Segal said he is focusing on launching and establishing the L.A. Valiant brand in the Overwatch LeagueARI SEGAL
Name: Ari Segal
Position: Immortals President & COO
Where I’m from: Tenafly, N.J.
Where I call home: L.A.
Focusing on right now: Launching and establishing the L.A. Valiant brand in the Overwatch League and working with our partners at Activision Blizzard, and the other member clubs, to make the inaugural season of Overwatch League a big success.
Best advice: The best advice I’ve ever been given is either “take (Celtics Managing Partner) IRV GROUSBECK’s class at Stanford” or anything Grousbeck said in class. The guy is a management guru at the highest level.
Execs I admire: From afar, former Disney CEO MICHAEL EISNER. He transformed Disney from a very sleepy parks company into a multimedia, technology behemoth. Up close, my professional mentor is Ducks CEO MICHAEL SCHULMAN because he always does the right thing for the long-term interest of the franchise, and is always thinking about ways to integrate philanthropy into every aspect of the business
A must for a new hire: Attention to detail and a sense of humor -- two things that don’t necessarily go together.
First thing in the morning: Before I even put my glasses on, I look at the N.Y. Post on my phone. I don’t know why.
Must-have music: THE BEATLES
Best book I read last year: "Red Notice: A True Story Of High Finance, Murder And One Man's Fight For Justice“ by BILL BROWDER.
Talking tech: I’m really interested in watching what happens as the BAMTech and Fox acquisitions get fully integrated into Disney as the company releases its ESPN+ product and later its broader Disney-branded OTT product. The combination of the BAMTech technology, Disney content and applications regionally through the Fox RSNs is going to be a really important development in the industry and have broad implications.
How I unwind: My guilty pleasure is “BIG BROTHER” on CBS, but day-to-day, cooking with my wife.
Day in the life: Having an Overwatch League team with a brand that is separate from Immortals is not different than what happens in traditional sports all the time. AEG owns and operates the Kings and the Galaxy, and the Kings and the Galaxy play different sports. Each of those sports have different fan bases. There’s an organizational DNA of what it means to be part of AEG that’s injected into both of those brands, but because those brands are intending to reach different fan bases, it makes sense that they’re depicted and represented in different aesthetic and name brands. The same is true for us.
