In his role as President of Elevate Sports Ventures, Chip Bowers is responsible for leading the business operations of the best-in-class sports and entertainment consulting firm, which provides, innovative solutions to organizations across the international sports and entertainment landscape.

With over 175 global clients, Elevate provides thoughtful insights that empower sports teams, leagues, brands, venues, events and properties with comprehensive, revenue-driving solutions. Elevate’s unparalleled combination of agency and operating experience, along with proprietary products and solutions, maximizes efficiencies in Partnership Sales and Consulting; Hospitality Sales and Strategy; Brand Representation; Experiential Design; Feasibility and Revenue Consultation for New and Renovated Venues; Consumer Insights, Research, Strategy and Analytics; and more.

With a reputation for developing dynamic sports and entertainment platforms that drive global brands and properties, the 25-year sports industry veteran leads Elevate’s efforts to secure and deliver results for its global roster of current and future clients, and spearhead the agency’s corporate development strategy. The seasoned executive brings a depth of experience from the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, Orlando Magic, Seattle SuperSonics and Storm, and MLB’s Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres, competitive gaming teams including Golden Guardians League of Legends team and the NBA 2K League’s Warriors Gaming and more.

Bowers holds the distinction of leading some of the most highly-honored Front Offices in the sports industry. In addition to attaining two NBA Championships with the Golden State Warriors, Bowers held the critical position as CMO of the Warriors Front Office. Bowers’ assignment adds substantial depth to Elevate partnership vertical; notably, his endeavors at the Warriors placed him at the forefront of some of the most dynamic partnerships in modern sports. In addition to overseeing all marketing and brand development, corporate partnership sales and services, and broadcasting; Bowers secured significant sponsorship and naming rights agreements for the Chase Center and the Warrior’s jersey patch partner, Rakuten, widely hailed as two of the sports industry’s largest and most successful partnerships. Likewise, during Bowers’ tenure as a senior leader with the Orlando Magic, he orchestrated the Amway Center’s naming rights and significant founding partnerships. In his most recent role as President of the Miami Marlins, Bowers secured best-in-class partnerships with major global brands, designed and oversaw the reimaging of the fan experience and massive capital improvements at Marlins Park. Prior to his roles with the Marlins, Warriors and Magic, Bowers held senior positions with the NBA’s former Seattle Sonics and the WBA’s Seattle Storm as well as MLB’s San Diego Padres. Bowers has additionally led efforts to drive brand development and global partnerships for the Golden Guardians League of Legends team and the NBA 2K League’s Warriors Gaming.

Bowers received his Bachelor of Science from Appalachian State University; he currently resides in Charlotte, NC, the East Coast Headquarters of Elevate Sports Ventures, with his wife, April and their daughters Charlie and Poppy.

Tim Clark is Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer, leading the operation of NASCAR’s digital platform including NASCAR.com, the NASCAR Mobile app, fantasy games, subscription products, UX, and fan engagement. In addition, Clark oversees original content development for NASCAR, including digital and social media, NASCAR Productions, and an entertainment division based in Los Angeles.

Clark is also responsible for NASCAR’s gaming strategy and creating fan engagement opportunities via esports and sports betting. He oversees the eNASCAR brand and racing series partnerships with iRacing and 704 Games. In 2020, Clark led the creation and launch of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series in collaboration with iRacing. The virtual racing series filled the live sports void during the onset of COVID-19, and six of the seven races on FOX/FS1 now rank as the most-watched esports program in television history.

Clark joined NASCAR in July 2012 to help oversee the re-launch of the digital platform after NASCAR brought its digital rights back in-house. Under his leadership, NASCAR Digital Media introduced fans to emerging engagement platforms such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and 360-degree video. Additionally, Clark leads the organization’s data strategy team, focused on both fan acquisition and the segmentation of data for strategic use across the NASCAR industry.

Following active-duty enlistment in the U.S. Army, Clark joined Circuit City in a marketing role in 1998. He later helped launch the company’s e-commerce efforts, leading media buying, and performance channel marketing. In 2009, Clark joined GSI Commerce to lead marketing for online retailers such as Dick’s Sporting Goods and Hanes. Shortly after, he was responsible for managing sports league partnerships with the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and NASCAR.

A native of Mechanicsville, Va., Clark attended NASCAR races at Richmond Raceway as a child. He received a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Kansas State University in 1998. He is an active supporter of the Humane Society of Charlotte, The Hole in the Wall Gang, and various other animal and environmental causes.

