Speakers

As CEO of Endeavor China, Sum oversees business across all divisions, including IMG Media and Events, IMG Licensing, WME & IMG agency business, 160over90, and the newly acquired digital agency Mailman. To benefit Endeavor as a group, he also leads collaborations with other Endeavor subsidiaries, including UFC, Neulion, IMG Academy, etc. Sum’s expertise helps Endeavor China level up its presence in both sports and entertainment, and also penetrate into new territories including eSports and mobile gaming.His leadership is to grow and scale the robust offerings Endeavor China has built across all business lines, and government relations in China and APAC.

Katie Sadleir is the new Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Chief Executive Officer, taking up the position in November 2021. She joined the CGF from World Rugby, where she was General Manager of Women’s Rugby and responsible for spearheading the global development of the women’s game.

A Commonwealth Games medallist and an Olympian, Katie has a wealth of experience as both an athlete and sports administrator. Born in Scotland and raised in Canada, Katie made New Zealand her home and represented her adopted country at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games in synchronised swimming, before competing at the Edinburgh 1986 Commonwealth Games two years later where she won the bronze medal in the women’s solo. She served as the Assistant Chef de Mission New Zealand at the Victoria 1994 Commonwealth Games and has attended six editions of the multi-sport competition in various capacities. Katie led the establishment of the New Zealand Academy of Sport network in the late 1990s before becoming General Manager of Sport and Recreation New Zealand (now Sport New Zealand) from 2000-2006. She has held directorships with both Sport New Zealand and High-Performance Sport New Zealand while she has been a director with the International Association of Elite Sport Training Centres, a board member of the New Zealand Swimming Federation and a member of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) Athletes’ Commission.

Sanjog Gupta leads the Sports business for Star and Disney India which includes a portfolio of 17 channels. In this role, he is responsible for the business, product (programming & production), marketing, and strategy for the Sports network.

SailGP, the purpose-driven, global racing league appointed Erica Kerner as Chief Marketing and Communications Officer in 2021. Kerner will lead the marketing and communications functions across the global business. A key focus will be growing SailGP’s already enviable global audience and continue to build on its strong relationships with global distribution and broadcast partners as the league moves from Season 2 to 3, starting May 2022.

Robert Klein joined Bundesliga International in May 2017 as Chief Commercial Officer. In January 2018, he took over the role as Chief Executive Officer, driving the international position of the Bundesliga as one of the most innovative and exciting football leagues globally.

Before his career at Bundesliga International, Robert was leading the Sports Rights department at Red Bull Media House, responsible for growing the company’s global sports portfolio. Previous to Red Bull Media House, Robert worked as Executive Director for International Sports Multimedia (ISM), UEFA New Media and NBA Europe Events. He holds a Masters’ Degree in Leisure Policy and Planning from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.

Malaysia Football League aims to privatise the Malaysian professional football leagues with efforts in transforming Malaysian football, one of which is positive & sustainable commercial growth. Winnie’s responsibilities are with commercialising all MFL assets, strategise and oversee all commercial & marketing activities and provide local guidance and senior support for the team, including Partnership, Client Servicing, Media Rights, Broadcast, Events & Creative.

Manabu Yamada is Executive Vice President of DAZN Japan, leading all business in the Japan market. Manabu has extensive experience in sports and digital business throughout his career, in which his earlier major achievements include the launch of the first official MLB website in Japan, and involvement in the digital strategy for many sports such as the NFL and the J.League. His more recent career highlights include the broadcasting of major sports at media such as J SPORTS, and led Sports Navi, the biggest digital sporting media in Japan, through business developments and partnerships with various sports leagues and entities. Manabu was appointed to the role of President and Representative Director for Sports Navi K.K. in 2018 where he exhibited excellent leadership, and joined DAZN in September 2021 as EVP, as the first Japanese business leader for DAZN Japan.

As Vice President, Marketing & Communications, NBA Asia, Sheila Rasu is responsible for the overall marketing, communications and social responsibility efforts for the NBA across Asia-Pacific. Rasu has more than 20 years of experience in public relations and marketing. Before joining NBA Asia in 2011, Rasu served as SVP of Fleishman-Hillard in Singapore, where she oversaw its consumer and healthcare practice for Southeast Asia and spearheaded various large-scale regional campaigns. Prior to that, Rasu held positions with Fulford PR and Mission Hills Group.

Kimberly Koh is the Senior Partnerships Director at World Table Tennis (WTT) and is responsible for securing and managing brand partnerships globally. This includes establishing WTT’s commercial brand partnership structure, and delivering a data and result-driven activation strategy for brands across all of WTT’s event and digital platforms.

