David Atkinson

Space
UK
Managing Partner

LinkedIn

I am Managing Partner of Space, a creative agency specialising in working in sport and entertainment. The agency I founded is approaching its 20th anniversary and has worked with rights holders & sponsor brands throughout this time to conceive, design and amplify campaigns that help build the association between brands and their investments. In addition, we help rights holders to find new audiences and grow their reach. We have worked with the likes of Wimbledon, NBA, UEFA, and the Bundesliga, but also with Haagen-Dazs, Heineken, Lavazza and Samsung among others to develop brand-enhancing campaigns and activations. We believe in creativity as the defining factor in commercial success and approach each brief with an idea-first mentality.

Nicola Barlow

Gumption Marketing
UK
Director

LinkedIn

Nicola is an experienced leader in the world of sports sponsorship, a global c-level marketer and board level advisor, with unstoppable energy to deliver customer satisfaction and growth for brands, rights-holders and agencies who invest in sports sponsorship.

Nicola was recently Head of Sponsorship for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, the largest multi-discipline sporting platform since the London 2012 Olympic Games. Prior to that she spent eight years in a senior commercial role with the Formula One and Formula E World Champions, Mercedes and this followed more than a decade leading the Marketing function for Atos in its role as the Worldwide IT Partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Michael Barnard

WeAreFearless
UK
Business Director

LinkedIn

Michael is a sponsorship specialist with 15 years’ experience selling, negotiating and activating high profile award-winning partnerships. His career has been predominantly agency side, working for network groups (IPG, WPP) as well as for independent organisations.

In his current role he is Business Director at WeAreFearless, leading the agencies partnerships offering and overseeing teams servicing key clients Bridgestone and Danone.

A father of two, he can normally be found on the weekend supporting them from the sidelines, and has recently begun to coach his daughter’s U7 football team.

Danielle Barwick

Octagon
UK
Account Director

LinkedIn

I am a confident creative account director with extensive experience across both digital marketing and experiential and sponsorship marketing. Experienced in delivering hybrid multi channel innovative campaigns for both B2B and B2C audiences. With agency, production and corporate client side experience, I see myself as a triple threat. I currently work in a sports sponsorship marketing agency, and have previously worked in Entertainment too. I have a passion for content creation and bringing campaigns to life both digitally and physically and believe it’s important to bridge marketing and sponsorship. My biggest passion is DE&I, female specifically. I recently led the SCB Play on campaign, which used SCB’s sponsorship of LFC to raise awareness of girls dropping out of sport, and to try to make change in this area. A WACL future leader and part of the Sports Next Gen programme. I led the Sipsmith DRUM AWARD winning Wimbledon sponsorship campaign. I believe we can conquer some of the world’s problems through the creativity of our work.

Elma Beirne

Line Up Sports
IRELAND
Commercial Director

LinkedIn

Elma Beirne is the Commercial Director of Line Up Sports and is tasked to grow the commercial & sponsorship side of the business across Line Up Sports athlete, brand, rights holder and agency relationships.

Elma has a wealth of both commercial & sporting knowledge and the educational background having worked for the last twelve years in Leinster Rugby, Football Association for Ireland, PRO14 Rugby and more recently UEFA. Elma has a first class honours in Rugby Management from UCD as well as degrees from WIT in Sport and Recreation. Elma is currently lecturing in UCD on the Sports Strategy module of the Sports Management Degree and is a regular guest lecturer for WIT,UCD and DCU in the undergraduate and postgraduate sports courses.

Elma is no stranger to advising and mentoring having qualified as a Life, Business and Executive coach and is also an addiction coach. Elma opened her own coaching practice in 2021 where she works with clients from Managing Directors to athletes on how to best achieve their goals and future ambitions.

Diego Bernabé

Onclusive
SPAIN
Head of Insights

LinkedIn

Degree in journalism and with background in sports marketing and sponsorship, I have more than 15 years experience in media research focused on sports & entertainment business (at Kantar and Onclusive, global data & research companies). I have been responsible for setting up and executing sports-dedicated projects, directly dealing with clients as well as leading the team in charge of the monitoring tasks. I´ve had the opportunity to work with national and international clients from different sectors in the industry such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, LaLiga, NBA, Heineken, Red Bull or Adidas, to name just a few. I am also a lecturer in a number of masters and specialized courses in sports marketing and management (ESIC or European University, Madrid).

Marcel Blijlevens

PXR / NextDay / Marcel Blijlevens
NETHERLANDS
Manager Brand Partnerships

LinkedIn

I am a senior communications professional from Amsterdam, with more than 25 years of agency experience (adverting, media and brand design) and currently working as a Manager Brand Partnerships for a Dutch digital sports media publisher.

Besides that I am also a recognised expert in the Netherlands in what is called the ‘business of sports’. Based on my knowledge of the value of sports media rights and sponsorships, I regularly post articles and blogs on Linkedin. Moreover, I am regularly asked by Dutch news brands to give my opinion on sports marketing developments.

Partnerships between brands and properties in art, culture and music also fascinate me immensely.

Tom Boyle

City Football Group / Manchester City FC
UK
VP, Global Partnerships Marketing & Operations

LinkedIn

Currently Vice President of Global Partnership Marketing & Operations at City Football Group, Tom has developed, over nearly 20 years in the industry, a broad understanding across all areas of top level professional sport and has worked in numerous different markets worldwide. He has a proven track record leading commercial teams across a multitude of major properties, including 2 x Olympic games, Football & Cricket World Cups, Commonwealth Games, WTA Finals, top level English Premier League & Bundesliga football clubs, and Grand Slam Tennis events.  Throughout his career, Tom has enjoyed working with world-leading brands such as SAP, Etihad, Nissan, Unilever, BNP Paribas, Citibank, Rolex, Hugo Boss, Reebok, Tesco, HP, Pepsico, Cadburys, Nestle and more.

Alexandra Branzan

WeAreFearless
UK
Strategy Director

LinkedIn

I’m a Strategy Director at WeAreFearless where I lead our strategic offering and make sure we deliver our Boldness with Backup promise to all our clients. My background is integrated comms and have worked across a range of sectors from FMCG – blue chip brands within Unilever, Diageo, Mondelez, to life sciences and innovation – Merck Group, fashion & streetwear – Adidas and design – moo.com. In addition to a variety of sectors, I have also worked across different organisational setups, from established conglomerates to start-ups and scale-ups, a breadth of experience that helps me look at clients’ problems in lateral ways, always with a focus on helping them figure out what problems they need to be solving and then guiding them towards a solution.
In my leadership role at Fearless, I play a key part in shaping its vision and growth strategy, both of which have been recognised with numerous industry accolades, including ESA’s Pan-European Agency of the Year for the fourth year in a row.

Chrissy Brouillard

Golazo Group
FRANCE
Head of International Consulting

LinkedIn

Chrissy Brouillard is a dual national American by birth & education (Masters degree in Sports Business Management from New York University), 2024 will mark her 15th year in Europe while she also hit the 20-year sports marketing career mark in 2022.
Chrissy has built & led international sponsorship campaigns for top global brands such as Mastercard, Cisco Systems, Coca-Cola and Bridgestone. With her notable & awarded international experience & evolving knowledge in navigating the challenges & opportunities in partnering with major sporting properties such as the Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup, Rugby World Cup and the Super Bowl, she offers her & Golazo’s clients the assurance necessary to both successfully traverse these unique rights holders’ ways of working whilst also championing & implementing on behalf of her clients best in class partnership marketing campaigns.
As the in-house Olympics expert at European wide Belgian-based Agency & Rights Holder Golazo, Paris 2024 will be her 8th working Olympic Games.

Laura Byrne

Bank of Ireland
IRELAND
Sponsorship Manager

Laura has over 10 years’ experience in Marketing with a focus on Sponsorship and Sports Marketing. As Sponsorship Manager of Bank of Ireland, she manages the brands portfolio of Rugby Sponsorships including Connacht, Leinster, Munster, Ulster and the Emerald Warriors. She also leads sponsorships in the wider portfolio including Ulster GAA, Blas na hEireann and Open Farm Weekend.
Prior to her current role, Laura has played key roles in numerous award winning campaigns and activations, with a focus on promoting Women’s sports including Lidl and the Ladies Gaelic Football Association and Liberty Insurance’s partnership with the Camogie Association. She has also worked internationally in a Rights Holder capacity as a Marketing Lead of the FIFA Club World Cup and AFC Asian Cup, both based in the Middle East.