Clark and his wife, Bita, live in Charlotte, N.C. with their son, Myles.

Rick Cordella serves as Chief Commercial Officer, Peacock, NBCUniversal. In this role, Cordella leads business efforts across several content pillars, including sports, streaming channels, and live events. Under his leadership, Peacock’s Editorial and Content Operations teams develop and execute content strategy driving consumer engagement. Cordella was instrumental leading Peacock’s record-breaking start to 2022 with two of the biggest sporting events in the world, the most-streamed Olympics and most-streamed Super Bowl in history. He reports to Kelly Campbell, President, Peacock and Direct to Consumer, NBCUniversal.

Previously, Cordella served as Peacock’s Chief Revenue Officer, responsible for launching the service’s product, programming and content strategy, live content partnership management, monetization, editorial, channels, standards & practices, and program acquisition of topical, short-form and sports content. Prior to Peacock, he served as Executive Vice President and General Manager, Digital Media, NBC Sports Group. In his former role, he oversaw all aspects of NBC Sports Group Digital: direct-to-consumer services, including NBC Sports Gold; NBCSports.com; NBCOlympics,com; Rotoworld.com; the NBC Sports Talk franchises, inclusive of Mike Florio’s ProFootballTalk; and the NBC Sports, NBC Sports Talk and NBC Sports Scores apps.

Under Cordella’s leadership, NBC Sports Digital streamed the Olympics, NFL games, and the Super Bowl (2012), among many firsts, while hosting thousands of on-demand video clips, in addition to streaming more than 10,000 events in 2018 across NBC, NBCSN, Golf Channel, Telemundo, NBCUniverso and six NBC Sports Regional Networks. He began as General Manager for NBC Sports Digital in 2009, and expanded responsibility and leadership, ultimately becoming Executive Vice President and General Manager in September 2016. During this time, Cordella served on the Board of Directors of Fanduel.

Cordella previously served as General Manager, Fantasy Sports, where he managed NBC Sports’ fantasy sports properties, including Rotoworld.com, SnapDraft.com, Allstarstats.com and Sandbox.com. He joined NBC Sports in August 2006 with NBCUniversal’s acquisition of AllStar Stats, Inc., the parent company of Rotoworld.com. As Rotoworld’s general manager, Cordella handled all day-to-day duties including management, product development, computer programming, and ad sales.

Cordella, a six-time Sports Emmy Award-winner, earned a B.S. degree in Business Management with a minor in Computer Science from Providence College, and he was a member of the Providence Friar men’s basketball team that reached the NCAA Elite Eight in 1997. He holds an MBA from Boston College. Cordella resides in Westport, Connecticut, with his wife and five children.

Marie Donoghue is Vice President of Global Sports Video at Amazon, overseeing Amazon’s global sports content business. In her role, Marie leads Amazon’s worldwide sports strategy, identifying and evaluating new opportunities, and enabling customers to access live and on-demand sports content, on hundreds of devices, in over 240 countries and territories. Marie and her team will make history this fall when Prime Video becomes the exclusive home to Thursday Night Football, marking the first time a streaming service will air an exclusive national broadcast package from the NFL.

Prime members from around the world can now watch live sporting events like Thursday Night Football, the Premier League, US Open (tennis), Next Gen ATP Finals, WTA, UEFA Champions League, Roland-Garros, Ligue 1, WNBA, and more, and can subscribe to streaming services such as MLB.TV, NBA League Pass, and NBA TV through Prime Video Channels. Rights and availability vary by country.

Over the course of her career, Donoghue has received numerous recognitions, including “2021 Innovators” (The Wrap), “Most Powerful Women in Sports” (AdWeek), “Most Influential People in Sports” (Sports Business Journal), “Power 100 Women in Entertainment” (The Hollywood Reporter), “New York Impact List” (Variety), “The Most Powerful Women in Cable”(CableFax: The Magazine), “Women to Watch” (Advertising Age and Advertising Women of New York) and “Game Changers” (Sports Business Journal).

Prior to joining Amazon, Donoghue was at ESPN for more than 18 years, where she most recently served as Executive Vice President, Global Business and Content Strategy, leading the ongoing development and implementation of ESPN’s enterprise-wide business and content strategy. She also headed ESPN’s Business Affairs, Business Development and Partnership groups (including gaming partnerships).

