Aleksander Čeferin
Bio
Aleksander Čeferin, a Slovenian lawyer and football administrator has served as President of European football’s governing body, UEFA, since 14 September 2016. Previously, between 2011 and 2016, he was president of the Football Association of Slovenia (NZS).Aleksander Čeferin was elected as the seventh President of UEFA at the 12th Extraordinary UEFA Congress in Athens, automatically becoming a vice-president of the world football body, FIFA. His presidential manifesto and campaign centred on the need for UEFA to adopt good governance reforms to ensure solid foundations for the organisation. Since the initial period of his presidency, he has vehemently opposed the creation of closed competitions, emphasising the need to protect the European sports model, improve the competitive balance in European football, and reduce the gap between elite clubs and the rest.
He is a keen advocate of social and humanitarian policies that demonstrate football’s power as a force for social good. In November 2017, he was elected chairman of the UEFA Foundation for Children – a body supporting humanitarian projects worldwide that promote and foster children’s rights through football.
Aleksander Čeferin was voted several times to lists of most influential people globally, including those from prominent magazines such as Politico in 2021 and World Soccer magazine in 2019. He also received a prestigious World Football Summit (WFS) Award as ‘2021 Best Executive’ – recognising “his exemplary leadership in combating the European Super League and delivering a hugely successful UEFA EURO 2020 tournament during a global pandemic”.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi
Bio
Nasser Al-Khelaïfi is one of the leading figures in world sport. Since 2011, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi has been the President and CEO of Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (PSG), following his appointment as Chairman of Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) and their acquisition of the French football club that year. Additionally, he sits on the board of the French Professional League (LFP). Nasser Al-Khelaïfi is a member of the UEFA Executive Committee, currently serving his second term, after being elected by the European Club Association (ECA) as one of its representatives on the Committee. Since April 2021, he has also served as Chairman of the ECA itself, representing over 240 professional football clubs of Europe.
On top of his leading roles within sport, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi is the Group Chairman of beIN MEDIA GROUP, the international sports, entertainment and media group operating in more than 40 countries worldwide. It was under Nasser Al-Khelaïfi’s management that beIN acquired MIRAMAX, the famed Hollywood film and television studio; and also Digiturk, Turkey’s largest sports and entertainment platform. Nasser Al-Khelaïfi is also a board member of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA).
Peter Scott
Bio
Peter Scott is currently Vice President of Emerging Media and Innovation for Turner Sports and Bleacher Report. In this role, Scott advises internal teams on new tech, trends and helping the company remain relevant in the new media world. Additionally, he is helping lead the strategy and operationalization of LIVE Virtual Productions, Sports Betting, Ecommerce, Name Image and Likeness (NIL), and Next Generation viewing experiences across the Turner Sports portfolio; NHL, NBA, MLB and March Madness. As an Emmy award winning digital strategist and operator Pete has helped the company evolve and embrace a digital and direct to consumer mindset. Pete joined Turner Sports’ new media team in 2001 and laid the foundation for the development of Turner’s unique digital portfolio. He served as executive director of partnerships managing digital and mobile rights for NASCAR.com, PGA.com, NBA.com, and PGATour.com as well as of March Madness Live.
Craig Howe
Bio
Craig Howe is the Founder and CEO of Rebel Ventures, a global sports and entertainment agency focused on digital strategy and end-to-end activations. Rebel Ventures’ mission is to transform sports organizations, brands and athletes into modern media and entertainment businesses through harnessing and maximizing digital potential. Their portfolio of clients includes world’s leading sports and entertainment properties, such as Real Madrid, Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, Wimbledon, Netflix and Epic Games. Craig’s digital and brand marketing experience from his 25 years of business ventures include work with the likes of Unilever, InBev, Lexus, NFL, NBA, Kraft/Cadbury and the United Nations.
Ellie Moss
Bio
Ellie is a Strategy Director with over 10 years’ experience in comms, marketing and advertising. Ellie has worked with a range of brands across automotive, sport, travel, wellness and finance, leading on brand strategy, creative strategy and comms planning. Previous clients include Mastercard, VW Group, Hilton, HSBC, Vauxhall, Expedia group, Middlesex Cricket, Great British Racing, Canyon and Rainbow Laces. At Cake, Ellie leads the Global and Europe strategy for Major League Baseball; works across the UK strategy for PUMA; and acts as strategic counsel across Cake’s rugby portfolio.
