Dan Reed
Age: 39
Company: Facebook
Title: Head of global sports partnerships
Where born: Ann Arbor, Mich.
Education: Northwestern University (B.A., economics and American studies), Harvard Business School (MBA)
Family: Wife, Afia Asamoah; son, Robeson (1)
Favorite way to unwind: A nice dinner out with my wife, or watching a great game.
Causes supported: I generally love educating young kids who dream of being pro athletes about other awesome (and much more likely) career options in sports.
Most thrilling/adventurous thing I’ve ever done: Raising my son thus far.
Person in the industry I’d most like to meet: Sepp Blatter.
If I could change jobs with anyone for a day, it would be: Stephen Curry.
2015 will be a good year if: My family is happy and healthy.
CHRISTOPHE WU
hen Dan Reed explains his new gig as head of global sports partnerships at Facebook to old colleagues, they get the sports part and they get the Facebook part, but they often don’t get how they fit together.
“I have [those conversations] often,” said Reed, who joined the social network giant in August
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after 10 years with the NBA. “And people are always very surprised — and pleasantly so — at how valuable Facebook can be in sports.
“After I explain to them that it’s the largest community of sports fans and the largest social media outlet and the primary second screen [when people are watching sports], then they understand it. And then the wheels start turning.”
Reed’s background helps him approach Facebook from the perspective of his potential advertisers: the leagues, teams, networks and athletes who are looking for efficient ways to reach and engage fans. In seven years as president of the NBA Development League, Reed remade the structure of the league, pushing for increased investment by NBA owners in their D-League affiliates. Now, Reed thinks about the priorities of teams and leagues as he walks through the way Facebook can position itself to work with those who want to reach its audience. More than 650 million users have “liked” a sports-related page. More than 350 million were engaged on Facebook during the FIFA World Cup. He reminds them that Facebook can help them sell more tickets, increase sponsorship revenue, increase their fan bases globally and drive awareness for broadcasts.
“They may not understand exactly how to do that,” Reed said, “but now they understand that’s possible.”
— Bill King