Donoghue earned a J.D. degree from Columbia University and a B.A. from Columbia College.

In his seventh season as President of the San Francisco 49ers, Al Guido is responsible for all strategic initiatives, day-to-day business operations, and community engagement for the five-time Super Bowl-winning NFL franchise and its award-winning management of Levi’s Stadium. Under Guido’s leadership, the franchise has been annually recognized among the Best Places to Work in the Bay Area by the Bay Area News Group and was named the Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year for 2017 by ESPN for its comprehensive efforts in the community.

Guido concurrently serves as Chairman and CEO of Elevate Sports Ventures, a multi-faceted sports consultancy bringing comprehensive business solutions to more than 70 clients in the sports and entertainment industry. Elevate delivers best-in-class insights, sales, and brand services informed by data-based analysis that has been identifying new revenue opportunities and bringing innovative ideas to market since launching in 2018.

During Guido’s tenure with the 49ers, Levi’s Stadium has established itself as a preeminent entertainment venue, attracting major events like Super Bowl 50, WrestleMania 31, the 2015 NHL Stadium Series, multiple Major League Soccer and International Soccer matches, and world concert tours featuring the likes of Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, and the Grateful Dead. Under his direction, the construction and year-one operations of Levi’s Stadium exceeded all projections – finishing under budget on construction, with lower public debt than expected, delivering $2.8 million to the City of Santa Clara general fund from non-event revenue in just the first eight months of operations, and fully funding reserve cash balances for the Santa Clara Stadium Authority.

Prior to joining the 49ers full-time in 2014, Guido represented the 49ers and Santa Clara Stadium Authority as senior vice president of global sales for Legends beginning in 2010. Other career stops include the Dallas Cowboys, Phoenix Coyotes, Comcast-Spectator (owner and operator of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers, AHL’s Philadelphia Phantoms, Comcast SportsNet, and the Wachovia Complex).

Guido received his bachelor of business administration from the College of New Jersey, where he played wide receiver for the school’s football program. Guido and his wife, Thea, have three daughters, Estella, Sloane, and Tatum.

Xavier Gutierrez is the first Latino President and CEO in the National Hockey League, leading the Arizona Coyotes Hockey Club. In this role, Gutierrez oversees all business operations, strategic planning, significant organizational decision-making, and government relations for the club.

Mr. Gutierrez has a 25+ year career as a business executive, investor and dealmaker focused on investment management, corporate strategy & operations, finance, and business development. Previously he was Managing Director at Clearlake Capital Group (a private investment firm with $75+ Billion institutional capital). Prior to Clearlake, Mr. Gutierrez served as Chief Investment Officer of Meruelo Group (Alex Meruelo family office/management company), and President & Chief Investment Officer of Meruelo Investment Partners (investment affiliate). Mr. Gutierrez was also Principal & Managing Director with Phoenix Realty Group (a national real estate private equity firm with $1 billion equity capital). In addition, Mr. Gutierrez has worked at Latham & Watkins, Lehman Brothers, and the National Football League Office.

A dedicated philanthropist and corporate leader, he serves on multiple boards and advisory councils including Commercial Bank of California, ARCTOS Northstar Acquisition Corp (NYSE: ANAC), Janus International Group (NYSE: JBI), and the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC). He is also a Board Director and on the Investment Committee for the Arizona Community Foundation (ACF), a Member of the Board of Regents at his alma mater, Bellarmine College Preparatory, a member of the NHL’s Executive Inclusion Council, and on the Advisory Boards of the Aspen Institute Latinos & Society Program, Pro Sports Assembly, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, and Teach for America.

In 2020, Mr. Gutierrez co-founded and currently serves as Board Chairman of SUMA Wealth (www.sumawealth.com), an innovative financial technology company focused on eliminating the Latinx wealth gap by engaging, educating, and empowering this cohort through culturally relevant content, financial tools and services.

Mr. Gutierrez previously served as a voting member of the U.S. SEC Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies and was a board member for several organizations including Sizmek, Inc. (NYSE: SZMK), the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the California Community Foundation, and the Southern California Public Radio (2016-2019).

