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People and Pop Culture

People: Executive transactions

Basketball
Jason Cahilly will step down as NBA chief strategic and financial officer, effective June 30, and will serve as a senior adviser to the commissioner. J.B. Lockhart is being promoted to chief financial officer.

Colleges
Louisiana Tech University hired Mark Wagner as associate athletic director and chief financial officer. Wagner was director of business operations and athletics business services coordinator at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Oregon State University and the OSU Foundation hired Jacob Kirkham as assistant athletic director for major gifts-development. Kirkham was a major gift officer for West Virginia University and the Mountaineer Athletic Club.

Siena College hired Ryan Venter as assistant athletic director for development. Venter was the director of major and planned gifts for the Capital District YMCA.

The College of William & Mary named Samantha Huge athletic director, effective May 1. Huge was senior associate athletic director and senior woman administrator at Texas A&M University.

Facilities
Americrown and International Speedway Corp. named Matt Greene director of food and beverage for Talladega Speedway and Krizia Padron catering manager for Homestead-Miami Speedway. Greene was general manager of concessions for Levy Restaurants at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Padron was suite catering manager for Aramark at Quicken Loans Arena.

Marketing

HARTMAN
Learfield named Josh Hartman general manager at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Hartman was director of sales and marketing for General Sports and Entertainment, and director of corporate partnerships for the company’s United Shore Professional Baseball League.

Media
CSN Philadelphia promoted Michelle Murray to vice president of content.

MLB Network promoted Brent Fisher to senior vice president of distribution, affiliate sales and marketing; Erick Vantuyl to senior vice president of business and legal affairs; and Joe Ribando to senior director of distribution, affiliate sales and marketing.

Vox Media promoted Elena Bergeron to editor-in-chief for SB Nation, and Kevin Lockland was shifted to a new role as general manager.

Fantag hired John Stone as chief operating officer.

Grabyo hired Mike Kelley as president of the Americas. Kelley was senior vice president of business development and strategy for NeuLion.

Motorsports
Sunday Group Management hired Maddie Komar as communications coordinator.

Formula One hired Murray Barnett as global head of sponsorship and commercial partnerships and Matthew Roberts as global head of research. Barnett was chief commercial officer for World Rugby Union, and Roberts was head of sports content insight for Sky television.

JR Motorsports hired Justin Bailey director of marketing and communications. Bailey was sports and entertainment marketing manager for MillerCoors.

Multiteam Companies
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment hired Ricky Casady as vice president of box office operations. Casady was director of box office and ticket operations at TD Garden for the Boston Bruins and Delaware North.

Pegula Sports & Entertainment promoted Chris Costanzo to Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres vice president of premium seating, Chris Colleary to Bills vice president of ticket sales and service, Matt Patrone to Bills director of account services, Kelley Van Ness to PS&E director of corporate partnerships, Ashley Meganck to director of corporate sales, Don Heins to director of communications, Chad Buck to senior director of business development for the American Hockey League’s Rochester Americans and Nicole Petix to Americans director of service and development.

Soccer

PYATKOVSKA
The Los Angeles Football Club hired Heather Brooks Karatz as executive vice president of legal and general counsel and Otto Benedict as senior vice president and general manager of facilities. Karatz was general counsel and senior vice president for Independent Sports and Entertainment, and Benedict was vice president of operations for Choura Events. The club also hired Natalya Pyatkovska as an account manager for partnership development. Pyatkovska was executive vice president of business operations and partnerships for the NBA D-League’s former Bakersfield Jam.

ALTCHEK
Major League Soccer and Soccer United Marketing promoted Charles Altchek to vice president of the commissioner’s office, Brent Delgado to senior director of operations, Evan Levine to senior director of business development, Ian Campbell to director of club services, Jennifer Hansen to director of social responsibility, Nan Moses to director of media solutions, James Ruth to director of property and commercial development, Matt Doyle to senior writer, Ryan Eddy to senior manager of business development, Jordan Feinauer to senior manager of sponsored content, Jeremy Fix to senior manager of player relations, Meredith Krill to senior manager of finance, Ali NiCastro to senior manager of partnership marketing and Megan Ryan to senior manager of events.

DENNISON
Also promoted were Sean Dennison to vice president of communications, Bethany Tressler to senior manager of human resources, Natalie Akula to manager of medical, Jeff Lapaix to manager of media solutions, Nicolas Rosano to senior editor, Will Young to manager of media solutions, Ben Baer to new media editor, Angad Banga to senior coordinator of property and commercial development, Annie Brooks to senior coordinator of events, Kevin Christman to senior coordinator of digital club services, Tanya Downey to senior coordinator of partnership marketing, Jamie Duguid to senior analyst of business development, Haley Eklund to senior coordinator of partnership marketing, Sean Elliott to senior coordinator of international operations, Joey Freebairn to senior coordinator of security and operations and Amanda Flynn to senior coordinator of domestic operations.

Also promoted were Paola Garcia to senior coordinator of international communications, Kyle Green to senior coordinator of video features, Shin Ikeda to senior coordinator of media solutions, George Ivanoff to senior producer/editor of gaming and custom content, Dana Korr to senior coordinator of business development, Chris Lebo to senior coordinator of player competition, Jen Luck to senior coordinator of events, Alexandra Morrison to senior coordinator of international operations, Matt Ratajczak and Nicole Santiago to senior coordinator of player relations and competition, and Christina Seixeiro to senior coordinator of benefits.

Sporting Goods and Apparel
Columbia Sportswear hired Joe Vernachio as president of its Mountain Hardwear brand. Vernachio was The North Face global vice president of product and operations.

Under Armour hired Clay Dean as chief innovation officer. Dean was design director for Global Advanced Design at General Motors.

Other
Eric Petrosinelli stepped down as general manager for sports at Zebra Technologies.

Experience hired Sam Cole as director of corporate partnerships. Cole was the senior director of corporate partnerships for the New Orleans Pelicans.

Glory Kickboxing hired Randy Rea as director of sponsorship. Rea was manager of action sports and motorsports for Wasserman.

STECKLOW
Verizon hired Rob Stecklow as head of sponsorships and events. Stecklow was assistant vice president of sports marketing for DirecTV and AT&T.

Tough Mudder promoted Jon Barker to senior vice president of operations and event production.

Awards and Boards
The U.S. Soccer Federation named Val Ackerman, Big East Conference commissioner, an independent director on its board.

USA Triathlon named triathlete Erin Storie to its board of directors as an athlete representative.

The Stadium Managers Association Foundation elected Todd Stewart president, Liz Zimmer vice president and Rusty Lenners secretary and treasurer.

The Stadium Managers Association elected Joe Abernathy as a stadium manager director, Justin Durfey as college director and Matt Kenny as stadium manager director. Elected to the association’s board were Tony Pereira, president; Troy Brown, vice president; and Matt Kastel, secretary and treasurer.

The American Bar Association Sports Division of the Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries named Dan Werly vice chair and Nicole Duckett Fricke an advisory committee member. Onye Ikwuakor, Meghan Kane and Maacah Scott were named standing committee members.

People news
To have your personnel announcements included in the People section, please send information and photos to Brandon McClung at 120 W. Morehead St., Suite 310, Charlotte, NC 28202, or email them to careers@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Electronic photos must be a jpg or tiff file for Macintosh, 2.25 inches wide at 300 dpi. Color only, please. News items may also be sent via fax to (704) 973-1401. If you have questions, call (704) 973-1425.


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