a globally sought-after voice of optimism. Her inspirational writing and personal story reaches more than half a million people weekly and have been featured in Forbes, Inc, USA Today, and TED. It is the subject of her debut book, Uplifted, scheduled for publication in Fall of 2021. After 21-weeks of bedrest, Mandy turns poetic insights from her inspiring journey of resilience and reinvention into viral writings, highly-relatable brands, and sold-out venues. She has shared the stage with other global wellness luminaries such as Brene' Brown, Deepak Chopra, and motivational sports figures such as Tony Hawk and Shaquille O'Neal.
Tonia O'Connor: CEO, CHOPRA GLOBAL: Tonia has led multiple companies through transformation and joined Chopra Global to scale its businesses and capitalize on disruptive markets, emerging technologies, and the evolving, worldwide consumer demand in health and wellness. Tonia previously served as President and Chief Revenue Officer for Univision Communications, Inc. (UCI), where she oversaw the company’s revenue portfolio and spearheaded its commercial evolution, addressing the impact of disruptive technologies in traditional media and creating new business models to capitalize on shifting market dynamics. Tonia graduated from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, where she was recently appointed to the Board of Trustees.
Moderator: Julie Alexandria: Host, LaVidaBaseball: Julie Alexandria is an accomplished sports and entertainment host. She began her sports reporting career with Sports Net New York, (SNY) hosting the beloved and irreverent sports trivia game show "Beer Money". An offer from the network to host the magazine show "Mets Weekly" soon followed, which she helmed for two seasons. Pivoting into the entertainment realm, she became a VJ on MTV's daily countdown show "The Seven" live from Times Square. She has since covered College Football for Fox, Sports Illustrated, and The Big Ten Network. Sideline reporting duties and numerous sports drink baths for the Washington Nationals and most recently, the San Diego Padres.
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Frances Tiafoe: ATP Tour Tennis Player, Currently #29 in the World: Frances Tiafoe, from Hyattsville, MD, is a professional tennis player on the ATP Tour. In 2018, Frances won his first professional title at the Delray Beach Open at 20 years of age, to become the youngest American champion on the ATP Tour since Andy Roddick. Frances was a Quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 2019 and made the Round of 16 at the 2020 US Open. Frances reached a career-high ranking of 29 in February 2019 and is currently ranked 61 in the world. Frances and his twin brother Franklin are first generation Americans; their parents immigrated from Sierra Leone in the mid 1990’s. Frances fell in love with the game at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, MD.
Moderator: Daniel Cohen: SVP, Global Media Rights Consulting, Octagon: Daniel Cohen is a leading sports media rights expert providing strategic consultation to major domestic and international rights holders, broadcasters, emerging distribution platforms and the sports investment community. Daniel has been quoted by Bloomberg Sports, SportsBusiness Journal, SportBusiness International, John Wall Street and others on various domestic and international rights deals and trends. Based in the New York office for Octagon, Cohen’s focus is on maximizing the value of Octagon’s client content. Cohen earned his B.A. at the George Washington University, and occasionally speaks as a Guest Lecturer on Sports Media and Business at New York University and Columbia University.
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Annika Sorenstam: Former LPGA Tour Player, World Golf Hall of Famer: After a 15-year Hall of Fame career with over 90 worldwide victories that saw her rewrite the record books and change the way women’s golf was played, viewed and covered, Annika is now a mother, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Her ANNIKA Foundation has seven global events for junior girls with over 600 girls from 60 plus countries competing annually. She has a course design business and the ANNIKA Collection of high-end women’s golf apparel with Cutter & Buck. Annika is still the LPGA’s all-time Money Leader, despite not playing since 2008.
Alex Kaplan: President and General Manager, Discovery Golf: Alex Kaplan is President and General Manager of Discovery Golf which includes GOLFTV, the International home of the PGA TOUR and Golf Digest. Alex brings years of experience in sports, media and direct-to-consumer businesses, including senior leadership roles as EVP Commercial, Eurosport Digital, and at the NBA where he was responsible for the global direct-to-consumer strategy and business operations. He formerly spent 10 years at DIRECTV/AT&T where he led the organization responsible for DIRECTV Sports and oversaw Revenue and Entertainment products and services.
Chris Wandell: VP, Media Business Development, PGA TOUR: Chris Wandell is currently Vice President of Media Business Development at the PGA TOUR, where he and his team are responsible for new deals and revenue growth tied to the TOUR’s content rights and sports betting efforts. Prior to joining the TOUR in 2012, Chris spent about 12 years in technology and media – most recently with ESPN in New York City. He holds an MBA from London Business School and a BA in Economics from the University of Washington.
YuChiang Cheng: President of Topgolf Media: YuChiang serves as President of Topgolf Media following Topgolf Entertainment Group's successful acquisition of World Golf Tour (WGT), the world’s largest online golf game, which he co-founded in 2006. At Topgolf Media, YuChiang and his team tap their gaming, entertainment and tech expertise to create meaningful, shared digital moments for the Topgolf community. Under YuChiang’s leadership, WGT grew from zero to over 30MM downloads, bringing photorealistic graphics to web and mobile platforms. WGT was one of the first esports games to leverage free-to-play in-app purchases and in-game native advertising. Prior to WGT, YuChiang served on the executive team of WagerWorks as vice president of corporate development and product marketing. While at WagerWorks, he helped launch online gaming favorites Virgin Games, World Poker Tour and Hard Rock Casino before the company was acquired by IGT in 2005. YuChiang graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colorado College.
Moderator: Jeff Eisenband: Sports Broadcaster, Golf Journalist, Analyst and Host: Jeff Eisenband is a sports and esports broadcaster who has contributed to MSG Networks, NBA 2K League, PGA Tour, Golf.com, Golf Magazine, Golfweek, Topgolf, Front Office Sports, Ozy and Whistle Sports. He previously served as senior editor of ThePostGame. A 2015 graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Jeff originally hails from Larchmont, New York, where he captained the 2011 Mamaroneck High School Tigers Golf Team to a 2-14 record. He is based in New York City.
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