Mr. Gutierrez grew up in San Jose, California and attended Bellarmine College Preparatory, an all-boys Jesuit high school. He received his Bachelor of Arts (BA) cum laude in Government from Harvard University, and his Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) from Stanford Law School. He, his wife Jericca, and son Xavi live in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

Brian Herbst is Senior Vice President, Media and Productions for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). Herbst leads the sport’s global media business, including NASCAR’s partnerships with FOX and NBC. He also oversees the award-winning NASCAR Productions group, radio broadcaster Motor Racing Network, and the Racing Electronics at-track scanner business.

Under his leadership, NASCAR’s international media footprint expanded to over 185 countries & territories and established long-term partnerships with TSN and IMG. Herbst also spearheaded the development TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold, the company’s most significant effort in the over-the-top category, and helped architect NASCAR’s entry into the sports betting space.

Before moving into his role on the media side in February 2015, Herbst worked for NASCAR’s digital arm, NASCAR Digital Media, where he was responsible for securing new digital partnerships, syndicating content outside NASCAR’s digital platform, and managing NASCAR’s digital rights agreements. He also played an important role in the development of the industry’s digital media strategy when NASCAR brought its digital rights in-house in 2012.

Herbst joined NASCAR in 2005 and spent his early years at NASCAR in the company’s Licensing & Consumer Products division where, in various roles, he managed the e-commerce business, cultivated new licensing relationships for the industry, and rolled out multiple retail programs to support the sale of licensed products.

Herbst serves on the board of The Jack Fanning Memorial Foundation: Angels for Autism, a New York-based charity that raises money for autism.

Herbst has a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he graduated with honors. He was born in Buffalo, NY and raised in Cary, NC. He now resides in Charlotte with his wife, Lindsay, and three daughters (Darcy, Shea, and Callie).

Matt Hong is the former Chief Operating Officer of Turner Sports, a subsidiary of WarnerMedia (now Warner Bros. Discovery), a role from which he retired in 2019. Since early 2020, Matt has served as a strategic advisor to or on the board of directors of various companies in the sports, technology, media, and investment management industries.

Throughout his Turner career, Matt was closely associated with or led several milestones for the company including the original and current NCAA rights agreements, the current renewal of Turner’s partnership with the NBA, the acquisition of Bleacher Report, and the acquisition of UEFA Champions League rights. He additionally oversaw investments in and served on the board of directors of FanDuel (observer) and iStreamPlanet.

Matt joined Turner Sports in 2008 after previous executive positions at Thomson (now Thomson Reuters) and AOL. While at AOL, he architected and oversaw the company’s multi-billion dollar partnership with and equity stake in Google, and managed the Search business across the AOL portfolio of properties.

Matt currently serves on the board of directors of non-profit organizations including the V Foundation for Cancer Research and the Naismith Awards. He and his wife, Soogi, are minority investors in the Washington Spirit of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and Paris FC. Matt received a JD with honors from Harvard Law School and a BA in economics from NC State University, where he was the university co-valedictorian.

John Lasker, vice president of digital media programming for ESPN, is the lead programming and acquisitions executive responsible for ESPN+, ESPN’s Direct-to-Consumer service launched in April 2018. In addition to ESPN+, Lasker is also responsible for leading efforts to maximize ESPN’s rights, audience reach and revenue opportunities across ESPN’s digital content offerings and platforms including ESPN3, ESPN On Demand and DMVPD touch points. He works closely across DMED, Disney Streaming, ESPN and Disney Marketing, ESPN Live and Original Content Production, Disney+, Hulu and Star+ colleagues to support the content acquisition, distribution and monetization.

Lasker joined ESPN in 1999 as a supervisor of sales planning.  He advanced to account sales executive in 2002 and manager of program planning just one year later, before assuming programming and acquisitions responsibility for digital media in 2006. Since 2006, Lasker has been a key leader in the live streaming efforts of ESPN leading the content strategy and acquisitions efforts supporting the launch of ESPN MobileTV in 2006, ESPN3.com in 2006, ESPN3.com in 2010, WatchESPN in 2011 and ESPN+ in 2018.

Prior to ESPN, he worked at Zenith Media in New York as a media buyer.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Lasker graduated from Marist College in 1997 with a degree in psychology.

Steve Phelps is President for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR).

Promoted to President in September 2018, Phelps became just the fifth person to hold the position in NASCAR history. Phelps is based at NASCAR headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida.

In his current role, he oversees all day-to-day operations of the sanctioning body including competition, racing operations, commercial business, marketing, communications, broadcasting, productions, content, digital and international.

