SSAC

Data is the New Black: Building Data-Driven Organizations

Maryann Turcke – COO, NFL

Amy Howe – President of Ticketmaster, North America

Jessica Gelman – CEO, Kraft Analytics Group

Mike Zarren – Assistant GM & Team Counsel, Boston Celtics

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

 

Traditional management principles need to be revised—data is shaping the way in which best-in-class organizations build teams, drive strategy, maximize revenue, and create culture. What are the challenges in acquiring and analyzing data in sports? How can organizations be best structured to ensure consistency of data across the organization and the ability sift through endless quantities of information to define impactful insights about their businesses? This panel brings together industry leaders who have led, are leading, and are at the forefront of redefining how data can be the heart of decision-making and innovation.

Making the Modern Athlete: A Conversation with David Epstein and Malcolm Gladwell

David Epstein – Science Writer & Investigative Reporter

Malcolm Gladwell - Author

 

Authors Malcolm Gladwell and David Epstein meet again, five years since their initial 10,000 Hours vs. The Sports Gene talk, to resurface the important and long-standing question of whether nature or nurture determines one’s athletic success. In this one-on-one discussion, Gladwell and Epstein sit down to evaluate what has changed, including Epstein’s latest argument that contrary to popular belief, generalists are the ones who actually succeed in a specialized world.

Direct-to-Consumer: Disrupting & Engaging Today’s Sports Fans (Presented by Rakuten)

Kat Frederick – CMO, Ticketmaster

John Forese – Chief Product & Data Officer, Rakuten Intelligence

Portia Archer – VP of Direct to Consumer Services, NBC Sports

Jennifer Ferron – Chief Marketing Officer, Kraft Sports & Entertainment

Carolyn Tisch Blodgett – Senior VP & Head of Global Brand Marketing, Peloton

Kristen Bernert (Moderator) – SVP Business Operations, MSG Sports

 

The ability to create and view content on-the-go has changed how fans engage with their favorite teams on game days and beyond. With closer access and more real-time insights, the amount of data available to personalize and customize the fan experience has evolved as quickly as the emerging technologies giving teams, media companies, partners, and brands unparalleled consumer insights. Learn how companies are broadening their content offerings and define how best to engage an audience accustomed to microtargeted suggestions and on-demand experiences. This panel will explore how companies are differentiating themselves through their content offerings, fostering customer loyalty, and using a growing fan desire to be continuously engaged to generate revenue, subscriptions, and sales.

Metrics are the Mike: Football Analytics

Kevin Demoff – COO & EVP of Football Operations, Los Angeles Rams

Warren Sharp – Founder, Sharp Football Analysis & Sharp Football Stats

Karim Kassam – Analytics Coordinator, Pittsburgh Steelers

Mina Kimes (Moderator) – Senior Writer & Columnist, ESPN

 

Football is rapidly shedding its reputation for being slow in the uptake and application of advanced analytics, as today’s teams are more readily harnessing the power of data to inform their decision making. Hear from some of the brightest minds in the game as they tackle today’s most pressing topics, including how newly available league-wide tracking data is shaping in-game strategy and team building, what mechanisms are being put in place by teams to handle today’s onslaught of information flow, and of course debate over which stats matter most for player evaluation in the modern game.

Achievement Unlocked: Esports Analytics

Nicole Pike – Global Managing Director, Nielsen Esports

Sebastian Park – Vice President of Esports, Clutch Gaming

Doug Watson – Head of Esports Insights, Riot Games

Kasra Jafroodi – Senior Business Analyst, Strategy & Analytics, Activision Blizzard

Ed Chang – Director of Business Strategy, EA

Ryan Garfat (Moderator) – Senior Editor – Esports, ESPN

 

A multitude of esports leagues and tournaments are thriving globally across various blockbuster games. With the start of another exciting year for the esports industry, sponsorship, marketing, and activation agreements with the leading games continue to grow. Getting visibility into the performance and ROI of these partnerships isn’t always simple. Esports leagues and teams navigate performance metrics in unique ways in the online digital space – coming up with creative, but fair methods of measuring value and league health. In this panel, industry thought leaders will shine a light on how esports league work with sponsorship partners to generate insights, establish trust, and help brands find the best opportunities to engage with fans.

Do Athletes Need the Media?