Neil Callaghan

20-Fifteen SPORT
UK
Consultant

LinkedIn

Neil has over 20 years of sponsorship and partnership marketing experience, working with leading brands and rights holders across sport & entertainment – covering local & global partnership strategy, full service activation, from grassroots to elite level, in male, female & disability specific formats.

He created 20-Fifteen SPORT to provide independent consultancy with a focus on disability inclusion & accessibility.  The name recognising over 20% of the UK population (16 million) and 15% of the global population (1.3 billion) are disabled people, who must not be overlooked as an important audience of fans, participants, employees & consumers.

Having developed disability focused initiatives for BT & The FA, Neil has since worked with The British Paralympic Association (BPA), The Wheelchair Football Association (WFA), created course material for the ESA Diploma, and led the formation of TAGS (The Ability Group in Sport), a member organisation for disabled people working or aspiring to work in sports media and production.

Carlos Canto

SPSG CONSULTING
SPAIN
CEO

LinkedIn

CEO at SPSG Consulting. 26+ years of experience in the Sports, Entertainment and Sponsorship industries. Lead Strategy, Marketing, Organization Consulting projects in 25 countries. Former VicePresident (10+ years) at IMG Consulting and Lagarderes Sports (2,5 years). Member of the Board of the Spanish Marketing Association. Member of the Advisory Board of WFS-World Football Summit. Former member of the Board of Directors of RCDeportivo de La Coruña. “Sports Business” professor (ESADE Business School, IE – Instituto de Empresa), and lecturer at, among other, LALIGA BUSINESS SCHOOL, FIFA, UE-Escuela Real Madrid, ISDE, Universidad Monterrey – Mexico, etc.). Sports industry business angel and advisor. BBA and MBA – ESADE Business School.

Philip Catt

Sage
UK
Global Sponsorship Manager

LinkedIn

Phil is Global Sponsorship Manager at Sage, and has worked across events and partnerships with rights holders during his career including Six Nations Rugby, The Hundred, MLB, ParalympicsGB, England Rugby, UEFA Champions League, London Marathon, FIFA World Cup, and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Katie Cavanagh

AEG Global Partnerships
UK
Partnerships Director

LinkedIn

Katie Cavanagh is Partnerships Director at AEG Presents where she oversees all partnerships across AEG Presents Touring, Venues and Events and AEG Presents European Festivals. Most notably, Katie’s team oversees the delivery of key partnerships such as American Express, Asahi, Accor, British Airways and Coca-Cola, helping to develop partnerships that help them to achieve their goals effectively. Katie also sits as business lead for the PRIDE Employee Network Group which champions LQBTQ+ rights within the business. Prior to AEG, Katie worked with Slingshot Sponsorship and within the commercial team at the British Fashion Council, working on events like London Fashion Week and The Fashion Awards with brands including Etihad, Mercedes-Benz and DHL.

Matteo Ciampani

AS Roma
ITALY
Partnership Development Lead

LinkedIn

Matteo works as Partnership Development Lead at AS Roma, managing a portfolio of global partners and the development of commercial opportunities. Before joining the Italian football club in 2022, Matteo worked at the Italian National Olympic Committee, in Germany as a member of the International Paralympic Committee’s commercial team, and in England at Everton Football Club, ideating, planning and executing award-nominated campaigns and activations.

Sport Management graduate from Coventry University (UK), he achieved the status of top student of the ESA Diploma in 2020 – the first ever from a rights holder and Premier League club to do so – becoming the recipient of the “Toby Hester Award” at the European Sponsorship Association Awards 2021, and a judge for the 2022 and 2023 editions.

He believes it is important for organisations in the sponsorship industry to lead on causes and do their part in today’s world, creating unforgettable moments, value for society and changing people’s lives.

Ruben Costa

SportQuake
UK
Global Partnerships Manager

LinkedIn

As a sports enthusiast with a lifelong dedication to the game, I’ve ventured through roles in football federations, Powerleague, and currently, SportQuake. From an early age, my life has been intertwined with sports, nurturing a profound passion to unite brands with rights holders.

With a diverse career spanning these key sectors, I’ve gained invaluable insights into the intricate world of sports marketing. My current role at SportQuake allows me to apply this knowledge effectively, crafting winning sponsorship strategies that resonate with both brands and sports organizations.

Every day, I relish the opportunity to leverage my experience and enthusiasm for the game to forge powerful connections in the world of sports sponsorship.

Ben Cronin

Publicis Sport & Entertainment
UK
Global Head

LinkedIn

• Ben is a sports marketing expert with more than 20 years’ consulting experience working with brands and rights
• holders looking to optimise their return from sponsorships and broader sports marketing investments.
• Ben’s experience covers a full spectrum of knowledge, from strategy and negotiation to activation opportunities
• and brand impacts brought through exposure, direct sales and hospitality.
• Ben joined what is now Publicis Sport & Entertainment in 2011, where clients include the biggest brands
• and properties in global sport including Gillette, Budweiser, Samsung, EA SPORTS, UEFA and The IOC.
• Outside of work, Ben is often not far from the sporting field as a fan, a father and a failing athlete

Grace Crowley

O’Callaghan Collection
IRELAND
Director of Marketing & Communications

LinkedIn

Grace is a seasoned strategic sponsorship and communications specialist, with a broad range of expertise in consumer, business, sports, hospitality, charity and entertainment sponsorships. She’s worked across and collaborated with renowned brands, sporting rights holders, and festivals worldwide. A dynamic professional, she’s committed to harnessing the power of sports, arts, and music for social good, unity, and broad audience engagement. Grace, is a recent ESA Diploma ESA and advocate for promoting industry excellence.

Conor Cullen

Football Association of Ireland
IRELAND
Partnerships Manager

LinkedIn

Conor Cullen is Partnerships Manager for the FAI, overseeing the sponsorship and broadcast partnerships of the Association, and managing a team of Account Managers, tasked with the day-to-day management of the relationships.

Conor has worked in the FAI Commercial Department for over 10 years, where he has held various roles in sponsorship, events, commercial and marketing functions, building and growing relationships with some of the biggest brands in the country across some of the largest sponsorship platforms.

A graduate of UCD, Conor obtained a BSc in Sports Management before embarking on a career in the commercial world of sports, first in the League of Ireland, where he worked with both Drogheda United and Sporting Fingal in marketing and communications roles, before joining the FAI in January 2013.

As well as managing existing commercial partners, Conor also has responsibility for revenue growth and new business opportunities, working with the Commercial Director to deliver new sponsorship and broadcast partners.

Lorna Danaher

Energia Group
IRELAND
Sponsorship Manager

LinkedIn

Lorna has been working in marketing for over 10 years and sponsorship specifically for the past 7. As sponsorship manager for C&C Group, she managed the partnership with and activation at several music festivals across the Island of Ireland. She also worked across Magners sponsorship of the Cheltenham Gold Cup and managed the campaign ‘Road to Gold’ which championed but Bulmers and Magners in their respective markets.

As sponsorship manager for Energia, she is now across the energy brands partnership with the IRFU, Leinster Rugby and title sponsorship of the All Ireland League. Lorna also oversees the sponsorship of Seachtain na Gaeilge le Energia, the largest annual Irish language festival aswell as a wide variety of localised grassroot sponsorships.

Kishi Dickinson

Cognizant
UK
Global Sponsorship Strategy Lead

LinkedIn

Kishi is Global Sponsorship Strategy Lead for Cognizant, a technology company that engineers modern businesses.  Her 20+ year career spans marketing, communications and events but her passion is sponsorship.  Working in partnership with right’s holders such as SailGP, 6 Nations Rugby, the British Triathlon Federation and Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One, she has enjoyed creating incredible brand activations for audiences of some of the world’s largest Tech companies.

She takes a strategic approach to working across a portfolio of global sponsorships, focusing on enabling global marketing and sales leaders to get the best value out of these partnerships. Her current mission is to propel Cognizant’s partnership with SailGP to further success, with a focus on sustainability. Kishi is never happier than when a partnership has purpose at its heart and the opportunity to create positive social impact.

Amanda Dixon

Vitality
UK
Senior Sponsorship Manager

LinkedIn

Amanda is a Senior Sponsorship Manager with Vitality, a leading health and life insurance provider, and has over 14 years of sponsorship and partnership marketing experience. She has worked across leading brands, rightsholders and marketing agencies on a range of projects from mass participation sports to purpose led initiatives with large not-for-profit organisations. Portfolio includes working as the commercial arm and managing global sponsorships for Rugby World Cup 2015, delivering UniCredit, PepsiCo and Santander’s UEFA Champions League sponsorship cycles, CRUK’s Race for Life sponsorship campaigns and DHL’s training kit sponsorship with Manchester United.