Under Phelps’ leadership, the sanctioning body has refocused its priorities to ensure the world’s best racing experience is delivered to NASCAR fans on a weekly basis at track, at home or on the go. Through increased collaboration and consensus-building with drivers, race teams, tracks and stakeholders, Phelps’ leadership has the entire industry focused on long-term growth through exciting on-track action and intense competition and innovation.

Phelps joined NASCAR as Vice President of Corporate Marketing in July 2005. He was named Chief Marketing Officer in February 2006 and promoted to Senior Vice President in January 2010, Executive Vice President in December 2013 and COO in April of 2018.

During his time at NASCAR, Phelps has won Adweek’s prestigious Sports Marketing Executive of the Year and was named its Brand Genius Award winner in the “sports” category.

Prior to joining NASCAR, Phelps was Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Wasserman Media Group. In 1990, Phelps began a 14-year tenure at the National Football League where he served as Vice President, Corporate Marketing.

A native of Vermont, he obtained a bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont and an MBA from Boston College. He resides in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Mike Rabil is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). Founded in October 2018 by Mike and his brother, lacrosse superstar, and philanthropist, Paul Rabil, the PLL is the leading men’s professional lacrosse league in North America, composed of eight teams rostered by the world’s best players, representing Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Maryland, the Carolinas, Denver, Utah, and California. In December 2020, the PLL and Major League Lacrosse (MLL) announced a merger with subsequent season operations and activities to formally exist under the PLL. Under Mike and Paul’s leadership, the league has since landed the largest media rights deal in lacrosse history with ESPN.

In his role, Mike is responsible for the long-term vision of the company and oversees all day-to-day operations of the league. Mike has successfully leveraged his noted entrepreneurial background and career in Silicon Valley alongside his keen sports knowledge to spearhead the launch and growth of the PLL. In 2020, the league was named Sports Breakthrough of the Year by the Sports Business Journal, as well as a 2021 Sports Employer of the Year by Front Office Sports. In 2023, Mike was also named to the Sports Business Journal’s 40-Under-40 list.

Prior to the PLL, Mike was VP of Sales and Partnerships at Funding Circle (LON: FCH), where he led revenue, built the fintech company’s sales and business development teams from scratch, and helped take the company public on the London Stock Exchange. Mike was also on the founding team at Endurance Lending Network, which was acquired by Funding Circle in 2013. In 2012, Mike co-founded Endurance Companies, an investment holding company based in San Francisco, and served as CEO and co-founder of Turnstyle Cycle, now Boston’s largest boutique indoor cycling company. Mike started his entrepreneurial journey in 2010 when he co-founded Endurance Fitness 247, which owned and operated a dozen Snap Fitness gyms throughout North America. He began his career in consulting at Jones Lang LaSalle, the world’s largest real estate services company. Mike graduated from Dartmouth College with a bachelor's degree in government, where he was captain of the football team.

Rob Shaw is the Director of North America Media Partnerships at Meta. In this role, he works with league, team media, real money gaming, and collectibles partners to best utilize the Meta family of technologies in order to drive a number of business objectives, including audience development, sponsorship sales and activation, commerce, and media distribution. Among Shaw’s top priorities is to guide the sports industry’s first steps into the metaverse. Shaw came to Meta after four years at Bloomberg Sports as the VP of content/media, where he introduced advanced statistics into MLB, NBA, and NFL broadcasts and led partnerships with media companies including Turner Sports, Fox Sports, ESPN, and NBC Sports. Prior to transitioning to the business side of the industry, Shaw was an award-winning sports anchor and reporter with experience at NBC and CBS television affiliates in Florida. He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and has an MBA from NYU. Rob has two boys, Wyatt and Levi, who he is raising with his wife, Jennifer, in Westchester, NY.

Teri Smith was hired as Special Counsel to the Executive Director at the National Football League Players Association on August 4, 2009. She was promoted to Deputy Managing Director in August of 2010, Acting COO in February of 2019 and then became the NFLPA’s first female and Black COO in March of 2021.

Prior to joining the NFLPA, Teri participated in multi-million dollar merger and acquisition deals for numerous Fortune 500 companies as a corporate associate at Latham & Watkins, which was ranked as the 2nd best law firm in the world at the time she was hired. She has advised a variety of start-up organizations, including non-profits founded by current and former professional athletes.

Teri proudly received her undergraduate degree in Accounting, summa cum laude, from Howard University in 1997 and her Juris Doctor from Columbia University School of Law 2001. She is licensed to practice law in the State of New York and the District of Columbia.