She has 9 years of experience in the table tennis business within roles spanning media, marketing and sales, and was part of the core International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) team that led to the initial set up of WTT, applying a holistic understanding of the sport to its commercial strategy.

Rachael Neumann is a co-founder and partner of Flying Fox Ventures, an early-stage investment firm supporting Australian and New Zealand founders with global ambition. Flying Fox has over 30 companies in its portfolio and has enabled hundreds of folks to start or turbocharge their investment journeys. Rachael plays across many parts of the startup ecosystem, as a Partner at Startmate, and previously as Head of Startups in Australia & New Zealand for Amazon Web Services and prior to that, Managing Director of Eventbrite ANZ. Rachael is passionate about helping companies scale and increase their impact through differentiated customer experiences and new product development.

Danny Townsend was one of the co-founders of sports and entertainment intelligence and measurement agency, Repucom International which was acquired by global research and data company, Nielsen Holdings in 2016. During his time at Repucom and more recently as Global Managing Director of Nielsen Sport, Danny has advised major brands and sporting bodies such as PepsiCo, Emirates Airline, Mastercard, Redbull, the NBA, the NFL, English Premier League and many professional sports franchises on how to maximise returns on sports marketing initiatives. In 2017, Danny returned to Australia to take up the role of Chief Executive Officer at Sydney FC where he has overseen significant growth in the Club’s corporate partnership base and the evolution of a number of strategic projects. More recently, as a result of the Australian Professional (Football) Leagues unbundling from Football Australia, Danny was appointed as Managing Director of the newly formed entity tasked with delivering a broadcast deal and digital first strategy which revitalises the A-League and W-League.

Alex leads the small and growing team at KAWO where their mission is to help global brands to be loved on social media in China. 4 years ago he co-founded KAWO and for the first 18 months lead the design and wrote all the front-end code alongside Brian Van Damme. Now the team has grown he acts as product manager and evangelist for KAWO driving the growth of the company.

A results-oriented leader, with over 20 years experience in Digital, National Broadcast and International Cable TV in Australia and Europe. Highly regarded as a creative problem solver who consistently implements innovative solutions to exceed business goals. A firm advocate of translating key audience insights into creative solutions for commercial partners that adds value and benefits both brands.

Matt Pound started with the ITTF back in 2013 as the Promotions Manager, and has since been promoted to Head of Media, and subsequently to the Marketing Director position and now Managing Director of ITTF’s new commercial entity World Table Tennis. Since taking ITTF’s commercial rights back in house in 2017, Pound and his team have doubled commercial revenue and created a new and innovative business model to run table tennis’s commercial rights from 2021.

SPOTV, the new pan-regional, Asia-Pacific sports broadcaster, appointed Rubin Zhong as chief content strategy officer in 2021. Zhong joins SPOTV from SportBusiness, where he was a vice president in the consulting division in Asia.

A goal-driven individual who is passionate about self improvement. Patient and calm under pressure, with keen ability to multi-task and adapt to different situations. A dynamic and energetic team player with high willingness to learn and to contribute. She is a strong believer of brands and how telling a good story makes a difference to consumers’ preference.

Guy has over 20 years experience working across technology, data and consultancy roles within the global sports business industry. Currently managing WSC Sports business across Asia Pacific, he has overseen the growth of WSC’s AI powered video highlights automation technology to partner with major sporting properties and media companies across the region.

Chihiro Saito leads the league’s international strategy and operations, especially focusing on the Asia region. Since 2020, B.LEAGUE has introduced Asian Players Quota for Asian players to play in Japan and is leveraging this Asian talent to increase its presence in the Asian market by making the most of technology.

Amy Prosser is a Solutions Architect for Video and OTT at Optus Sport. Coming from a background implementing streaming solutions within major Broadcast, Sport and Government organisations across APAC, the UK and Europe, Amy moved to Optus Sport in 2021 to focus on taking Sports streaming to the next level. Optus Sport are one of the leading sports streaming platforms in Australia and are also actively working on changing the narrative around Women’s football. The Women’s World Cup takes place in Australia and New Zealand in 2023 and all matches are available exclusively on Optus Sport so it’s an exciting time to be a part of the ride. Amy thrives when pushing ahead with the latest tech whilst also representing a change for good in the diversity space.

Palomba was born in Turin on 6 December 1975. He graduated in Political Sciences before obtaining a Masters in Business Administration and Information Communication Technology.

He has extensive experience in New Media (e-commerce, web and social networks), gained through a number of high level positions in multinational companies: Web and E-commerce for Ferrari Auto Spa, Senior Account Manager for Google Italia and Content & Marketing Manager (Corriere della Sera.it) for RCS Digital.

