SSAC

The Sports Learning Curve: Why Teams are Slow to Learn and Adapt

Daryl Morey – General Manager, Houston Rockets

 

Bill James – Statistician

 

Sashi Brown – Chief Planning & Operations Officer, Monumental Sports & Entertainment

 

Dick Thaler (Moderator) – Nobel Prize Winning Economist, University of Chicago - Booth School of Business

 

Let’s face it, despite decades of data and statistical analysis to lean on, players, coaches and GMs alike continue to fall into predictable behavioral traps when it comes to decision making – whether it’s wasting timeouts, being overly conservative on 4th down, or overpaying for a high draft pick. Hear from a Nobel Prize winning economist, a baseball historian and statistician, an NBA General Manager and a seasoned sports executive as they discuss and debate some of the most common decision making pitfalls made by teams and how they can be avoided.

Changing Sports: Beyond Ownership

Mitch Lasky – Co-Owner, LAFC

 

Scott O'Neil – CEO, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment

 

Wyc Grousbeck – Lead Owner and Governor, Boston Celtics

 

Warren Zola (Moderator) – Executive Director, Boston College Chief Executives Club

 

While wins and losses are paramount, learn how owners and team leaders of some of sports’ most beloved teams – Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, and the emerging celeb-favorite Los Angeles FC – are extending their sports property investments in creative and meaningful ways. From incubators to esports investments to the creation of funds around sports, this panel explores how owners are leveraging the brand to other business areas as well as to community impact. This panel will highlight the hidden challenges of an owner, how long-tenured executives drive an owner’s vision, and how the landscape of sports-business is evolving.

Investing with the Bulls: Wall Street Analytics in Sports

Steve Pagliuca – Co-Chair/Managing General Partner, Bain Capital

 

Josh Harris – Owner, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment

 

Eric Chemi (Moderator) – Sports Business Reporter, CNBC

 

Not only has the popularity of sports investing increased in recent years, but the value of sports franchises has grown by 3-5x in the past decade. Learn how industry leaders, Josh Harris, Co-Founder of Apollo Global Management, and Steve Pagliuca, Co-Chairman of Bain Capital, successfully turned their financial investing expertise towards sports investing. With returns of 8-10x in their initial investments in the Sixers and Celtics, respectively, both will articulate their shared principles for success that translate across industries. In addition, they’ll touch on the rationale for acquiring a team, the unique opportunities in each league, the additional sports assets they maintain in their portfolio, and the new growth areas they’re interested in pursuing.

No Industry is Safe: The Opioid Epidemic in Sports and Society

Ryan Leaf – Analyst, ESPN & Former NFL Player

 

Seth Moulton – Congressman, United States House of Representatives

 

Corbin Petro – CEO & Co-Founder, Eleanor Health

 

Stephanie Wittels Wachs (Moderator) – Chief Creative Officer & Co-Founder, Lemonada Media

 

Addiction is now the leading cause of death in America for those under 50. The opioid epidemic has touched all facets of society over the past two decades, with the sports world at greater risk due to heightened exposure to prescription painkillers. This recent public health crisis has broadened the discourse to explore the underlying mental health issues regarding substance abuse and addiction in general, while acknowledging how pervasive addiction is across all walks of life. This panel will shed more visibility into the prevalence of substance abuse and the lessons sports can learn from other industries, data analytics, and public policy leaders.

Pass the Secret Sauce: Learning Across Sports

Robert Eenhoorn – General Director, AZ Alkmaar

 

Joe Sill – Analytics Consultant, Washington Wizards

 

Luke Bornn – VP of Analytics, Sacramento Kings

 

Monte McNair – Assistant General Manager, Houston Rockets

 

Tom Haberstroh (Moderator) – NBA Insider, NBC Sports

 

Athletes, coaches, analysts, and executives have remained siloed in their respective sports for decades. However, there are advantages that can be gained by understanding and adopting best practices from other sports, which has been manifested in non-traditional hires and new ways of operating. This panel brings together experienced leaders with multi-faceted backgrounds to share how they applied learnings from one sport to another and how this type of thinking will evolve moving forward.

