2019 Sports Business Awards emcee Tracy Wolfsonmarc bryan-brown
Quotes from winners’ speeches
“We liken ourselves to a global sports bar. It’s an open bar, of course, and that bar is open because of you all.”
— TJ Adeshola, head of U.S. sports for Twitter, while accepting the Best in Mobile Fan Experience award
“Incredibly, over the last five years, Atlanta United’s average crowd of about 52,000 puts us 10th in the world, ahead of global powerhouses like Liverpool and my former club Tottenham Hotspur. Couldn’t resist that dig.”
— Darren Eales, Atlanta United president
“We put on our Super Bowl every day for 14 days. And to be recognized by our peers, what could be better than that?”
— Gordon Smith, CEO of the USTA after the U.S. Open Tennis Championships won Sports Event of the Year
“I was beginning to feel like Susan Lucci.”
— Elizabeth Lindsey, president of brands and properties for Wasserman, which won for Best in Corporate Consulting, Marketing and Client Services
“Winning in front of all your friends, in a business as competitive as any, is something everyone should experience — just not necessarily in this category.”
— Paul Danforth, CAA Sports global head of sales, after winning for Property Consulting, Sales and Client Services
“Entering an industry like sports is not an easy thing. We did our best to enter in a way that was elegant and we thought really enhanced the industry as a whole. We tried hard to be an important part of the industry.”
— Lance Evans, corporate vice president of entertainment and sports marketing for MGM Resorts, which won for Sports Breakthrough of the Year
“I think through sports we have the ability to bring people together, increasingly people on a global basis together, to frankly do what governments in many cases are no longer willing or able to do.”
— NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, accepting for Sports League of the Year
Best in Digital Sports Media
ESPN+
Best in Sports Event and Experiential Marketing
CSM LeadDog
Best in Mobile Fan Experience
Twitter
Best in Sports Technology
L.A. Clippers & Second Spectrum: CourtVision
Sports Event of the Year
U.S. Open Tennis Championships
Best Talent Representation of the Year
Endeavor
Athletic Director of the Year
Mitch Barnhart, University of Kentucky
Best in Sports Social Media
Gritty
Sports Breakthrough of the Year
MGM Resorts
Best in Property Consulting, Sales and Client Services
CAA Sports
Sports Sponsor of the Year
Anheuser-Busch InBev
Sports Facility of the Year
Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Sports Team of the Year
Atlanta United FC
Best in Corporate Consulting, Marketing and Client Services
Wasserman
Best in Sports Media
Fox Sports
Sports League of the Year
NBA
Sports Executive of the Year
Don Garber
Lifetime Achievement
Tim Finchem
Celebration of Service
PowerPlay NYC