Teri Smith is the first female to be named counsel at the NFL Players Association. As Chief Operating Officer, Teri has a diverse role and a broad range of responsibility within the NFLPA. She has wide influence and responsibility for not only NFLPA staff but also for players and their families. In this role, Teri provides direction of over 150 employees and advises the Executive Director on discreet legal matters and NFL front office communication.
In 2013, she led an internal team in launching “The Trust”, an independent initiative whose sole purpose is to serve former players. The Trust is funded by money negotiated in the 2011 Collective Bargaining agreement. Her responsibilities included overseeing hiring personnel, drafting and executing relevant legal documents. She continues to serve as Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees. She also sits on the Board of Fight For Children, a DC-based non-profit organization.

As a previous adjunct professor in Georgetown’s Sports Industry Management program, Teri taught a sports law class and had a direct influence on many of the future leaders of the sports industry.

Currently, she is the Chair of the Women in Sports Initiative for the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association. Teri is a frequent panelist in the sports arena and continues to pursue opportunities to educate and assist those up and coming.

Teri was raised in Charlotte, NC and now, she and her family reside in Washington, DC.

Craig Stimmel is Senior Vice President and Head of Global Sales & Partnerships at WWE, a publicly traded (NYSE: WWE) global media company.

In this role, Stimmel is responsible for leading WWE’s sales organization while expanding the company’s roster of sponsors and promotional partnerships. Overseeing day-to-day operations and working alongside prominent brands including, BlueTriton Brands, Comcast, DraftKings and Toyota, Stimmel is creating meaningful, custom integrations across WWE’s premier programming and global platforms.

Stimmel previously served as Head of Global Brands at Snapchat where he was responsible for creating and leading the company’s Global Brand organization. Prior to that, Stimmel served in various leadership positions across Procter & Gamble, including overseeing partnerships and marketing ideation for the company’s Media Investment team.

Stimmel earned his Bachelor of Science in Business-Accounting from the University of Dayton.

Bill Wanger serves as FOX Sports Executive Vice President, Head of Programming and Scheduling, a role he assumed in December 2013 following the successful launch of FS1 and FS2.

Wanger oversees programming and research for all FOX Sports linear channels as well as content strategy for all FOX Sports outlets and assessment of long-term rights acquisition opportunities and value. He plays a vital role in programming, scheduling, strategic planning, research and advertising sales support. His responsibilities also include content strategy, adding his voice to the business affairs team and assessing long-term rights acquisition opportunities and value.

Wanger joined FOX Broadcasting Company in 1989 as an analyst in the Research & Marketing Department. In 1993, he was promoted to Director of Research & Marketing where he was directly involved in creating the presentation to NFL owners that helped secure FOX’s historic first television rights deal in December 1993. Subsequently, he played a vital role in helping secure new affiliates and worked directly with former New World CBS stations as they transitioned to FOX in early 1994.

In addition to the NFL, Wanger has been an integral part of every rights deal ever negotiated by FOX Sports, including NHL, MLB, NASCAR, UFC, MLS, USGA, the BCS, Pac-12 Championship Game and regular season, Big Ten Championship Game, Bundesliga soccer and the FIFA World Cup and Women’s World Cup. He also was instrumental in planning the launch of FS1, establishing and developing the network’s programming strategy and infrastructure. Recognized for his influence in the sports media industry, Wanger is a member of Sports Business Journal’s prestigious “40 Under 40” Class of 2007.

Wanger’s strategic influence and programming decisions helped FOX Sports become America’s top-rated network for sports for several years. His input into FOX’s NFL schedule and weekly regionalization of games has been vital in helping FOX NFL post record ratings growth.

Among Wanger’s many accomplishments at FOX Sports has been his co-creation (along with David Hill & Ed Goren) of FOX Sports Supports, the division’s in-house charitable initiative. FOX Sports Supports was launched in 2008 to raise awareness, provide financial assistance and spur volunteerism for notable health-related charities over the course of the network’s entire broadcast season. Wanger also co-founded the City of Hope Golf Classic that has raised millions of dollars for cancer research and patient care. Currently, he co-chairs the annual event, which benefits the Tim Nesvig Lymphoma Fellowship and Research Fund.

Wanger was born and raised in Highland Park, Ill. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife Melissa and their two daughters.