IBM
Ask Monica Ellingson for inspiration, and she doesn’t have to look far at all. Her mother, Shirley Pate, fits that bill.
Pate was an engineer in the 1970s and ’80s, achieving that career along with motherhood in a time when the opportunity to have both was still rare. Pate, in many ways, became a role model. “I have always, and she has always, wanted for me to get even further than she did,” Ellingson said.
Ellingson found an ever-present sounding board through her mom, plus a foundational understanding in technology that she later paired with a forward-looking view toward the fan and user experience.
Now at IBM’s sports and entertainment division, Ellingson oversees the digital platforms and innovations for some of the world’s largest sporting events, like the Masters and Wimbledon. She’s served as the executive producer for Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters for the last eight tournaments, a partnership that’s produced a gold standard of digital fan experiences in the Masters App.
Augusta National and IBM earned Best in Digital Sports Media at the 2021 Sports Business Awards after the debut of My Group, which allowed users to watch every shot of the tournament for a personally curated list of golfers.
Ellingson pointed out that Augusta National is steeped in tradition and beauty, placing a premium on those defining characteristics. And tech, she said, can be difficult to beautify. But the club’s aspirations of being a digital trendsetter let IBM’s projects around the course thrive.
“Representing their brand, that was part of it, which was a challenge, I really enjoyed actually and still enjoy,” she said. “But they’re also very innovative and that’s part of their goal as an organization.” — Ethan Joyce
Monica Ellingson
Practice Lead, IBM Sports and Entertainment, IBM Consulting
Born: Atlanta
Education: Duke University, B.A., philosophy; Georgia Tech, M.S., digital media
Family: Spouse, Mark; children, Emily (17) and Aaron (20)
More about Monica
Something that instantly makes my day better: Playing tennis.
I wish more people understood that … : I’m an action-oriented person. When I identify a problem, I need to act, even if it’s only a small step toward resolution. This is one reason I like working in sports: There’s no time for indecision.
Person in sports business I’d most like to meet: Roger Federer. He was my favorite tennis player.
I wish I’d known at my career’s start: Your own internal voice is a powerful influencer over your current reality and potential future self. This saying from Buddha summarizes this perfectly: “What you think you become. What you feel you attract. What you imagine you create.”
