Kevin O’Grady and Doug Hall have joined marketing agency Ascendent Sports Group to oversee two new areas of business for the company.
The duo joined the firm earlier this summer. Ascendent is a division of the RSE Ventures holding company, co-owned by Stephen Ross and Matt Higgins.
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HALL
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O’GRADY
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O’Grady is overseeing a new event management unit for Ascendent. He comes to Ascendent after 10 years at architecture firm Populous, where he worked on event design and planning for Super Bowls, NCAA Final Fours and the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games.
O’Grady said he plans to hire and oversee a staff of between 12 and 15 employees for the new segment. Potential areas of business include Formula One and the Drone Racing League. That nascent league received a $1 million investment from RSE Ventures in August. Earlier this year, Ross expressed interest in buying F1.
“That’s a massive pursuit that we are all cheering for,” O’Grady said.
Hall is overseeing a new consulting unit for Ascendent. Previously, he was vice president and group director at Team Epic, where he led strategy, activation and negotiation for a roster of corporate clients that included Mars, FedEx, Samsung and Expedia.
He said he does not have a predetermined staff size for the consulting business.
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BRENNFLECK
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Bob Brennfleck, president and CEO of Ascendent, said the new events and consulting segments complement Ascendent’s prime property representation business. He added that the company’s revenue is up by a double-digit percentage amount compared to what it was at this time last year, and that the two new units are each expected to generate annual revenue in the six to seven figures by next year.
Brennfleck said Ascendent’s decision to go with Hall and O’Grady to lead the two new units is based on three factors: expertise, reputation and cultural fit.
Hall and O’Grady both report to Brennfleck, and their operations are based out of Ascendent’s New York headquarters.
HJ Mai is assistant managing editor of SportsBusiness Daily Global.