He joined Juventus in 2011, where he held the position of Co-Chief Revenue Officer and Head of Marketing and Digital until October 2018, when he became Managing Director of the Hong Kong branch and Head of APAC Project, with the aim of strengthening business relationships in Asia.

Kevin Chang serves as SVP, APAC at UFC®, the world’s leading mixed martial arts organization. He is responsible for UFC’s APAC strategy, operations, and content distribution. Chang first joined the global brand in January 2011 – June 2013, returning in February 2015. He previously served as the organization’s Vice President of Media in Asia responsible for establishing the brand’s early content distribution and marketing partnerships in the region, as well as setting up the first Asia office in Beijing. Under Chang’s leadership, UFC has aggressively expanded across Asia and delivered live events in Macau, Saitama, Seoul, Manila, and most recently to Singapore with 2 more events planned for 2017. Prior to joining UFC, Chang began his career in the sports industry at the National Football League, where he served as the Director of International Media. A native of Honolulu, HI, Chang holds a Bachelor of Arts from Pomona College and a China-focused MBA from the University of Hawaii, East-West Center for Asian Studies.

Sarah Chambers is the Operations Manager for Optus Sport Production and has been onboard since its inception in 2016, after previously working at Fox Sports Australia in the News Operations team. Using her Broadcast experience, Sarah has been integral in designing numerous workflows & processes to ensure Optus Sport is providing its viewers with the best Football experience. Optus Sport are one of the leading sports streaming platforms in Australia and are also actively working on changing the narrative around Women’s football. The Women’s World Cup takes place in Australia and New Zealand in 2023 and all matches are available exclusively on Optus Sport. Sarah loves to jump into a challenge & help find a solution that works best for all stakeholders.

Elliot is responsible for the commercial growth and strategy for Grabyo business across all key and emerging markets.

With over two decades experience in the sports media and technology industry, Elliot was an early hire at Getty Images in Singapore before joining Reuters Media to manage content distribution across Asia. After spending time at Nokia Asia-Pacific Elliot then joined PERFORM Group (now DAZN Group) as Managing Director – Emerging Markets Asia driving growth across rights, video distribution and digital advertising. Elliot joined Discovery as Head of Sport in 2016 before deciding to join Grabyo in 2017.

Paul has worked in the Broadcasting Industry since 1987, starting with the (then) Department of Transport and Communications in the Broadcasting Services Division, and going on to work as an engineer in Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australian Information Media, Sony Australia, Seven Network, Nine Network, Foxtel, Nagravision (Singapore), Globecast Australia and Telstra Broadcast Services. Currently, he is the Managing Director of Champas Professional Services – a company that provides engineering, management and project consulting services for The Switch and other companies across the broader broadcasting and media industry. In addition, Paul has been a Manager, Section Board (Australia) at Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers since June 2020.

Suresh Letchmanan, 49 year old born on the 20 January 1973 in Singapore, has been working as the head of Asia Pacific for Borussia Dortmund with special responsibilities for the business sectors Sales, Marketing and Business Development since October 2014. Previous to this task he headed the legal and business affairs of Dentsu Sports Asia as the company’s Vice President.

Maximilian Haschke is the Head of Southeast Asia at FC Bayern and leading the club´s third international office, which recently opened in Bangkok, Thailand. In his role he oversees business expansion, increasing the regional fan base for FC Bayern and raising the brand’s awareness in Southeast Asia, India and Oceania.

Robert Sawatzky is editorial director at Haymarket Media Asia, responsible for editorial reporting and content at its industry-leading titles including marketing & communications publication, Campaign Asia Pacific. Previously in Hong Kong and now based in Singapore, he leads editorial teams across the region, working closely with editors and contributors in Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Mumbai, as well as globally. He is responsible for all editorial strategies across all media platforms including Campaign Asia’s websites in English, Chinese and Japanese, print magazines, email bulletins, social media channels and live events. As a keen observer of global and regional marketing trends. Robert is a frequent speaker and moderator at industry events throughout Asia and on issues related to advertising, marketing, creativity, data and media strategies. He is a veteran business journalist who prior to joining Haymarket was responsible for all content as managing editor at Canada’s largest financial television news network (BNN). Prior lead producer roles at other major media organizations included CNBC (Singapore and Hong Kong), CBC News Network (Toronto) and CTV (Toronto).

