Nearly a year after joining PBR as Exec Chair, JEFFREY POLLACK has "left the organization and stepped down from its board," according to Tripp Mickle of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The former World Series of Poker Commissioner stepped aside in order to "concentrate on Federated Sports & Gaming, a new professional poker league he’s launching with the support of the Palms Casino." Spire Capital, which bought PBR in '07, brought on Pollack in "hopes that he might become the organization’s CEO, but Pollack never relocated from California to Pueblo, Colo., where PBR is located, and he always saw his role as more of a consultant than a full-time executive." Pollack spent the last year "analyzing the organization’s business, crafting a new media strategy and assisting in the hiring of key executives" like CEO JIM HAWORTH and CMO DOCKERY CLARK. One of Pollack’s "key initiatives was revamping how PBR is covered on TV." He hired former NBC Exec Producer DAVID NEAL to "lead that effort." Spire Capital partner RICK PATTERSON declined to discuss whether Pollack will retain an ownership stake in PBR. Spire "doesn’t plan to immediately fill the vacated executive chairman role" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/25 issue).
