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People and Pop Culture

People: Executive transactions

Baseball
Little League International promoted April Meehleder to Little League western region director. Meehleder replaces Dave Bonham, who retired.

The Detroit Tigers promoted Chad Crunk to director of media relations.

The Miami Marlins hired Gary Denbo as vice president of scouting and player development. Denbo was vice president of player development for the New York Yankees.

The Milwaukee Brewers promoted Karl Mueller to vice president of player personnel, Matt Kleine to director of baseball operations and Scott Campbell to special assignment scout.

Basketball

JOHNSON
The NBA named retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson senior vice president and head of referee operations.

Quicken Loans Arena and the Cleveland Cavaliers promoted Jason Hillman to basketball chief of staff and team counsel, Brandon Jirousek to vice president of digital and web services, Holly Yanak to vice president of community relations and player programs, and Hallie Yavitch to vice president of event booking.

The Los Angeles Lakers hired Jason Rosenfeld as director of basketball analytics. Rosenfeld was director of basketball analytics for the NBA.

College
Eastern Michigan University hired Andy Rowdon as senior associate athletic director for external affairs. Rowdon was assistant athletic director for promotions and fan engagement at Texas Tech University.

Hofstra University promoted Jay Artinian to deputy athletic director, Cindy Lewis to senior associate athletic director for business affairs and senior woman administrator, Chrissy Arnone to associate athletic director for fan engagement, Rachel August to associate athletic director for finance and administration, Ryan Watson to assistant athletic director for facilities and events, Rachelle Fabre to assistant athletic director for student-athlete services and life skills development, and Alyssa Morales Kelly to associate athletic director for NCAA education and compliance services. Samantha Hegmann was hired as assistant athletic director for NCAA education and compliance services.

Louisiana State University hired Judy Willson as associate communications director and Chelsey Chamberlain as assistant communications director. Willson was assistant commissioner of strategic communications for the Mountain West Conference, and Chamberlain was associate director of athletic communications at the University of New Mexico.

Johns Hopkins University hired Rick Romyn as associate athletic director for business operations. Romyn was assistant athletic director of athletics for administration at Drexel University.

Sacred Heart University hired Ajah Hawley-Alexander as assistant director of athletic communications. Hawley-Alexander was sports information assistant at Hartwick College.

Seattle University hired Eric Guttorp as assistant athletic director for marketing and fan engagement and Leslie Elison as director of corporate partnerships. Guttorp was assistant director of marketing outreach at the University of Washington, and Elison was U.S. senior partnerships manager for the Movember Foundation.

Facilities

MOSER
HAWKINS
Auto Club Speedway promoted Jason Hawkins to manager of ticketing.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway hired Steve Moser as senior manager of business development.

Michigan International Speedway hired Shawn Fox as vice president of sales. Fox was regional director of sales for the MLive Media Group.

Football
NFL Media hired Bill McCullough as vice president and creative director. McCullough was executive producer for GoPro Entertainment.

WORLEY
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired Jessica Worley as vice president of corporate development. Worley was vice president of corporate partnerships for the Chicago Fire.

Golf
The PGA of Canada named Kevin Thistle chief executive officer.

Hockey
The NHL hired Joseph Mangano as senior director of national retail sales and marketing.

The Los Angeles Kings hired Stephen Henderson as coordinator of game and event presentation and operations, Annie Merovich as manager of game and event production and operations, and David Bretto as video editor and animator.

Marketing
Bespoke Sports & Entertainment hired Hannah Overholt as account coordinator in the agency’s VIP hospitality and experiences group.

Learfield hired Temple Weiss as chief administrative officer. Weiss was chief financial officer for Centennial Real Estate Co.

KO Sports named former NHL player Adam Foote director of player development.

AEG promoted Michele Kajiwara to senior vice president of premium sales and services.

Media

WYSHYNSKI
ESPN promoted Lee Fitting to vice president of college sports and hired Greg Wyshynski as a reporter and analyst for NHL content across its platforms. Wyshynski was editor-in-chief of the Puck Daddy blog on Yahoo Sports.

Fox Sports promoted Lindsay Amstutz to senior vice president and general manager of its Southern California RSNs: FS West, Prime Ticket and FS San Diego.

NBC Sports Chicago promoted Kevin Cross to vice president of content and Jessica Felten to director of marketing.

Soccer
Atlanta United promoted Paul McDonough to vice president of soccer operations and Carlos Bocanegra to technical director and vice president.

The United Soccer League’s Nashville SC hired Mike Jacobs as technical director. Jacobs was assistant technical director for Sporting Kansas City.

Other
Creative services company and tech investor Big Block hired Ed Tomasi as managing director of its esports division. Tomasi was a vice president for Turtle Entertainment.

LAMBRIGHT
The Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame named Jim Lambright executive director. Lambright is the owner of the Tactical Media Group marketing firm.

Awards and Boards
The Eastern College Athletic Conference named Bob Driscoll, Providence College athletic director, to its board of directors.

Spotify named Heidi O’Neill, Nike president of direct to consumer, to its board of directors.

The James H. Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon named Melissa Pine, WTA Asia Pacific vice president and WTA Finals tournament director, to its advisory board.

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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