Joe Henson
Lara Pitaro Wisch
Senior Vice President, Legal and Business Affairs, and General Counsel, MLB Advanced Media
Born: Scarsdale, N.Y.
Education: B.S., human development, Cornell University; J.D., Fordham University
Lara Pitaro Wisch happens to have one of the most powerful figures in sports media as an older brother, ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro.
“I spent a very happy childhood tagging along with him, particularly playing sports since Jimmy is one of the best natural athletes you’ll see anywhere,” Wisch said. “And Jimmy has really been one of the secrets to my success and the best barometer in my world for what is the right answer.”
Pitaro Wisch has her own lengthy record of sports industry accomplishment. With MLBAM since 2004 in a variety of legal roles, she played a key behind-the-scenes part in what baseball’s trailblazing digital arm has done across the online and mobile arenas.
More recently, Pitaro Wisch was a key adviser in the two BAMTech equity transactions, totaling $2.58 billion, in which Disney became the majority owner of the MLBAM spinoff. She also spearheaded the MLB acquisition of Tickets.com in 2005, as well as industrywide ticketing deals with Ticketmaster and eBay/StubHub.
“It’s been a lot of change, but all good change,” Pitaro Wisch said. “There’s a lot happening in the media space, which is ever-evolving, and it’s been really gratifying to be at the forefront of all that change.”
— Eric Fisher
Getting to know...
Networking works best when: I am not thinking about networking, rather building from the relationships forged in my day-to-day professional life.
Misperception of working in sports: That tickets to sporting events grow on self-sustaining trees.
I wish I’d known at my career’s start: Time flies, so don’t forget to look up every once and a while and take it all in. If you are doing interesting and challenging work for an organization you respect, in a sport you love, with people you admire, you have a pretty fantastic gig.
Role of sports in social issues: Sports can speak to our “better angels.” Whether as fans at a sporting event or rooting for our kids at a Little League or Pop Warner game, we revel in the competition, admire the camaraderie and celebrate the spirit of fair play. Sports are a daily reminder that we are more alike than we are different, and we have more in common than in opposition.
