Magna Entertainment Corp. (MEC) appointed former EchoStar President & COO MICHAEL NEUMAN to its BOD and named him CEO, succeeding Chair FRANK STRONACH, who has served as interim CEO since March ’06. For several months, Neuman has been an advisor to Stronach on MEC’s strategic and operational priorities. In addition, MEC also appointed CHARLIE WILLIAMS to its BOD and has forwarded a letter to NASDAQ indicating that the Audit Committee of MEC’s BOD now has at least three independent directors, as required by NASDAQ (MEC).
EXECS: ANC Sports Enterprises named MICHAEL SANTO to the newly-created position of COO and MICHAEL MILLER CFO. Santo served as a financial consultant to ANC Sports before being appointed to the Board of Managers in December ’06. Prior to joining ANC, Santo was President & CEO of Banc of America Investment Services. Miller previously served as Managing Dir for the worldwide commercial and industrial finance operations of DC Capital Services, an operating subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler (ANC)....Former West Ham United Chair TERRY BROWN has resigned from the club’s BOD. Brown “will retain his title of honorary life-president” (LONDON TIMES, 2/28).... Mt. Holly Club, a private luxury ski and golf resort in Utah, named Olympic Gold Medalist TED LIGETY Dir of Skiing Operations (Mt. Holly Club).
MEDIA: Versus named RYAN DONOVAN VP/Marketing. Most recently, Donovan was VP/Marketing at N.Y.-based Shepardson, Stern + Kaminsky, where he served as marketing and branding consultant to Anheuser-Busch, Bright House Networks, Citibank, Lance Armstrong Foundation and Time Warner Cable (Versus)....The Phillies named JIM JACKSON as host of the team’s pregame and postgame shows, a role handled last year by SCOTT FRANZKE, who will be doing play-by-play exclusively this season. Jackson will continue his TV play-by-play role with the Flyers (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 2/28).
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