A New Arena: Careers After Sports

Justin Tuck – VP, Goldman Sachs & Former Player, NFL

 

Shawn Johnson East – Former Olympic Gold Medalist

 

Andy Roddick – Former Professional Tennis Player

 

Metta World Peace – Former NBA Player

 

Michele Steele (Moderator) – Studio Anchor & Reporter, ESPN

 

A professional athlete’s lifepath after retiring can be as unpredictable as their career between the lines. So what brings an Olympic gold medalist, Super Bowl champion, NBA Finals winner, and world No. 1 tennis player to the same stage in Boston? Learn what makes these successful athletes tick and what excites them about their new arenas. Panelists will share how they think about business decisions and opportunities, and how their playing days have impacted their post-sports life.

The Path to Greatness

Sue Bird – Point Guard, Seattle Storm

 

Larry Fitzgerald – Wide Receiver, Arizona Cardinals

 

Ameeth Sankaran (Moderator) – CEO, Religion of Sports

 

Sports are mythic, and a backdrop for life. What does it take to become the greatest of all time? What does it take to sustain it? How is this different based on individual and make-up? Join Religion of Sports CEO, Ameeth Sankaran, to learn how they uncover and bring to life this mythical goal. “The Path to Greatness” panel will highlight both brilliant athleticism and more importantly, share life lessons that come from sports – physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally. Sue Bird and Larry Fitzgerald will weigh in on their paths, learnings, and what remains to be done. Content from other Religion of Sports athletes’ stories will be woven in to uniquely share nuances by sport and subject.

Save the Data: The Future of Data & Technology

Shelley Pisarra – EVP of Global Insights & Strategy, Wasserman

 

Matt Smith – SVP of CRM, Fanatics

 

Kat Frederick – CMO, Ticketmaster

 

Kelly Ungerman (Moderator) – Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company

 

Technology has transformed how sports organizations engage with their fans and collect information. Investing in new tools, acquiring new companies, and taking a “test and learn” approach to understanding customer needs have been critical to the evolution of key industry players. Learn how organizations think about data creation when building new products, how they incorporate that information into their broader ecosystem, and how analyzing vast customer information supports the increasing demand for the instant gratification of a personalized digital experience. Additionally, panelists will discuss how the new data privacy laws are creating shifts to technology and creation of new processes. Executives from the leading ticketing, wearables, marketing, and merchandise organizations will share how they are leveraging technology to meet changing customers needs, regulations, and data capture.

Innovating for the Next Generation of America's Pastime

Greg Cain – VP of Baseball Data, MLB

 

Caleb Weinstein – Director for Sport, Media, & Entertainment, Google Cloud

 

Lou DePaoli – EVP & CRO, New York Mets

 

Jason Gaetdke – CTO, MLB

 

Cristina Daglas (Moderator) – Senior Deputy Editor, ESPN.com

 

America’s pastime has seen attendance drop in recent years, yet the league set digital ticketing and consumption records in 2019. Learn how Major League Baseball and its teams are leaning into data analytics and machine learning to increase entertainment value and accessibility for fans around the world. This panel will dive deep into how technology is driving innovation across the league and the fan experience and helping grow the game for the next generation. Hear from Google Cloud’s Director for Sport, Major League Baseball’s CTO and VP of Baseball Data, and the Mets’ Chief Revenue Officer about how they are driving the game forward.

Start Me Up: Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Nate Silver – Editor-in-Chef, FiveThirtyEight

 

Dean Kamen – Founder, FIRST

 

Alexis Ohanian – Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Initialized Capital & Co-Founder, Reddit

 

Jason Robins – CEO & Co-Founder, DraftKings

 

Jessica Gelman (Moderator) – CEO, Kraft Analytics Group

 

Reddit, the Segway, Daily Fantasy Sports, and predicting presidential elections. Over the past decade, meet the inventors and entrepreneurs who have created lasting change affecting how consumers engage with information, data, and the world. How did they conceive of their ideas? What challenges did they face in their journey to create the product and build the business? How would today’s technology accelerate their original ideas? While some have made their mark in the sports industry by identifying changing consumer preferences and technological advances, others find inspiration from other industries. This panel will share learnings across industries, analyze how serial entrepreneurs build innovative ideas and ideate on where they see opportunities in sports.