Baseball
The Class A South Atlantic League Delmarva Shorebirds promoted ERIC SICHAU to assistant general manager of marketing and BEN POSNER to director of ticket operations; and hired KEVIN ODELL, JOSEPH DELUCIA and CHIP WOYTOWITZ as ticket sales account executives.
Basketball
The Philadelphia 76ers hired ANNELIE SCHMITTEL as vice president of player development. Schmittel was a member of the player engagement staff for the Oakland Raiders.
The Los Angeles Sparks hired DANITA JOHNSON as president and chief operating officer. Johnson was director of business operations for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Colleges
Fresno State hired FRANK PUCHER as senior associate athletic director for external relations. Pucher was deputy athletic director at Southern Utah University.
New Mexico State University promoted NICOLE SACK to assistant athletic director for marketing.
The University of Tulsa promoted KYLE GROOMS to associate athletic director for internal operations.
Facilities
Oak View Group Facilities hired SCOTT ZIMMERMAN as general manager for the UPMC Events Center at Robert Morris University. Zimmerman was director of booking at PPG Paints Arena.
SMG named JAMEY HINES national director for SMG Promotions and BOB SAUTER general manager for the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
Talladega Superspeedway hired JASON PAYNE as director of operations. Payne was race track manager for Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Football
The Detroit Lions hired MIKE DISNER as vice president of football administration. Disner was director of football administration for the Arizona Cardinals.
Gaming
MGM Resorts International hired former Nevada Governor BRIAN SANDOVAL as president of global gaming development.
Golf
The PGA of America promoted SANDY CROSS to chief people officer and ARJUN CHOWDRI to chief innovation officer.
Lacrosse
Major League Lacrosse hired THOMAS JOHNSON as chief digital officer. Johnson was director of digital content for Baseball America.
The Women’s Professional Lacrosse League named RICK ALESSANDRI as strategic adviser and equity investor for the league.
Marketing
Bruin Sport Capital named PETER LAATZ global managing director for IEG. Laatz was formerly executive vice president for Nielsen Sports.
Home Team Sports hired KATIE PARSELS and JAMIE COHEN as account executives. Parsels was an account director for Group Nine Media, and Cohen was a senior video account executive for Google.
The Montag Group promoted KEVIN BELBEY to director of sports broadcasting.
POV Sports Marketing hired GREG COLEMAN as senior vice president. Coleman was formerly vice president of consulting for Lagardère Sports.
Media
Facebook promoted DAN REED to vice president of global sports and media partnerships, and named PETER HUTTON director of global sports partnerships and programming and BRANDON GAYLE director of global sports partnerships and solutions.
Motorsports
Team Penske hired JEFFERSON HODGES as NASCAR team manager. Hodges was general manager and director of competition for Rev Racing.
Olympics
USA Track & Field promoted E. SUSAN HAZZARD to managing director of communications, LORI BIRD to associate director of outreach and grass roots programs, KIMBERLY SIMS to associate director of international teams, ASHLEY MITCHELL to senior manager of marketing and communications, CHELSEY SCHMENK to senior manager of branding, LORI EDWARDS to associate director of accounting and payroll and BEKA SUGGS to high performance programs and finance support manager; and hired SARAH HOLLIS as chief marketing and revenue officer.
Soccer
The Columbus Crew hired TIM BEZBATCHENKO as president. Bezbatchenko was senior vice president of soccer operations and general manager for Toronto FC.
FC Cincinnati hired DENNIS CARROLL as chief operating officer. Carroll was senior vice president of finance for the Philadelphia Union.
FC Dallas promoted MARCO FERRUZZI to director of soccer operations.
Inter Miami hired NIKI BUDALIC as director of soccer operations and KURT SCHMID as technical director.
The USL hired COURT JESKE as executive vice president. Jeske was formerly chief executive officer for USL expansion club Nashville SC.
The USL Indy Eleven hired GREG STREMLAW as chief executive officer. Stremlaw was head of CBC Sports.
Tennis
United States Tennis Association Chief Executive Officer GORDON SMITH announced his retirement, effective Dec. 31.
Awards and Boards
The National Sports Marketing Network named KRISTEN KULIGA, Vanguard Sports Group senior vice president of business development, to its national executive board.
The United States Tennis Association Foundation named CHRIS EVERT chair of the board of directors.
Other
Innovative Partnerships Group (IPG360) hired ALEXANDER LAWRENCE as director of brand valuation and JOEY MAHALIC as a business development consultant.
Powerboat Nationals hired RANDY CLAYPOOLE as director of business development.
To have your personnel announcements included in the People section, please send information and photos to Brandon McClung at 120 W. Morehead St., Suite 310, Charlotte, NC 28202, or email them to careers@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Electronic photos must be a jpg or tiff file for Macintosh, 2.25 inches wide at 300 dpi. Color only, please.