At Vitality, she has managed a scale of partnerships including Vitality Women’s FA Cup, Football Clubs (men and women’s teams), Vitality stadium, ECB, England Netball & Vitality Roses, England Hockey, London Marathon Events (Vitality Big Half, Vitality London 10,000), and is currently working through the strategic execution of Vitality’s parkrun partnership.

Fergus Dunn

Overactive Media
SPAIN
Director of Partnerships & EU Business

LinkedIn

An experienced and strategic sponsorship professional as well as ex-international athlete, Fergus has worked with some of the biggest brands in sport. He has led both partnership sales and activation teams for leading agencies and international rights holders, providing him with a broad depth of knowledge of the sponsorship industry. Fergus currently heads up the European business of Overactive Media, a Canadian esports company recognised as one of the top esports organisations in the world.

David Evans

Liverpool FC
UK
Partnerships Manager

LinkedIn

David Evans is a sponsorship professional with more than a decade of experience working in commercial sport.
As a consumer, player and spectator he has a strong passion for sport. His career to date has led him to work in strategy, commercial partnerships and operations within sports such as running, football, winter sports and tennis – including activity at both grass roots and elite levels. His experience includes working at high profile events such as the London 2012 Olympic Games, Wimbledon and the World Taekwondo Championships.
Currently responsible for managing a portfolio of global partnerships including Nike and Carlsberg at Liverpool Football Club he has a focus on creating values-led partnership campaigns which create true value for both the Club and its partners, whilst adding value to the club’s supporters. He is a graduate of the European Sponsorship Association’s diploma programme.

Martin Fallon

Wera Tools
UK
Head of Marketing

LinkedIn

With over 15 years’ experience of the UK and Irish sports landscape, I’ve held marketing and commercial roles in rugby, cycling and motorpsort.

Previously Head of Commercial Partnerships at Motorsport UK, I worked with brands to create bespoke partnerships that cover the broad portfolio of the UK motorsport industry.

Now on the brand side, I continue to work with the Motorsport UK Academy to deliver commercial and sponsorship coaching to aspiring young drivers starting out on their journey in the sport.

Paul Fisher

BBDO Dublin
IRELAND
Head of Strategy

LinkedIn

I’m a senior agency leader with over 20 years’ experience earned in both the UK and Ireland.

I currently lead BBDO Dublin’s strategy offering, working on clients that include the GAA, VW, EBS and Tourism Northern Ireland.

Prior to this, I worked client side for Ireland’s largest bank, AIB, as Head of Consumer Marketing.

I have worked extensively in sponsorship throughout my career, across a range of ESA-winning sponsorship platforms, including Vodafone Centre Stage, Vodafone Team of Us and AIB’s The Toughest.

Sarah Geoghegan

Core Sponsorship
IRELAND
Business Director

LinkedIn

Sarah has been working in marketing and sponsorship for 10 years. Currently Business Director at Core Sponsorship, Sarah previously held the position of Head of Media Sponsorship at the same agency. Prior to joining Core Sponsorship, Sarah held the position of Partnerships Manager at Virgin Media Television, after having spent several years working on the sponsorship and brand partnership side of the business.

Sarah was selected as a recipient of the IAPI and Diageo Female Futures Fund in 2021, a programme for high-potential women working in the creative communications and media industry and is a 2021 ESA Sponsorship Diploma Alumni.

Sarah has worked on a vast number of brands partnership and sponsorship campaign projects over the years, including but not limited to those with AIB, An Post, McDonalds, Aer Lingus, Paddy Power, LIDL, Strong Roots and P&G.

Matjaž Germ

Agencija 101
SLOVENIA
Chief Creative Officer

LinkedIn

Chief Creative Officer at one of the biggest Slovenian independent advertising agencies, Agencija 101.

In the sport marketing field I was working with international brands like Volkswagen, Sony, Mastercard, Coca-Cola etc. and practically all bigger Slovenian brands that are involved in sport sponsorship. Besides my agency work, I was also a member of the core organizing team of EuroBasket 2013, responsible for creative strategy. I have also been a communication consultant to the Basketball Federation of Slovenia and Slovenian Cycling Federation.

During my career I won many international advertising awards. In the sport marketing field I was also a creative leader of the project that won bronze in ESA Best of Europe. I participated in many international advertising juries. I was also a jury member at Slovenian sport marketing festival Sporto and last 2 ESA Awards editions.

Eva Gerritse

Blauw Sponsorship Impact
NETHERLANDS
Managing Director

LinkedIn

Eva is responsible for the business strategy of Blauw Sponsorship Impact: a European market research agency specialised in measuring impact of sports and sponsorships. Eva works with international brands and rightsholders on insights that enable them to improve the impact of sponsorships. She has more than 15 years of experience in sponsorship measurement and is an expert on insights that contribute to building a relationship between fans and sponsors, leading to increased brand impact.

Eva provides advice about sponsorship portfolios, activation strategies, brand development and sponsorship contracts to clients such as PepsiCo, Nissan, FedEx, Sony, Heineken en Vodafone. She works on sponsorships in global sports properties such as Formula One, UEFA Champions League, FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games.

Eva was awarded Insights Professional of the year in 2022 and was commended for her clear vision in the field of market research into the impact of sport sponsorships.

Rana Ghosal

Synergy TTL Sports Marketing
INDIA
Chief Evangelist

LinkedIn

A sports marketing professional with an advertising and marketing background with 20+ years’ experience specialising in activations & experiential marketing. As a head of the activations in a top global advertising agency, my brand campaigns have generated desired results and won numerous awards regularly, from golds and silvers at ACEF, Asia to Rural Marketing Awards in India culminating with a bronze and silver at Cannes Lions in 2018

I’m pursuing the use of one of the most effective solutions – sports as a platform to create & disseminate value based brand marketing solutions. At the same time, giving the sports rights holders meaningful and sustainable brand development solutions. Thus is the essence of Synergy TTL Sports Marketing, of which I am the Chief Evangelist

Extremely proud and honoured to be associated with ESA Awards for the past 3 years. It’s immensely gratifying and challenging at the same time and offers the best learning ground.

Jessica Glover

Royal London
UK
Senior Sponsorship Manager

LinkedIn

A sponsorship specialist with +9 years of industry experience at agency, rights holder and brand. Expert at delivering strategic marketing campaigns and overseeing the end-to-end sponsorship process.

Whilst at Fuse, the Sports & Entertainment marketing agency, I worked on the launch of PepsiCo’s sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League, developing strategy, brand positioning and multi-channel B2C and B2B activations across global markets. At The IRONMAN Group, the world’s premier operator of mass participation sports, I led the EMEA Partnership Management team to deliver impact and business success for our partners, including Breitling, Red Bull and Qatar Airways.

I’ve recently joined Royal London as Senior Sponsorship Manager, leading their purpose-driven sponsorship strategy and activations aimed at ‘Levelling the Playing Field’, including a first-of-its kind sponsorship in women’s rugby. It’s an exciting time for women’s sport, and I’m motivated by depth of the opportunity and the brilliant work being done in the space.

Tom Glover

Tottenham Hotspur
UK
Head of Commercial Planning

LinkedIn

Tom started his career doing strategy consulting at Deloitte before fulfilling his desire to work in sports, moving to City Football Group to lead a commercial partnerships strategy team. Here he was involved in deals for major renewals & new partners and wrote sponsorship strategies for various football clubs across the group.

He then joined Amazon to launch its sports ticketing platform, writing the strategy and negotiating deals with several major UK rightsholders. From there, he joined Wasserman for five years, becoming a Director in the Consulting business and working with brands and properties including the NFL and its teams, NBA and its teams, CrossFit, Discovery Golf, American Express, and BMW.

Since May 2023 he has led commercial strategy at Tottenham Hotspur as the Head of Commercial Planning, helping secure new, multi-million pound partners while developing the commercial proposition across the men’s and women’s teams, stadium and its events.

Richard Good

Digital Sports Mgmt
UK
Head of Partnerships and Sports Marketing

LinkedIn

In my capacity as the Head of Partnerships and Sports Marketing at DSM, I broker commercial partnership between brands, athletes and rights holders. I also help those brands activate the partnerships they have formed by creating partnership strategies and marketing campaigns.

Prior to my tenure at DSM, I held a role that saw me lead the commercial partnership function of West Ham United and West Ham United Women whilst also holding positions on the Commercial Committees of both the Premier League and Barclays Women’s Super League.

