SSAC

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.

Career Kickoff

Matt Wolf – Senior VP, Team Marketing & Business Operations, NBA

Michelle Wang – Director of Strategy, Ticketmaster

Erin Golden – Manager – Express Lane, Nike

Brandon Shore – VP, Football Administration, Miami Dolphins

Hana Peljto Cluff – VP, Applied Analytics Solutions, WarnerMedia

Liz Moulton (Moderator) – Co-Leader of Sports Business Practice, Spencer Stuart

 

The Career Panel provides a lively discussion on the skills vital in today’s sports industry and what analytical and business leaders are looking for in talent. Those interested in transitioning into or moving up in the sports industry will hear unique stories of breaking into, navigating, and succeeding in the sector from accomplished individuals with diverse backgrounds.

The People Advantage: Culture Analytics

Nate Silver – Statistician, Author, and Founder, FiveThirtyEight

Daryl Morey – General Manager, Houston Rockets

Jessica Gelman – CEO, Kraft Analytics Group

Adam Grant (Moderator) – Professor, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

 

The availability of data today is rapidly expanding, and while this promises to unlock valuable insights for all businesses, many organizations find themselves at a crossroads. While some leaders will boldly turn over all decision-making to AI, others will confidently eschew analytics for gut instinct. There remains a wide spectrum between these extremes, and all leaders need to decide where they stand. How these leaders choose to balance the role of data vs. judgment in their teams will fundamentally shape their organizational culture going forward. On this panel, Adam Grant, Nate Silver, and the SSAC Co-Chairs, Jessica Gelman and Daryl Morey will debate their philosophies on data, organizational culture, and the best way to approach decisions.

No Lead Is Safe: Innovation in Sports

Saj Cherian – Partner, Kynetic

Amy Brooks – Chief Innovation Officer & President of TMBO, NBA

Jason Robins – Founder & CEO, DraftKings

Steve Pagliuca – Co-Owner, Boston Celtics

Eric Chemi (Moderator) – Sports Business Reporter, CNBC

 

Sports has been a bastion for innovation and change. Today, with vertical integration, new partnerships, gambling, esports and direct-to-consumer opportunities, the pace of innovation has accelerated. For those at the leading edge of the sports industry, no lead is safe. Learn how leading sports executives are developing new products, altering their business models, or creating inventive ways to access and serve customers. This panel will dive deep into how innovative environments can be built and where the future growth will come in sports.

Breaking Away from the Pack: Sports Entrepreneurship

George Postolos – President & CEO, The Postolos Group

Kevin LaForce – Senior Vice President, Media Strategy & Business Development, NFL

Cole Gahagan – Chief Commercial Office, Fanatics

Patrick Keane – CEO, The Action Network

Jennifer Van Dijk – Executive Vice President, Marketing, Wasserman

Saj Cherian (Moderator) – Partner, Kynetic

 

The sports industry has experienced tremendous growth over the last ten years—but the growth hasn’t come from a single source. New companies, industries, and entire sports leagues have entered the fray, and transformed an already burgeoning industry. What does it take to succeed as an entrepreneur in sports? How can ideas attract capital in a more-competitive-than-ever environment? This panel will discuss the existing and emerging field of sports entrepreneurship, new areas of innovation, challenges entrepreneurs face, attractive areas for investments, and techniques for building successful sports businesses.

Baseball 2.0: Updating America’s Pastime

Ariel Kelman – Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Amazon Web Services

Frank Marcos – Product Manager, Scouting Technology, LBi Dynasty

Chris Young – Vice President, On-Field Operations, Initiative & Strategy, MLB

Joe Posnanski – National Columnist, The Athletic

Ben Lindbergh (Moderator) – Writer, The Ringer

 

Baseball has been a constant through the years with limited innovation while the world of sports shifts around it. Many MLB teams led the analytics movement at the beginning, but the game has been tethered to tradition. Despite recent efforts to make the game faster and more fun, baseball has struggled to keep pace with the NBA and the NFL in terms of TV rating and share of fan attention. So what changes can be made to ensure baseball stays America’s Pastime? How will baseball be played 5, 10, and 20 years down the road? Some of the most analytical and creative baseball minds will debate what the MLB product should look like in the future as it struggles to separate from the past.

Wild West of Analytics: Other Industry Perspectives on Use & Misuse of Data

Nate Silver – Statistician, Author, and Founder, FiveThirtyEight

Gov. Charlie Baker – Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Anne Milgram – Professor of Practice & Distinguished Scholar in Resident, NYU School of Law

Corbin Petro (Moderator) – CEO & Co-Founder, Eleanor Health

 

Data use and misuse has emerged as an area of focus as organizations collect and use data in new and innovative ways, ahead of regulatory and ethical frameworks. The emergence of data use in decision-making has exposed unintended consequences and biases that only push us to replicate the past, not move forward. These misuses are widespread: Facebook’s use of data experiments and selling data to third parties revealed how a lack of ethics could lead to unintended consequences. Examples of biases in data have exposed faulty hiring algorithms. What is appropriate or inappropriate use of data? Does this vary by industry? How do we improve biases and continue to progress? This panel will debate the ethical challenges different industries face in using data with leaders in healthcare, gambling, sports, politics, government, and social media.

Who Says No? A 1-on-1 with Adam Silver and Bill Simmons

Adam Silver – Commissioner, NBA

Bill Simmons – Founder & CEO , The Ringer

 

Nearing the end of the regular season, Bill Simmons sits one-on-one with commissioner Adam Silver to discuss various basketball – and, in typical Bill fashion, a couple non-basketball – related topics. As Silver enters his sixth year as commissioner, he reflects back on his tenure, discusses the current NBA landscape, and talks about the future of the league. Among other topics they will address tampering in the NBA, tanking, the one-and-done rule, and basketball’s continually increasing world-wide popularity.

The Cutting Edge: Hockey Analytics (Presented by Sportlogiq)

Sunny Mehta – Former NHL Executive

Christopher Boucher – VP Sports Development, Analytics & Hockey Operations, Sportlogiq

Bill Zito – Associate General Manager, Columbus Blue Jackets

Meghan Duggan – Forward, US Women’s National Hockey Team

Tyler Dellow (Moderator) – NHL Columnist, The Athletic

 

The Hockey ecosystem is in the midst of widespread change. The analytics revolution is taking hold as an increasing number of teams lean on analytics to support important decision making. But, key questions remain unanswered. Why have some teams not yet “bought in”? With tracking data soon to become available at a league-wide level, what specific steps are teams taking to prepare? How will the abundance of new information help inform player personnel decisions, in-game coaching strategy, video preparation, and scouting? This panel dives into these questions – and more – as we approach the next era of hockey analytics.