JJ Rowland
Bio
JJ is Director of Business Development and Marketing with the European Handball Federation, a position he took up in 2019 having previously been Head of Media and Communications. His role with the EHF includes brand, CRM marketing and promotion of events including the EHF EURO. He is also responsible for coordination of the EHF’s long-term media and marketing rights partnership with Infront and DAZN Group. He has a master’s degree in sports management from Loughborough University, UK.
Christina Höllerl
Bio
Christina has almost 20 years’ experience in the sports industry and currently forms part of Infront’s handball sponsorship sales team, with a focus on the Women’s EHF EUROs and EHF Club Competitions. Originally from Austria, her career has seen her work at some of sport’s most recognisable brands and rights holders, including adidas, UEFA, FIFA and the Austrian Football Association. She has also provided her expertise at some of the world’s top tournaments including the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015™and UEFA EURO 2008™. An active golf player, she holds a degree in business administration.
Richard Petrich
Bio
Richard’s entrepreneurial mindset and his doer mentality led him to founding a wide range of different tech-focussed start-ups and companies. This and his passion to connect others led him to co-found Value of We, an agency specialized on holistic brand experiences from the metaverse to brand partnerships. Their portfolio of clients includes brands such as DHL, G2 Esports, Ralph Lauren, Red Bull (& Racing), Soho House and more.
Patrick Haslett
Bio
With over a decade’s experience on the commercial side of sport, Patrick helps sports organisations to understand the challenge of ‘sustainability’. By putting social, economic and environmental activity at the heart of organisational strategy, sport can play a leading role in tackling the defining challenges of our time. Not only is it the right thing to do, but the commercial opportunity overwhelmingly supports this transition.
Casper Svanemose
Bio
Casper joined Continental Tires Denmark 4 years ago. He is trying to disrupt a very old business and move a huge freight ship with fierce determination and with a digital mindset. He is in charge of Continental’s Share The Road bold campaign, focusing on a society issue. More than third of the Danes have experienced road rage and with Continental’s commitment to Tour de France and the cycling community, they wanted to create a campaign that set focus on the empathy between cyclists and car drivers. The aim is to highlight the issue and try to find solutions with inclusive storytelling. Prior to joining Continental, Casper has worked at Brøndby IF, one of the football flagships of the northern countries.
Matt Rogan
Bio
Having led international P&Ls at iconic brands MTV and NBA, Matt co-founded Two Circles in 2011, leading the business as Chief Executive until 2016, through acquisition by WPP and thereafter as Executive Chairman. During that period the business grew to just under 200 people servicing over 100 clients, including the six biggest sports rights holders in the world by revenue. Two Circles were voted in the top three for leadership in the Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For, and was twice the UK Sports Agency of the Year. Bruin Sports Capital purchased the business from WPP in 2020. Matt stepped down as Executive Chairman at that point and now spends the majority of his time focused on Board advisory work, principally through Non-Executive Director commitments. He is also a Strategic Advisor for SportsPro Media Group. Matt is a regular speaker around the evolution of the business of sport, and the implications of that evolution on wider industry. He is also the author of the book “All to Play For – How Sport can Reboot Our Future”.
Katie Matthews
Bio
Katie Matthews joined Little Dot Sport as its Partnerships Director at the beginning of 2022. In this role, she manages the specialist sport label’s portfolio of clients and identifies new development opportunities by demonstrating how its team of social content, distribution and monetisation experts can help new and existing clients become leaders in digital sports entertainment. Katie has over 14 years’ experience within the sports industry, and in that time has worked with brands and rights holders including the UFC, Bellator MMA, the International Tennis Federation, Red Bull Media House and the Tour de France. Prior to joining Little Dot Studios, she spent most of her career at independent PR agency, The PHA Group, where she ran the agency’s sports division.
Mohammad Ali Abbaspour
Bio
Throughout his career, Mohammad has focused on innovative tools that integrate technology with sports. He established Sponix Tech in 2020 to widen his scope of expertise and to expand the development of novel technologies for the global sports industry. Sponix Tech is a technology company that provides purely software-based technologies (immersive replay technology and virtual advertising technology) which help leagues, clubs, and broadcasters increase viewers and enhance the fan experience. The company received award at 2020 Sports Technology Startups Awards and was named the best Startup in Asia by Microsoft GSIC. Recently they implemented their technologies in the top competitions like the UEFA Champions League. Mohammad holds a Master’s degree in IT Management, and he was a professional football player.