Previous to West Ham United, I worked at Tottenham Hotspur that saw me deliver partnership campaigns for Audi, Nike, EA Sports, HP, IWC, AIA and William Hill, amongst others. I played a pivotal role in designing and building the partner environment at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to ensure partners had a fantastic event day experience but also optimised areas, around the stadium, to deliver best-in-class experiential marketing activations.

Alexandra Goldschmidt

The Jockey Club
UK
Head of Business Development

LinkedIn

Alexandra Goldschmidt is an experienced senior sports business executive with 20 years commercial, business development, partnerships and event experience across multiple elements of the sports industry. Alex’s experience includes host city bidding and major event delivery, commercial representation that covers League, Team, major events and venues. During her 20 years in sports Alex worked in both challenger brands and some of the most established properties in the UK, running commercial departments and strategies, multi-faceted projects, maintained senior stakeholder relationships with Governing Bodies and Federations, sponsors, media partners, broadcasters, rights-holders government departments & agencies.

Maria Grandinetti Milton

European Tour Group
UK
Head of Sustainability

LinkedIn

With over 10 years in the Sports Marketing and Commercial industry primarily across rugby and golf, Maria’s focus shifted to sustainability in the world of sport in 2021.

An alumni of the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability, Maria developed the European Tour group and Ryder Cup Europe’s sustainability department and “Golf for Good” strategies. This focuses on three programmes tackling social and environmental sustainability challenges: The G4D (Golf for the Disabled) Tour with 10 annual events; the Golf Futures community outreach programme, and Green Drive.

In this role Maria launched a revised Green Drive strategy on World Environment Day in 2021 reinforcing the groups commitment to sustainability and steering the Tour to become the first professional golf Tour to join as a signatory to the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework with a commitment to being net zero by 2040.

Josh Green

House 337
UK
Executive Creative Director

LinkedIn

Josh is Executive Creative Director for at House 337. Along with his partners Henry Nash and Lauren Estwick, he founded, launched, and currently leads the House 337 sports practice.

Prior to House, Josh held the position of ECD at Octagon, where he guided the agency’s creative output and led a department of thirty-two spread across six European offices.

Born in Boston and currently based in London, Josh has consistently produced work that plays in contemporary culture. He’s led work for sports brands, sponsors and rights-holders including Foot Locker, Expedia, PlayStation, Cisco, and Liverpool FC and notably authored Paddy Power’s headline-grabbing “Save our Shirt” campaign.

Josh’s work has been featured by the BBC, the Guardian, the Sun, and Daily Mail and has been recognised by Cannes Lions, British Arrows, and Clio Awards.

Josh lives in Kew with his wife Megan. They are the proud humans to two French Bulldogs and a rescue Chihuahua who wholeheartedly believes she’s a German Shepherd.

Michael Green

Verve
IRELAND
Sponsorship Director

LinkedIn

I am South Africa born with an Honours Degree in Marketing and Specialisation in Sponsorship from the University of Pretoria with an 18-year career in the sports marketing industry across UK and Ireland.

I spent 10 years of my career developing and implementing sponsor ticketing and hospitality programmes for top tier sponsors on global sporting events which included 2015 Rugby World Cup for DHL, 2014 Ryder Cup, 2012 London Olympics, 2006, 2010, 2014 FIFA Football World Cups and the 2008 UEFA European Football Championships, working on behalf of a number of global brands including, Coca-Cola, BP, DHL, Castrol, Pepsi and Nissan.

In 2015 I moved to Ireland to take up a sponsorship position with AIB, one of the leading financial institutions, where I worked as the Sponsorship Marketing Manager, developing a number of successful campaigns for the bank’s sponsorship properties. Following AIB I worked for Sky as a Marketing Manager across Sky Sports and have recently joined the team at Verve as the Sponsorship Director.

Keil Gunther

RenaissanceRe
UK
SVP, Head of Global Marketing & Client Communications

LinkedIn

Keil leads strategic marketing and communications initiatives that enhance RenaissanceRe’s reputation, relationships, and results. She is responsible for developing and executing activities and materials which enhance RenaissanceRe’s brand and value proposition, drive profitable business opportunities and reinforce its market leadership.

Keil promotes superior client relationships through high-quality engagements, exceptional marketing materials and global salesforce communications and coordination.

She has overseen the delivery of first-class client entertainment and award-winning thought leadership events, and has managed sponsorships, including the America’s Cup, SailGP, a ground-breaking disaster safety Walt Disney World attraction at Epcot, PGA Tour Grand Slam, Ryder Cup, and 2 female Olympic athletes.

Keil gained a distinction in the 2022 ESA Diploma programme and graduated from Wake Forest University (USA) with a Bachelor of Arts (honours) in English Literature. Born in Bermuda, she is newly based in London.

Jasmin Haasbach

ESL Faceit Group
GERMANY
VP Global Brand Partnerships, Head of Europe

LinkedIn

Before her role at ESL FACEIT Group in 2017, Jasmin Haasbach built a career rooted in the dynamic digital landscape. Her journey commenced with pivotal positions at Fox Interactive/MySpace and Viacom nternational Media Networks. With a strong grasp of digital and youth culture, Jasmin played a crucial role in formulating digital strategies for marketers. Notably, she was integral in establishing the digital arm of a Joint Venture in partnership with Axel Springer, showcasing her innovative thinking and strategic acumen.

Since her tenure at ESL FACEIT Group, Jasmin has consistently excelled. Leading various units within Global Brand Partnerships, she empowers brands to authentically and creatively engage with the gaming culture. Her career embodies a dedication to innovation and a deep understanding of digital trends. Jasmin’s passion lies in helping brands thrive within the ever-expanding digital and gaming realms, making her a valuable asset in today’s rapidly evolving landscape.

Kate Hamer

AxisStars
UK
COO & Co Founder

LinkedIn

Kate Hamer is a Marketeer who has specialised in Digital for throughout her career. She worked client side for more than 15 years in global household brand names such as Orange, Unilever, Tesco, Disney and L’Oréal. She has a range of B2B and B2C experience. In 2015 she established her own consultancy where she’s worked with a wide range of clients in sectors such as Beauty, Entertainment, Food & Drink and Sport.

In 2018 she joined forces with Louis to develop AxisStars. Her hands-on experience client side combines with Louis’ extensive career to create the perfect appreciation of the support needed for Pro-Talent and Partners alike.

Katie Hanley

Group M
IRELAND
Account Director

LinkedIn

Katie has been working in the media industry for over 11 years having started her career in audio broadcasting with FM104.

Since then Katie went on to work across the Sponsorship team with VirginMedia Television working across many high profile sponsorships including Love Island and Ireland’s got Talent.

Katie is currently Account Director with Group M agency Invention where she leads the Partnership Division. Over the past three years Katie has been responsible for managing large scale partnerships for clients such as Failte Ireland, Tesco and Square covering sponsorship, branded content, AFP, events and influencer market.

Katie completed the ESA Diploma in 2020.

Rob Hartnett

Sport for Business
IRELAND
CEO

LinkedIn

Rob Hartnett is the Founder and CEO of Sport for Business, linking together Ireland’s biggest brands, sporting rights holders, Government and more.

He is the publisher of a twice-daily news bulletin offering commentary and analysis that is recognised as the go-to place for news and opinion on the commercial world of Irish sport.

He is the host of the Sport for Business Podcast and puts on major and smaller networking events covering a multitude of specific areas from Women in Sport to Sport for Social Good, and Social Media to the Business of Golf.

He contributes to multiple other media outlets on the Business of Sport and is an accomplished host for events from the KPMG Women’s Irish Open to the World Canoeing Symposium on Gener Equality and the Annual Ireland Active Conference.

He is Chair of the Dublin City Council Sport and Wellbeing Partnership and the Irish Sport Industry awards and is a member of the Olympic Federation of Ireland Gender Equality Commission.

Janette Haukland

NPG
NORWAY
Chief Commercial officer

LinkedIn

I am a Business Development Director in Norwegian Promotion Group. We provide competence and technology to clients, we strive to be at the forefront within live media such as events, conferences and exhibitions. My job is to secure new partners and maintaining relationships throughout our businesses and seek out innovative and strategic partnerships. I also manage the events and media department.

I have 15 years’ experience in marketing, sponsor and event management.

Through my previous job as Managing Director for the sponsor and event association in Norway, I held multiple awards for the Norwegian industry, and attended and judged various awards in the Nordics and Baltics.

Anu Helin

Sanoma Media Finland Oy
FINLAND
Brand Partnership Manager, Sports

LinkedIn

Anu has over 15 years of experience in sports marketing and sponsorship, event management, and brand marketing. Her current role involves leading the commercialization of Sanoma Media Finland’s sport content across various platforms, including TV, streaming services, news, features, and audio. Additionally, she plays a key role in developing Sanoma’s sponsorship business.