With a professional athletic background in Karate, with more than 12 successful years, Nadia joined the global sports movements and studied in one of the most prestigious Masters courses, FIFA Master, and started her journey in the international sports world. After graduating, she joined Juventus, in Italy, and oversaw various projects in branding, marketing and business development. With a profound knowledge in Europe and Asia, Nadia currently works for IMG’s global football division to develop the business in the APAC region

Snipitz Founder, Visionary and CEO, Denny Darmo, is a rare true believer, both in his work and his faith. A child of immigrants, Denny learned early on that the best road to success is the one you pave yourself. His career began on Wall Street in 1994, and soon transitioned into investment banking structuring deals for early and late-round financing in technology companies including Facebook and Twitter. Denny says that the most rewarding part of his career has been “having the opportunity to meet and work with those who seek and support the entrepreneurial spirit”.

Director of Global Communications for Stats Perform, the sports tech leader in data and AI technology, Sarah Butler is a passionate PR and Marketing Communications professional, with over 15 years’ experience in the sports and lifestyle industry. She has previously worked with professional sports teams such as Harlequins and multi-million-pound corporate company ECCO. Alongside her current role at Stats Perform, she is the founder of Sport Business Connected, a company she created to support women working within the sports business industry and, most recently, the co-founder of event series, Breaking Down Barriers.

As the Head of Sports Content and Partnerships of Sportradar, APAC, Ben Turner has over a decade’s experience as a leader in the international sports and technology industries. Ben has overseen organisations such as SportingPulse, Genius Sports and Atrium Sports (Synergy Sports), which he co-founded back in 2019. With Ben’s experience in product creation, strategy, M&A, business development and partnership engagement and passion for sports data and analytics, coaching and technology, he brings a wealth of knowledge into his role of managing partners, establishing repeatable, data-driven practices, and overseeing programs for Sportradar’s local customers. Prior to Sportradar, Ben has won and completed significant projects with FIBA, NBA, FIFA, NCAA, NBL and countless other sporting federations and leagues worldwide, including FIBA LiveStats, FIBA Connected Stadium, FIFA Connect, and NBA Next Generation Stats. Ben holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Sports Coaching and Admin) Honours and a Bachelor of Commerce from Deakin, an MBA from LaTrobe and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. His M&A experience includes the acquisition of companies in Lithuania, Italy, Belgium, and the USA. A major basketball lover, Ben currently serves as a Non-Executive Director for Kilsyth Basketball, Australia’s largest basketball association. Ben is based in Melbourne.

Chris Stone is the Community Lead at SportsPro Media. In his role he is responsible for developing a deeper understanding of the SportsPro audience by maintaining a thorough knowledge of current trends and establishing relationships with senior executives throughout the industry. Additionally Chris is the Head Coach for the Great Britain Women’s American Football National Programme.

John is a highly-experienced sports anchor, who specialises in delivering live and recorded football content for broadcasters ranging from ESPN to Fox Sports, Disney+, Sony Sports, Vidio and SuperSport. He has hosted Premier League, Bundesliga, Champions League and major tournament coverage for clients worldwide, particularly in Asia.

Ivan is an ambitious and talented sports management expert with a Masters in Sports Management from the Johan Cruyff Institute, and is a double degree holder of Business Administration and Sports Management from Ramón Llull, a prestigious university in Spain. He has over 15 years of experience in the Sports industry, with the past 10 years being in Asia. He has succeeded in different roles in FC Barcelona, SportSG, and agencies like Red Card and Dentsu, and is currently heading the Regional Office for SEA, Australia, Japan and South Korea for LaLiga. His extensive experience also included helping global brands such as Toyota, Panasonic and General Motor navigate the intricacies of Sports Marketing.

Ringo joined Talon in August 2020 as Head of Partnerships, responsible for business development and strategic partnership management. Prior to joining Talon, he was Business Development Manager – SEA at FC Barcelona and has been working in the sports and entertainment industry for 5+ years. Ringo is also a keen sportsman, having represented Hong Kong Rugby League national team and coached the Hong Kong Tag national team.

Alex is the CEO and founder of Azarus. Azarus combines blockchain, game tech, and ad tech into the first ad platform for the Metaverse Generation. Our Ad units engage audiences massively & real-time. Alex is a serial entrepreneur and a technologist. He advises companies and invests through various syndicates in the technology sector. He is also an international speaker covering the impact of blockchain in the gaming and ad sector and a TEDx Speaker. When he’s not working, you can find him trail running in the Marin headlands, leading the local elementary school’s engineering club, scuba diving in kelp forests, completing quests, solving puzzles, or bush-hiding in PC, console, and mobile games.