Larry Fitzgerald – Wide Receiver, Arizona Cardinals

Jeanie Buss – Owner, Los Angeles Lakers

Adam Hansmann – Founder, The Athletic

Katie Nolan – Host, ESPN

Jack McCallum (Moderator) – Special Contributor, Sports Illustrated

 

Until recently, athletes were completely reliant on journalists to communicate with fans, and consequently their stories were told through someone else’s lens. Today, the media landscape has fundamentally shifted. Athletes own and curate their image, leading to many channels of direct interaction and unprecedented proximity to fans. A number of athletes have clearly reaped the benefits, making their personalities and the work they do on and off the field more visible than ever. However, it is not just the good side that has become more visible, and the absence of the media’s filter has led to regretful mistakes and miscommunication. While athletes today have more ways to tell their own stories, does that replace the role of traditional sports media? This panel brings together the pioneers of this movement and those that leverage the new paradigm to its fullest.

Unlocking Potential: The Next Generation of Tracking Data (Presented by STATS)

Patrick Lucey – Vice President of Artificial Intelligence, STATS

Kirk Goldsberry – NBA Analyst, ESPN

Rachel Marty Pyke – Data Scientist, Noah Basketball

Chris Capuano – Former MLB Pitcher

Shira Springer (Moderator) – Sports and Society Reporter, NPR & WBUR

 

Player tracking technologies in the past decade have provided information that was once unattainable—the distance and speed a player runs in a game, effectiveness against certain defenders, the game situations which are most likely to produce a fast break, and so much more. As the technologies behind player tracking improve, much more information can now be captured: the skeleton of every player in every frame; tracking data for every college or high-school game; or data from historical games (e.g. comparing the performance of Jordan, Gretzky or Maradonna against the current greats). What does this evolving category of information mean for sports? How can teams, leagues, media and fans benefit from the next generation and scale of data being captured? This panel brings together thought leaders across sports and the tracking-data space to discuss these questions and explore the implications of this rapidly expanding industry.

Skin in the Game: Sports Gambling’s Emergence in the US

Sharon Otterman – Chief Marketing Officer, William Hill

Doug Kezirian – Sports Betting Analyst, ESPN

Matteo Monteverdi – President, Sportradar US

Andrew Ashenden – CCO, Perform

Kip Levin – President and COO, FanDuel

Jeff Ma (Moderator) – SVP, Product & Analytics, Duetto

 

The moment millions of fans have been waiting for is finally here: sports betting is legal in a few of the 50 U.S. states and is only expected to become more widely accepted. The implications of this new era for fans and leagues are massive. This panel will explore the opportunities and pitfalls that legalized sports betting has for organizations including how the growth of gambling will impact the fan experience, its effectiveness at increasing engagement in low-viewership sports, how entities will keep gambling democratic, and who the winners and losers will be after the dust settles.

Managing the Big League Levers

Chris Greeley – Commissioner of the LCS & Head of League Operations, Riot Games

Rafael Stone – General Counsel, Houston Rockets

Evan Wasch – SVP of Basketball Strategy & Analytics, NBA

Damani Leech – Senior Vice President, Football Strategy & Business Development, NFL

Alison Overholt (Moderator) – Editor-in-Chief, ESPN The Magazine, espnW, and the ESPYs, ESPN

 

The ecosystem of a sports league is unique, and league offices are given the difficult task of bringing together a set of disparate teams and pointing them towards the best interests of the collective whole. That process presents many challenges, both common across leagues and unique to each sport, and the balance of power between all parties is tenuous. In a game of cat and mouse, teams seek to exploit loopholes while the leagues seek to close them and maintain a level playing field. Still, all leagues hold substantial influence and can utilize a variety of levers to enact change, maintain competitive balance, and ultimately steer their respective sports to shared popularity. However, pulling on one lever too much or ignoring others can lead to unforeseen consequences detrimental to not just leagues and teams, but fans as well. This panel comprised of league and team executives will shed light on the decisions that leagues make to execute their vision and improve their sports.

Rebooting the Lakers/Celtics Rivalry

Jeanie Buss – Owner, Los Angeles Lakers

Wyc Grousbeck – Managing Partner, Governor & CEO, Boston Celtics

Jackie MacMullan (Moderator) – Senior Writer, ESPN

 

The Celtics-Lakers rivalry is one of the most storied in all of sports. From Russell vs. Chamberlain, Bird vs. Magic, to the “Big Three” vs. Kobe and Gasol, the matchup has defined eras throughout the history of the NBA. It’s been almost ten years since their most recent matchup in the NBA finals, as each team has transitioned on from its last slate of superstars and are now looking to write another chapter of the rivalry. This panel will explore each team’s approach to rebuilding over the past decade, featuring the two respective owners of the Celtics and Lakers, Wyc Grousbeck and Jeanie Buss. The panelists will discuss their similarities and differences regarding team-building strategies, and the relevant implications they have on fan engagement, business operations, and the odds of another Finals matchup in the near future.