Previously, Anu worked as the Business Director at the Finnish Olympic Committee, where she was responsible for managing the Finnish Olympic Team’s partnerships.

Creating meaningful partnerships and successful commercial concepts has been her passion. What truly inspires her is the ability to seamlessly combine sports, athletes, and brands, utilizing these powerful partnerships in versatile ways for marketing communication. For her, working in sports holds great significance, as she firmly believes in the myriad of positive impacts that sports have on society.

Charlie Hill

Science Museum Group
UK
Head of Corporate Relationships

LinkedIn

I am a corporate and commercial partnerships specialist with over a decade of corporate fundraising experience at two major UK cultural institutions. Currently Head of Corporate Relationships at the Science Museum Group, I lead a highly skilled team across the country to secure and deliver significant sponsorship in support of the organization’s mission to ‘Inspire Futures’.

Prior to this, I was Head of Corporate Partnerships at the Serpentine Galleries, leading on partnerships for their acclaimed art, architecture and public programmes. This included campaign fundraising during the gallery’s capital expansion, and the annual headline sponsorship for the galleries’ renowned Summer Party.

I have a proven track record of building and managing multi-million pound investments from a broad range of corporate sectors – FTSE 100 companies to luxury brands – and I enjoy forming mutually beneficial, strategic partnerships in high-paced, creative environments.

Fraser Houlder

The Sports Consultancy
UK
Associate Director, Rights Marketing

I joined The Sports Consultancy to work with the UCI on the Yorkshire 2019 Road World Championships and 17 successful partnerships were brokered for the event, including Deliveroo, Alpecin, HSBC, Zwift and Yorkshire Tea.

Since joining I have led TSC’s sponsorship work for both brand and rightsholder clients including Oryx Energies, RBC Brewin Dolphin, Qiddiya, British Athletics, The Professional Squash Association, WADA and BLAST esports.

Before joining TSC, I had 20 plus years’ experience within the sports and partnership marketplace. I founded the Female Sports Group and before then worked at BDS Sponsorship. During my time at these companies, I worked for both rightsholders and brands on their sponsorship strategies and implementation of these strategies to create mutually beneficial partnerships.

In addition to contributing to TSC’s SEER report on sponsorship, I authored reports on Sponsorship Measurement & Evaluation that were published by Sports Business.

Tim Hunt

Y11 Sport & Media
UK
Chief Commercial Officer

LinkedIn

Tim’s career in sport began as Commercial & Event Director of The Stella Artois Championships at The Queen’s Club in London – one of the iconic events on The ATP World Tour.

10 years at The European Tour followed as Head of Marketing responsible for growing consumer awareness and engagement for Tour events across the world and The Ryder Cup.

Tim next became CEO of Premier Team Promotions, responsible for the Commercial operations of Saracens Rugby. During his time there, Tim was responsible for the integration of Saracens Women into the club and the investment and renaming of Saracens Mavericks, the Netball Superleague franchise.

At Williams Racing, Tim was Chief Marketing Officer, responsible for all commercial and marketing operations as well as the authoring and launch of Williams’ ESG strategy.

Most recently, Tim has become Chief Commercial Officer for Y11 Sport & Media, a dynamic sport & media investment house with ownership and equity positions in properties spanning Endurance, Active Lifestyle, Rugby and Football.

Fredda Hurwitz

Gingernut Thinking
UNITED STATES
Founder & Chief Nut

LinkedIn

American born but European raised. I started my career as a foreign correspondent in Paris many years ago before moving to London where I spent the bulk of my career working in global sports & entertainment for rights holders (the NHL and NFL), agencies (Octagon, Redmandarin, Momentum, Havas Sports & Entertainment…) and brands (Disney, Butlins…).

After 30 years abroad, I returned to the states in 2018 to join RedPeg as the Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer before relaunching Gingernut Thinking in late 2020 – a globally focused strategic marketing and brand consultancy based in D.C.

I’ve got two London born and raised kids and one very cute Maltichon named Elvis. I feel extremely fortunate to serve as advisor/board director for several companies and non-profits in London, Canada and the US.

I’ve been involved with ESA since its inception (or pretty darn close!), served two terms as a board director and am delighted to once again participate in the ESA Best of Europe category, my eighth (or ninth?) straight year. Bring it on!

Ant Jackson

Freelance and Outvertising
UK
Creative Director + Co-Director

LinkedIn

Most known for writing LIDL’s tagline ‘Big On Quality, Lidl On Price’, Ant has written, created and led effective, award-winning campaigns for leading sports and entertainment brands across Europe. Whilst at WeAreFearless, she was lead copywriter for the Bridgestone x Olympic Games ‘Chase Your Dream, No Matter What’ campaign. She and her team also challenged fan perceptions with Europa League VS Haters, and showed Manchester City stakeholders that HAYS were the recruiter Behind Every Goal. Recently she also wrote copy for Wimbledon Centre Court’s centenary year. She also sits on the board for Outvertising, who help to make advertising and marketing more LGBTQIA+ inclusive.

Sam Jeffery

Norwich City Football Club
UK
Commercial Director

LinkedIn

Sam is approaching 10 years working in the commercial world of football. He’s worked at Premier League, Championship and League 2 levels at Norwich City and Cambridge United in England, having previously spent a year and half in New Zealand penning a book on the history of one of New Zealand’s oldest clubs, Eastern Suburbs AFC.

As Commercial Director of Norwich City, one primary area he’s responsible for – and passionately cares about – is sponsorship and takes great pride in the targeted sourcing of partners, understanding what respective businesses are aiming to achieve, delivering high class activations and ultimately providing demonstrable ROI.

At Norwich City, partnerships from across the globe have been activated successfully, from high level brands such as Lotus and Dafabet, through to international destination partnerships with Visit Tampa Bay and Turismo de Gran Canaria, as well as an innovative sustainability-focused collaboration in Finland with Kotkamills, which resulted in inclusion in the COP26 summit.

Mike Keech

Impact Sponsorship
NEW ZEALAND
Founder

LinkedIn

Meet Mike Keech, a sponsorship, marketing, and commercial professional with over three decades of successful experience. As a proud member of the European Sponsorship Association (ESA), Mike champions purposeful business values. His strategic acumen and exceptional project management skills ensure meticulous planning and execution of sponsorship initiatives, delivering impressive results. Mike’s ability to unlock value and seize untapped opportunities sets him apart in the sponsorship landscape. His outstanding leadership, relationship-building finesse, and adaptability create collaborative environments that drive tangible outcomes. With a dedication to forging impactful collaborations aligned with a greater purpose, Mike is a true leader in the field. In a fiercely competitive landscape, his presence brings unparalleled value to any sponsorship project, elevating brands towards remarkable achievements and fostering prosperous partnerships that endure the test of time.

Lars Köhnen

FedEx Express Europe
GERMANY
Senior Brand Marketing Specialist

LinkedIn

Lars is Senior Brand Marketing and Sponsoring Expert at FedEx Express with more than 20 years of experience. He is leading the global digital and content strategy and measurement within the UEFA Champions League sponsorship of the global logistics service provider. Two campaigns under his control were shortlisted at the ESA Awards 2023 for Best Use of Content and Best Use of Talent categories. Since he joined FedEx back in 2017, he also worked on various sponsorships like UEFA Europa League, UEFA EURO 2020 & ATP Tour.

Before he joined FedEx he worked 15 years for a Germany sponsorship agency, leading projects and campaigns in Formula 1, German Fußball Bundesliga, America’s Cup and other premium environments or athlete and celebrity management.

He strongly believes that sponsorship can cover many roles in marketing – from driving awareness to support sales – but for him the key role of sponsorship is to build mental availability amongst the target audiences.

Krzysztof Kropielnicki

Sport Business Poland
POLAND
Board Member

LinkedIn

Chris is the board member of Sport Business Poland, an association promoting the sports industry in Poland, and a consultant to agencies, rights holders and sponsors. He is the board advisor at Fortuna 1 Liga, Poland’s second-tier football league and is also the head of insights and analytics at the UK-based Quantum Consultancy which provides data-driven solutions to event owners and hosts.

Previously, Chris held various positions at Sportcal (now GlobalData Sport), a global sports market intelligence firm. Chris worked at Sportcal for almost nine years and was the head of research and intelligence at the company, managing a 30-strong team and spearheading the development of Sportcal’s media, sponsorship and events research products.

Chris graduated from the Poznan University of Economics and has worked in sport since 2003. He is a regular speaker at industry conferences and an author of numerous publications and reports on the business of sport.

