Baseball
Major League Baseball promoted Patrick Houlihan to senior vice president and deputy general counsel for labor relations, Jamie Leece to senior vice president of games and virtual reality and Barbara McHugh to senior vice president of marketing.
Little League International hired Aaron Torres as west region assistant director.
Basketball
The National Basketball Association hired Derek Chang as chief executive officer for NBA China and Michele Carr as vice president within the league’s team marketing and business operations division. Chang was head of international lifestyle channels for Scripps Networks Interactive, and Carr was group managing director of partnerships for the National Football League.
Colleges
The Missouri Valley Conference hired Katie Mucci as assistant commissioner for new media and technology. Mucci was assistant commissioner for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Bucknell University named Jermaine Truax athletic director. Truax was deputy athletic director at Loyola University Chicago.
Colgate University named Nicki Moore vice president and athletic director. Moore was senior associate athletic director and senior woman administrator at the University of North Carolina.
The University of Delaware hired Jen Vining-Smith as senior associate athletic director for compliance and governance and senior woman administrator. Vining-Smith was associate athletic director for compliance and recruiting at UCLA.
Eastern Washington University named Lynn Hickey athletic director. Hickey had been serving as interim athletic director.
Edinboro University Athletic Director Bruce Baumgartner will move into a new role with the university as assistant vice president for university advancement.
Florida Atlantic University hired Ryan Alpert as deputy athletic director. Alpert was executive associate athletic director at the University of Missouri.
The University of Houston hired Pam Kehoe as associate athletic director of marketing and fan engagement. Kehoe was director of marketing for Greensheet Media.
James Madison University promoted Jason Krech to director of athletic communications.
Kennesaw State University hired David Beall as assistant athletic director for communications and broadcasting. Beall was associate director of communications at the University of Arkansas.
Louisiana Tech University promoted Paul Kabbes to senior associate athletic director for external operations.
Northeastern University promoted Regina Sullivan to deputy athletic director for internal affairs and senior woman administrator.
Northern Illinois University hired Courtney Vinson as senior associate athletic director for sports administration. Vinson was associate athletic director for sports services and senior woman administrator at the University of Memphis.
The University of the Pacific named Janet Lucas athletic director. Lucas was executive associate athletic director and senior woman administrator at the University of California, Riverside.
The University of Pittsburgh hired Bethany Wagner as senior associate athletic director. Wagner was an attorney with the law firm of Jackson Lewis P.C.
Rutgers University hired Carly Northup as senior associate athletic director for development and associate vice president for athletics development. Northup was assistant athletic director for development and external engagement at Virginia Tech.
Facilities
Legends promoted Ben Martin to vice president of partnerships for Legends International.
Football
The Carolina Panthers promoted Steve Argeris to deputy general counsel and director of compliance, Joe LaBue to director of ticket sales and premium services, Jennifer Grubb to manager of payroll and benefits and Erin Collums to marketing coordinator.
The Seattle Seahawks named Courtney Moore director of the Sea Gals.
The Atlanta Super Bowl Host Committee named Jen Johns vice president of marketing and communications. Johns was director of marketing and brand for AMB Sports & Entertainment.
Gator Bowl Sports named Jamie Shelton chairman and Rich Thompson chairman-elect.
The Valero Alamo Bowl named Michael Kiolbassa chair of the board of directors, Brad Baron chair-elect, Derrick Fox president, Clay Jett treasurer and Randy Cain secretary.
Hockey
The Carolina Hurricanes named Paul Krepelka vice president of hockey operations. Krepelka was director of player development for the ECHL Norfolk Admirals.
Horse Racing
Churchill Downs hired Tim Bryant as president and general manager of Derby City Gaming.
Marketing
The Aspire Group promoted Kevin Hill to team leader of group sales and Dillon Del Rosso to team leader of ticket sales and development at the University of Maryland; and hired Tramayne Russell and Evan Gates as sales directors, Kyne Sheehy as sales manager, Zachary Mandleblatt, Vy Quach, Marcus Wilson, Bryson Dorsey, Jonathan Salgado, Kipp Hartung, Andrew Park, Gisele Roberts, Cameron Mason, Doug Ashbeck, Kenneth Siemers, Edward Baker, Gisela Bradley, Lamont Hannah, Rumeal Mosley, Alec Coughlin, Tevin Lanier, Landry Smith, Tyler Jones and Whitney Tipton as sales consultants and Kay Sturniolo as human resources manager for the company; Shane Stout as manager of ticket sales and service at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay; Keegan Kuypers as sales and service consultant at Eastern Michigan University; Terrell Wilson as sales consultant at Western Michigan University; Hayden Faust as sales and service consultant at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley; Sean Banks as new business consultant at the University of Maryland; and Daniel Dwyer as sales consultant at the University of Connecticut.
Athletes First launched its new sales agency, Athletes First Partners, and hired Jim O’Connell as president, Jene Elzie as chief growth officer, Sean Downes as vice president of sponsorship sales and Matt Shulman as vice president of platform sales and client services.
Collegiate Sports Management Group hired Kyle Zhang as a sponsorship and business analyst.
The Huddle Up Group hired Caroline Brown as director of west region and research projects. Brown was a project coordinator for the Seattle Sports Commission.
Impression Sports & Entertainment hired Dan Lentz as vice president of naming rights and partnership development. Lentz was director of partnership sales for Learfield’s Cal Bears Sports Properties.
Media
Bill Simmons Media Group promoted Geoff Chow to president in addition to his role as chief operating officer, Sean Fennessey to chief content officer in addition to his role as editor in chief of The Ringer, Chris Ryan to editorial director of all Ringer content, Mallory Rubin to executive editor of The Ringer and Juliet Litman to head of production of all Ringer content.
LiveXLive Media hired Michael Zemetra as chief financial officer. Zemetra was divisional chief financial officer for the business cloud division for j2 Global.
NBC Sports Philadelphia hired Travis Hughes as director of digital content. Hughes was editor of NHL brands for SB Nation and partnership manager for The Ringer.
Nielsen promoted Paul Shaver to vice president of Nielsen Entertainment Canada, music and sports.
Tennis Channel hired Irv Schulman as senior vice president and national sales manager, Marisusan Trout as vice president of advertising sales and Christina Tesauro as an account executive.
Multiteam Companies
Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment hired Mike Neligan as vice president of global partnerships, Luisa Mendoza-Chavez as director of global tourism development and Ben Stewart as director of business analytics. Neligan was vice president of sales and marketing solutions for Excel Sports Management, Mendoza-Chavez was director of tourism development for NYC & Co. and Stewart was product operations manager for DraftKings.
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment promoted Josh Kroenke to vice chairman for KSE and KSE UK.
Olympics
USA Hockey hired Kara Deschenes as director of human resources.
Sporting Goods and Apparel
Columbia Sportswear hired Mary Ellen Glynn as director of corporate communications and Sara Bradshaw as corporate communications manager. Snow Burns was hired as global vice president of marketing for Columbia’s Mountain Hardwear brand.
Reebok hired Melanie Boulden as vice president of marketing. Boulden was senior vice president of global marketing for Crayola.
Awards and Boards
Churchill Downs named Alex Rankin chairman of the board of directors and Karole Lloyd and William Carstanjen as class I directors.
The College Football Playoff named University of Texas President Gregory Fenves to its board of managers.
Other
Drug Free Sport hired Kate Winkler as a collector development program manager.
Endeavor named Courtney Braun head of legal affairs for its representation businesses.
Stats promoted Ryan Paterson to chief global officer.
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