Episodes

Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Managing the Big League Levers
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
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.

Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Rebooting the Lakers/Celtics Rivalry
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
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.

Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Career Kickoff
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
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.

Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
The People Advantage: Culture Analytics
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
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.

Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
No Lead Is Safe: Innovation in Sports
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
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.

Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Breaking Away from the Pack: Sports Entrepreneurship
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
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.

Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Baseball 2.0: Updating America’s Pastime
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
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.

Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Wild West of Analytics: Other Industry Perspectives on Use & Misuse of Data
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
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.

Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Who Says No? A 1-on-1 with Adam Silver and Bill Simmons
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
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.

Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
The Cutting Edge: Hockey Analytics (Presented by Sportlogiq)
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
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.