Seishane Leshaba

Playmakers Sponsorship & Marketing
SOUTH AFRICA
Managing Partner

LinkedIn

Seishane Leshaba is an integrated marketing specialist with a strong background in sports marketing, innovation and driving good commercial gains for the Playmakers Group. Seishane has dedicated her career to harnessing the power of meaningful partnerships and sponsorship to solve business challenges. Her work spans from developing insights-led strategies to collaborating with their client base on building impactful marketing communication campaigns. With her experience and forward-thinking mindset, Seishane Leshaba hopes to develop and inspire a generation that will prioritise purpose, innovation and creativity to solve our societal challenges on the African continent.

Peter Lowry

GroupM
UK
Partnerships Business Director

LinkedIn

Peter is Director of Global Partnerships within the media agency network, GroupM. As well as working across a variety of marketing disciplines, Peter has experience across a number of large global brands, most notably Unilever, McDonald’s, and Volkswagen. With a true passion for Sponsorship, and love of European languages and culture, Peter is excited to see the what the continent’s entrants have to offer. Due to his specialist media knowledge, the ESA Diploma graduate is particularly keen to see how entrants have chosen to activate their sponsorships.

Massimo Mancini

Assicurazioni Generali
ITALY
Sponsorship Manager

LinkedIn

I’m a dedicated Sponsorship Manager at Assicurazioni Generali, headquartered in Milan, with an extensive track record spanning over a decade. Throughout my career, I’ve honed my expertise in brand communication and partnership advisory, specializing in content production and strategic media utilization. I’ve had the privilege of working with prominent brands such as Hyundai, Jeep, Birra Peroni, and Toyota and with some top creative agencies like Leo Burnett and Saatchi & Saatchi.

My experience includes a wide range of sponsorship projects, encompassing football, motor sports, winter sports and sailing, which has provided me with valuable insights and the ability to adapt to various facets of the sponsorship industry.

I’ve got that wanderlust bug, always itching to explore new corners of the globe. Whether it’s shooting hoops with my friends on the basketball court, cheering for A.S. Roma, diving into a gripping book or unwinding with some video game action, I’m all about soaking up the joy of life.

James Mandell

Wasserman
UK
Associate Vice President, Brands

LinkedIn

James is an Associate Vice President within Wasserman’s Marketing Services team and has over a decade of agency experience. Having joined Wasserman in 2014, James has a proven track record working on multi-market projects for leading brands and rights holders from across the world of sports and entertainment. James is a specialist at helping rightsholder clients grow commercial revenue and audiences through sponsorship, he formerly headed up Wasserman’s UEFA account and was responsible for overseeing the delivery of global marketing promotions across the UEFA Champions League and National Team Football competitions before moving over to lead the American Express account, growing the brand in the UK, EMEA and globally through partnerships with BST Hyde Park, Brighton Hove & Albion and Wimbledon. James also has a wealth of experience consulting brands including PepsiCo, Barclays, McDonalds and Samsung across all deal elements, from partnership strategy through to measurement.

Devesh Mangtani

Two Circles
UK
Commercial Rights Sales Lead

LinkedIn

Devesh is Partnerships Director at the ECB and Commercial Rights Sales Lead at Two Circles – the data-driven sports marketing agency that drives business growth for some of the world’s leading sports organisations.

Devesh specialises in helping rights-owners grow sponsorship, ticketing, memberships and digital media rights revenues, leading relationships with the likes of the ECB, ICC, Mumbai Indians, Wimbledon, Royal Ascot, Arsenal FC and the New York Islanders.

He has led award-winning projects that broke attendance records at the 2017 Women’s and 2019 Men’s Cricket World Cups, and sponsorship sales & strategies, including new partnerships between the ICC and Booking.com, Dettol, and Facebook, and between England Cricket and the likes of Rado Watches, Metro Bank and Initial Hygiene.

Devesh lives and breathes cricket, is a fantasy football nut, and loves following sports around the world. His childhood was spent across Mumbai and Hong Kong, and he continues to lead on sports rights projects in the growing Asian Sports market.

Lucy Mart

PrettyGreen Group
UK
Chief Growth Officer and Group Director

LinkedIn

Lucy is an integrated comms specialist, with 20 years of experience across PR, Sponsorship, Social, Digital, Content Creation and Events.

A key player in PrettyGreen’s client servicing and business development over the past decade delivering award winning campaigns for world leading brands including Under Armour, GSK, Proctor &Gamble and Hasbro, Lucy is now responsible for agency growth strategies across the PrettyGreen Agency Group (PrettyGreen, What They Said and The Producers).

Lucy champions integrated marketing for maximum ROI and believes in the power of creativity to drive commercial impact.

James Masters

Havas Play
UK
Strategy Director

LinkedIn

James joined Havas Play in early 2022 to lead the agency’s strategic support of EE’s industry-leading sponsorship portfolio, as well as to work with the likes of JLR, Carling, and PayPal.
He has been in the passion marketing and partnerships industry since 2012, having joined Synergy on the ENGINE Graduate Scheme. After cutting his teeth in activation, notably across various Coca-Cola sponsorships, strategy beckoned.
Since then – and through stints at The Space Between and CSM – James has devised a refreshed sponsorship strategy for Vitality, created a Europe-wide brand positioning in sport for Zalando, and led the creative strategy on projects for BMW and The FA, amongst many others.
James was named a Campaign ‘Face to Watch’ in 2019 and was a member of 2020’s Sport Industry NextGen cohort. He is a regular contributor to the industry conversation, having written pieces for ESA, Sport Industry, AdForum, and Campaign.

Siobhán McCartan

Six Nations Rugby
IRELAND
Head of Broadcast Partnerships

LinkedIn

In my role as Head of Broadcast Partnerships I oversee all broadcast scheduling, production, partnership delivery and leading the critical relationships on behalf of rugby unions largest international broadcast rights holder.

My role manages a large and complex stakeholder group including a small and agile internal team. This extends into management of wider commercial counterparts at each Union and the extensive ecosystem of broadcast partners themselves.

With 8 host broadcast partners in domestic territories, and a further 23 worldwide, my role is instrumental in supporting all aspects of the delivery of the Guinness Six Nations, Women’s Six Nations, Under 20s and all Autumn Nations Series rugby in almost 200 territories worldwide.

Previous roles were at Ladies European Tour, England Hockey as a Partnerships Manager, Sponsorships for Three Ireland in music & sport, before joining Six Nations Rugby in 2017 focusing on global sponsorships for 4 years.

Shireen McDonagh

Legacy
IRELAND
Head Brand and Sponsorship

LinkedIn

Shireen has both agency & client side experience in sponsorship, communications, marketing and advertising, and has helped to shape several well-known brands both strategically and creatively across the full marketing mix. At Legacy, she heads up the Brand and Sponsorship team where she champions the development of clever, creative, multichannel, brand building campaigns that deliver results.

Throughout her career she has played key roles in many award-winning campaigns at both a national and international level. Prior to her role as Head of Brand Marketing and Sponsorship for one of Ireland’s leading sports retailers, where she led teams across sponsorship, social, advertising and brand activation, she worked for agencies inc. TBWA/Dublin and Atomic leading accounts including McDonald’s, Dublin Airport, HSE, Ballygowan, Rory McIlroy, MINI, Repak, Eirgrid, Irish Dairy Board.

Outside of her role at Legacy, Shireen is a hurdles coach with DSDAC and a member of the Athletics Ireland National Coaching & Development committee.

Kerry McDonald

Orchard Connects
UK
Managing Partner

LinkedIn

Currently Managing Partner of Orchard Connects. Part of Orchard Media and Events Group, Orchard Connects specialise in devising sponsorship strategies, consultancy and sponsorship sales for Brands and Rights Holders.

Kerry has over 20 year’s experience of working across sport in the UK and internationally. Specialising in all areas commercial, Kerry has a proven track record of connecting brands and rights holders to create successful, mutually beneficial partnerships.

Kerry has worked with and advised a number of leading rights holders, federations and blue-chip brands, such as Gulf Air, BMW, The RFU, Watford FC, Nike, Mercedes-Benz, The Crown Estate, Equals, State of Rio de Janeiro and Sir Nick Faldo, developing both his Global Golf Development Charity and his licenced golf academy business.

A well-respected industry figure, Kerry has been part of government working groups and presently sits on the board of Welsh Netball, Celtic Dragons. Previously Kerry sat on the board and was interim-Chair of Active Surrey.

