IMG World Congress Of Sports Begins Today From Los Angeles

The annual IMG World Congress of Sports presented by SportsBusiness Journal/Daily kicks off today at the JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. Live. Morning sessions will include a keynote address from Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz as well as roundtable/panel discussions titled "Rapid-Fire Roundtable: Industry Leaders Weigh in on the Headlines of the Day" and "Brand-Leader Panel: Marketing Strategies that Engage Customers and Build Relationships with the Brand." Sponsors, hosts and providers for the event include AEG, Cisco, Corporate Events Inc., Digitaria, Getty Images, Brand Affinity Technologies, Covington & Burling LLP, Britten, The List, Nixon Peabody LLP, Breeders' Cup, Proskauer, Populous, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, Sporting News Today and SAS. Please check back on our free page for updates from the event.

OPENING EVENT: The festivities began last night with a speakers and VIP dinner at The Conga Room at L.A. Live. Guests included IMG Sports & Entertainment President George Pyne; AEG President & CEO Tim Leiweke; AEG Chair Phil Anschutz and his wife, Nancy; MLS Commissioner Don Garber; Fox Sports Chair David Hill; NHRA drivers Ashley and John Force; NFL CMO Mark Waller; Golden Boy Entertainment President Oscar De La Hoya; Visa Head of Global Sponsorship Management Michael Lynch; Majestic Realty Co. Chair & CEO Ed Roski; Proskauer Rose attorneys Howard Ganz, Joe Leccese and Brad Ruskin; Bank of America Senior VP & Sports Sponsorship Exec Ray Bednar; and several members of the SBD/SBJ "Champions" program to be announced today -- Basketball HOF and USA Basketball Chair Jerry Colangelo, Louisville Arena Authority Chair Jim Host, Pilson Communications President Neal Pilson and Ponturo Management Group CEO Tony Ponturo. Speakers included U.S. bobsled Gold Medal winner Steven Holcomb, who talked about overcoming the challenge of undergoing a procedure to fix a degenerative eye disease in '08. That was followed by a monologue from comedian Tom Arnold.