Pete is Co-Founder and CEO of One Future Football, a new digital global football league, backed by some of the most highly regarded investors, brands, and individuals in sport and tech

Prior to 1FF, Pete’s career took him across Premier League and Aussie Rules football teams, and through IMG in Melbourne where he worked across the commercial program at the Australian Open Tennis Grand Slam event. Pete has worked in tech for the last five years and has sold two companies in that time. Pete also mentors start-ups for Techstars – the global accelerator program, focusing on their sports program.

Mailman Group are a full service digital marketing agency, helping the helping the world’s leading sports & esports organisations grow their digital audiences through locally relevant content on social media, to drive commercial value. Duncan’s role involves P&L responsibility for the APAC region, leading business and product development as well as strategic planning for key clients in the region.

Maria has a decade of experience in the sports marketing, technology and data space – with a specialist focus on football data. Based in Singapore, she currently holds a dual-role of managing commercial partnerships in Asia-Pacific, as well as leading business development efforts in South-East Asia for Stats Perform. In her roles, she provides strategic advice to clients across the sports industry on how they can enrich, automate and monetise their content production through data.

Unmish is a recognised name in Asian sports media, technology & investment scene whose worked in content, product, strategy & sales roles with blue chips across the Sport industry value chain – from federations (ICC, BWF), to agencies (IMG/TWI, Lagardere, DDMC Fortis), event promoters (ONE Championship, ESL India) and TV & OTT platforms (BBC, ESPN STAR Sports, Fox, News Corp.). In 2015, Unmish founded PictureBoard, a boutique advisory with Principals in Singapore, London & Mumbai that monetises premium content (Sport, Gaming & Entertainment), established & emerging technologies and institutional investments.

George is a Content Manager at SportsPro leading in the curation of their online and in-person event agendas. He also hosts the weekly SportsPro Podcast exploring the trending news and themes across the world of sports business.

George has a strong background in B2B professional services having worked with KPMG in their marketing, sales and ESG teams before moving to Sports Marketing Agency WePlay in 2020 to oversee their marketing and communications team.

Since moving to SportsPro, George has been passionate about using their position as the largest B2B platform in sports to drive positive change in the industry by providing opportunities to a diverse range of voices and perspectives.

James Miner is CEO at MinerLabs and Video Assure. A digital pioneer, James has led teams across Asia and Silicon Valley holding leadership roles at About.com, ESPN STAR Sports, Fox Sports Asia, Scient, Y&R Advertising and WPP GroupM. James is well known for his pioneering work on Video Streaming and he is Vice Chairman of the SGTECH Digital Transformation Chapter, and Co-chairman of the SGTECH Game Committee.

William Tubbs is the Global Head of Programming at SportsPro. In his role he leads a team responsible for creating and curating SportsPro’s online and in-person event agendas to ensure the most inspiring and innovative sports leaders are sharing their insights. William and his team work closely with key stakeholders across the sports ecosystem to ensure we’re staying innovative to ensure we’re driving the industry’s progress. Additionally, William is keen squash player and an avid fan of Arsenal Football Club.

Andy McClelland is Regional Director at Comcast Technology Solutions, responsible for the commercial and business development activities across the APAC and Sub-Saharan Africa regions. After serving in The Royal Corp of Signals of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces (UK), Andy stepped back into civilian life and spent the next 25 years in senior executive roles for broadcast and media companies, including GatesAir and Harmonic.

Philipp Männer is Senior Director Media Rights & OTT at WRC Promoter GmbH, the rights holder of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC), the FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX), and the FIA European Rallycross Championship (Euro RX). In his role he is responsible for the distribution and commercialization of the media rights portfolio globally and WRC Promoter‘s own OTT platforms. Philipp Männer has 15 years of experience in the sports and media industry where he has worked for companies such as Sportfive, Paramount, and the PGA Tour.

Paul has over 20 years of experience driving international direct Sales/Channel Sales & Alliances across the UK and EMEA/SE Asia regions. Paul joined NewTek in January 2020 to lead and develop NewTek’s APAC footprint, both in terms of headcount and channel program. The NewTek APAC business has seen significant growth both in terms of revenue, employee headcount and channel partners. Newtek provides live video streaming solutions across multiple verticals including Broadcast, Sports, Corporate, Education, House of Worship and many other segments.

Julia Farr is the Lead of Asia Pacific for International & New Business Development for Borussia Dortmund. As part of her role, she oversees Borussia Dortmund’s marketing, business development and youth development across the region. Before moving to Borussia Dortmund’s Singapore office, she was based in their headquarters where she gathered valuable experience and expertise in various fields and departments. Julia specializes in new business development, strategic planning, project management, marketing, media, and communication management as well as coaching and youth development.