Anne-Marie McShane

EssenceMediacom
UK
Director – EMEA Sports & Sponsorship Lead

LinkedIn

Anne-Marie joined the EssenceMediacom team just over a year ago, where she plays a pivotal role in managing all sports partnerships and activations for Google across EMEA. Her leadership extends to overseeing projects for clients like Uber Eats and PlayStation.

Anne-Marie’s career has taken her to various parts of the world. Notably, she recently returned from Australia, where she attended this Summer’s Women’s World Cup. She kickstarted her career at Manchester United and played a vital role in establishing the Sponsorship Servicing team in Hong Kong.

Anne-Marie has collaborated with some of the world’s leading brands, including Nike and Unilever. Her portfolio includes work with renowned clubs and tournaments on a global scale, such as Arsenal, FC Barcelona, CONMEBOL Libertadores & Sudamericana, and an impressive lineup of high-profile talent.

While Anne-Marie boasts an impressive background in various sports, she’s particularly enthusiastic about the growth of women’s sports and the untapped potential it holds for brands.

Mark Moreau

SRI
UK
Managing Director

LinkedIn

Mark Moreau is the Managing Director at SRI, a global executive search and talent consultancy headquartered out of London. With over 25 years of experience in executive search, he leads a team of 50 across four European hubs and delivers complex  assignments and advisory services for clients across the converging worlds of sport, media, and entertainment.

He specialises in helping consumer-centric businesses that are big on ambition and small on the status quo to attract, retain, and develop the best talent and leaders in the market. He leverages his deep expertise and insight on the integration of technology and talent to drive engagement, attention, and eyeballs in an increasingly digital-first world. He has successfully completed board, C-suite, and executive level searches for some of the most innovative and influential organisations in the sector.

Betty Moseley

cinch
UK
Senior Partnerships Manager

LinkedIn

My background is largely creative agency where I have been responsible for activating sponsorships such as the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League, Bond Quantum of Solace and Skyfall, Tour de France and The BRIT Awards on behalf of  Gillette, Sony Mobile, Sony and Cono Sur wines to name but a few.

I left agency world to work on the Rights Holder side with London Marathon Events managing a team that looked after all events/brands and then moved across to work on cycling events, The Tour of Britain, Women’s Tour and Tour Series events.

Since joining cinch I have managed the Live Nation partnership activating across six of the UK’s largest music festivals as well as the Scottish Professional Football League, cinch Championships, British Motor Show, CarFest and the Chris Evan’s Breakfast Show.

Fiona (Fi) Murphy

Previously – Charles Stanley/ Shell/ Vodafone
UK
Head of Sponsorship and Events

LinkedIn

I am an award-winning Head of sponsorship with 20 years of international experience across sports and entertainment marketing.  I develop sponsorship portfolios, based on a brand’s target audience and strategic objectives; from insight-driven exploration and contract negotiation to implementation, activation and measurement.  I have developed award-winning and widely recognised sponsorship leverage campaigns that have delivered outstanding results.  I spent 12 years heading up Vodafone’s high-profile sponsorship and events programmes, in Australia, New Zealand and then leading their Formula One programme globally. My career in sponsorship started at BT Cellnet(O2) working on rugby and F1, but then spanning into football, AFL, music, festivals, beach volleyball, V8 motorracing, 1, Football (ManU and Champions League), and more recently I have held consultancies with Shell and Charles Stanley Wealth Managers.

Metin Odemis

Interactive Sponsor
UK
Director

LinkedIn

I am the Founder of Interactive Sponsor, a brand partnership and sponsorship agency, based in Los Angeles and London, with over 20 years of experience.

Interactive Sponsor was founded in 2008, connecting leading brands worldwide with high-profile properties, rights holders, and projects, serving sport and entertainment, along with clients in industries ranging from fintech to fashion.

I have worked with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Golden Globe® Awards, Dick Clark Productions, The Recording Academy and GRAMMY® Celebration, Live Nation, major movie studios, countless movie premieres and after-parties, concerts, along with major properties and rights holders via brand partnership and sponsorship campaigns, throughout the U.S. and Europe.

Most recently, I have been focusing on the startup ecosystem, with various innovation platforms, labs and disruptive thinkers, and matching them with Corporate VCs.

Ciara O’Grady

ONSIDE
IRELAND
Senior Consultant

LinkedIn

Ciara is a Senior Consultant on ONSIDE advisory team, delivering research and advisory services to guide brands and rightsholders on their sponsorship strategies. Ciara has a wealth of experience in marketing, sponsorship programme management and preferred partnership programmes from her previous roles as Director of Arts, Innovation and Corporate Services at the Gleneagle Group (Leading Hospitality Provider in the South West of Ireland & operators of the Gleneagle INEC Arena – the largest entertainment venue outside Dublin), Sponsorship Programme Manager with Bord Gáis Energy (part of the Centrica Group and Naming Rights Partner to the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre) and Director of Fundraising and Events at the National Children’s Hospital, Tallaght (with responsibility for fundraising targets of €1m per annum). Her broad range of industry experience, as well as her ability to understand the perspectives and objectives of both brands and rights-holders, gives her a unique and richly layered understanding of sponsorship dynamics.

Rob O’Leary

CSM Sport & Entertainment
UK
Senior Account Director

LinkedIn

Senior Account Director with almost 10 years of experience working in the industry across rugby, football, venue, and music partnerships.

I’m a team-orientated marketer who has worked within both brands and agencies. Before moving to London, I was based in Dublin and I was a part of the ESA-winning AIB Sponsorship team. I am currently a Senior Account Director with CSM Sport and Entertainment based in London working across some fantastic brands and rights holders including Sage, Jaguar Land Rover, Betfair, CBS Arena, and Burnley FC. I was nominated as Ireland’s Young Marketer of the Year in the 2021 All-Ireland Marketing Awards and I have also been featured on Sport for Business & PWC’s ’30 Under 30 Leaders of Tomorrow List’.

Shane O’Sullivan

Prism Sport + Entertainment
UK
Managing Director

LinkedIn

Shane has more than 25 years’ experience consulting in the digital, communications and partnership space. During this time, he’s been the force behind a multitude of teams across brands spanning Finance, Technology, Entertainment, FMCG and Sporting sectors.

John Parker

Ear To The Ground
UK
Exec. Creative Director

LinkedIn

John began in Glasgow at The Sports Business working primarily in Scottish football sponsorship with Tennent’s Lager, Bells Whisky and CIS Insurance.

He then made the move to London and joined Hill & Knowlton, working with adidas on athlete and product campaigns across all sporting disciplines. He was also at the heart of a number of major rebrands including Carling’s sponsorship of the Football League Cup and the iconic Football Manager game franchise.

In 2005, John moved to the newly relaunched M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment, where he worked from Account Manager to Global Head of Creative; clients including Reebok, adidas, Orange, Samsung and Heineken, winning Sport Industry Agency of the Year a record five times.

Since 2020, John has worked with Ear to the Ground – as ECD and Managing Partner – leading creative across global accounts including New Balance, Coca-Cola, Sony PlayStation, Therabody and STATSports, and helped Ear To The Ground win multiple awards, including their first Sport Industry Agency of the Year award.

Rob Pearson

Teneo
IRELAND
Head of Sponsorship

LinkedIn

Rob is Head of Sponsorship with Teneo, a global strategic consultancy with over 40 years of Sport and Sponsorship experience. Based out of Dublin Teneo’s Sports Advisory team works across the full Teneo network supporting International and Irish brands and rightsholders to solve business critical challenges through sponsorship.

Aiste Petraityte

Electric Ireland
IRELAND
Brand & Sponsorship Manager

LinkedIn

Aiste has over 10 years’ experience in marketing, successfully delivering high impact sponsorship campaigns across major brands such as Electric Ireland, Three Ireland and the Royal Dublin Society.

In her current role as Brand & Sponsorship Manager at Electric Ireland, Aiste leads a team in activating their extensive sponsorship portfolio that includes GAA Minor & Higher Education Championships, Camogie Minor and Third Level Championships, Darkness Into Light and other properties.

Throughout her sponsorship career, Aiste has obtained broad experience in delivering 360° campaigns, managing complex contracts, negotiating rights and owning large budgets. Aiste has worked for both brands and rights holders across award-winning sport, music, entertainment and cause-related initiatives. Some of the projects she has worked on include the FAI, 20×20 initiative, Chelsea FC, Leinster Rugby, 3Arena, 3Olympia, the Dublin Horse Show, various conferences and festivals.

Tijana Popadić

SportIT – Sports marketing & managment
SERBIA
Executive Director

LinkedIn

Tijana has more than 10 years of experience in sports marketing and sponsorhip. She ran the marketing team of SportIT – first sports marketing agency in Serbia – and now is an Executive director. The agency proudly hosts many assets under one roof: Serbia Business Run, Belgrade Running Club, website Trčanje.rs, and consults for many organisations in terms of sponsorship.
This year Sportit will proudly organise its first Conference for Sports Business and Marketing.

Rupert Pratt

Sponsorworks
UK
Commercial Director

LinkedIn

A sports marketing expert with over 20 years’ experience working for international sponsors and rights holders. Rupert co-founded and ran Generate Sponsorship for 13 years, one of the UK’s leading Sports Marketing Agencies, working across integrated brand and rights holder campaigns prior to its sale to Mission Marketing PLC.

A Board Level Advisor, Consultant and Investor working with a variety of businesses in the Sports and Digital/ Technology Sector focused on the development and monetization of digital fanbases & rights.

Marco Raggi

42 Racing SA
SWITZERLAND
President

LinkedIn

I am a professional with over 30 years of activity in Sales & Marketing spent in various industries: Insurance and Telematics in particular. In the early 2000s I co-founded one of the first European web companies in the field of motor insurance price comparison.

Over the years I have worked closely with brands and agencies globally until, guided since childhood by a genuine passion for motorsports, I founded 42 Racing in 2017.

42 Racing is founded on the idea of a “boutique agency”, active in
– Sponsorship management,
– Driver mentoring and consultancy,
– and finding additional added value for Customers
resulting from my passion for and deep knowledge of motorsports.

John Raymond

TBC
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Sports & Entertainment Consultant

LinkedIn

After 12 years working in global sport, culture and entertainment in Europe, the Middle East and Africa on events such as the FIFA World Cup, a World Expo, and five editions of the Tour de France, I love seeing sponsorship done well.

Currently consulting to various rights holders and brands across the GCC. Previously, I’ve been Visa’s sponsorship lead for the region, looked after Expo 2020 Dubai’s sports sponsorship portfolio, and set up WPP agency Hill+Knowlton Strategies’ MENA Sponsorship Centre of Excellence.

Peter Raymond

PRS / ESA Diploma
UK
Course Director

LinkedIn

I’ve been in the industry over 35 years and have worked on many iconic sports sponsorship projects. The highlight of my career is probably as Head of International Sponsorship for Orange (1994-2002).

I have since run my own consultancy – PRS – and founded the ESA Diploma of which I am now Course Director.

Dan Reading

Sporting Giants
UK
Co-Founder

LinkedIn

Dan Reading has been working in sport for over 15 years having been fortunate to have worked for major events like London 2012 and various sporting World Championships. He has worked with brands such as SAP, Rolex, Vestas and Hempel as well as a wide range of global rightsholders such as World Sailing, International Olympic Committee, International Ice Hockey Federation and sport funders such as UK Sport and Sport England.

Dan was awarded the ‘Environmental Professional of the Year’ at COP 26 by the Society for the Environment and also won the Global Association for International Sport Federation’s Sustainability Award. Dan is recognised as a global thought leader in sustainability and sport and he was one of the Co-Chairs of the United Nation’s Sports For Climate Action Framework. Dan is Co-founder of Sporting Giants, an agency supporting brands and rightsholders realise their purpose potential.

Stuart Richmond

Reg&Co
UK
Director

LinkedIn

Stu has been a Director of Reg&Co for the past 8 years, managing a team of clients and staff to sell the rights for some of the UK’s most exciting rights-holders, from PhotoLondon, to Somerset House, to BBC Earth Experience. Stu has a wealth of experience from a sponsorship sales side and loves the challenge of finding and building great partnerships.
Prior to joining Reg&Co Stu took a couple of years out to look at the sponsorship strategy and sales of a number of rights-holders in Australia, including Ironman Australasia, PGA Tour and AFL.
Stu started his career working rights-holder side, working for Chelsea FC managing over £40m in contracted sponsorship assets for some of the worlds biggest brands, including Samsung, adidas, and Audi.

Hannah Robertson

CSM Sport & Entertainment
UK
Head of Marketing

LinkedIn

I am currently Head of Marketing at CSM Sport & Entertainment, having enjoyed six years here after joining as Group Marketing Manager in 2017. I have worked in the sports industry for over ten years, starting out at a digital start-up agency, with a stint at global health insurer AXA Healthcare as Communications Manager, before returning to agency life. Within my current role, my team and I manage the brand, marketing and communications for CSM globally, working across internal and external communications, webinars and events, PR and media relations, social media management and brand.

I recently completed Marketing Week’s Mini MBA in Marketing and Marketing Society’s Ones to Watch programme. Outside of marketing, I also sit on CSM’s European and Global Impact and Inclusion Councils as I am particularly passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion, especially within the sports industry.

Miles Rose

SportsPro
UK
Commercial Director

LinkedIn

An experienced commercial leader having worked in senior roles on brand, agency and rights holder side.
Raised in the sporting mecca of Melbourne, Australia, my passion for sport growing up led to a career in sports marketing & management.

A dual citizen in Australia and the UK, recent senior roles have included CSM, Swimming Australia, IRONMAN and my current role at SportsPro.

Career highlights to date have included being part of the Speedo sports marketing team seeing Michael Phelps win 8 gold in Beijing, leading the Emirates European sponsorships activations at CSM, creating the PR strategy and delivery for British Gas’ partnership of British Swimming leading into London 2012 and delivering the first ever live broadcast of the Women’s Tour cycling event.

Alice Samtoy

Samtoy Consulting
UK
Consultant

LinkedIn

Alice is a corporate partnerships expert based in Edinburgh with significant experience in the cultural sector. As a fundraiser, she delivered over £8m of value to arts organisations before moving into consulting. She has 16 years of industry experience and three academic degrees, offering her clients a powerful combination of theoretical knowledge and practical skills.

Before launching her consultancy, Samtoy Consulting, Alice worked for major cultural institutions such as the National Theatre, the Barbican Centre, English National Opera, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the City of London Festival and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

As a consultant, her clients have included Edinburgh International Festival, National Museums Scotland, Culture & Business Scotland and Durham University, among others across the third sector.

Andrew Selby

Deloitte
UK
Head of Partnerships

LinkedIn

Andrew leads Deloitte’s sponsorships & partnerships, he’s responsible for the collaborating with these relationships to unlock their potential, helping people to understand who Deloitte is and what it is they stand for.

Prior to Deloitte, he worked agency-side helping brands and rights holders to develop, manage and execute partnerships across several sectors and industries including FTSE 100 companies, start-ups, entrepreneurs, sport, media, automotive, FMCG, and fashion to name a few.

He is driven by the transformational impact which sport, activity, and entertainment can have on our lives – demonstrated by his work in this space, including his role as a Trustee of London Sport.

James Sephton

Performance Communications
UK
Director

LinkedIn

I am a passionate sponsorship and media professional with 20 years’ experience working with big sport, automotive and FMCG brands. I am a Director at Performance Communications, sports, automotive and technology specialists, heading up the sports division. My current role focuses on a varied mix of clients in golf, cycling, football and racehorse welfare.

Ania Shefford

Wasserman
UK
The Collective Lead, EMEA

LinkedIn

Ania has a rich history of driving impact in the worlds of sports, music and culture through partnerships. Currently serving as the EMEA Lead for The Collective (Wasserman’s women’s sports practice), she also helms Wasserman’s DEI Council in EMEA, emphasising her commitment to creating inclusive environments.

With over a decade of industry experience, Ania has worked with renowned clients such as Nike, FitBit, Reuters ,American Express, UEFA, Microsoft, MLB, BMW, and Bacardi. She has also made a mark in the sustainability realm, leading the delivery of Kia’s 2022 Australian Open sustainability sponsorship.

Ania’s career spans across various impactful sponsorship roles, including developing purpose-driven strategies for organisations such as Disney, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and ESPN.

Throughout her journey, Ania Shefford has consistently demonstrated a commitment to making a positive impact in the sports and entertainment industries, promoting diversity, sustainability, and social impact.

Kevin Smit

TeamViewer
UK
Team Lead – Sports Partnerships

LinkedIn

Kevin is responsible for managing TeamViewer’s strategy and partnerships with Manchester United and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. Having recently relocated permanently to London, he spent the last 7 ½ years at one of New Zealand’s largest banks working at a senior level nationally and internationally across sports, entertainment, culture and arts and social impact working with teams like the New Zealand All Blacks, St John Ambulance among others.

Prior to that, Kevin spent 10 years in the events industry delivering range of conferences, expos and community festivals. As a member of the European Sponsorship Association, Kevin spends his time regularly giving back to the industry and the next generation of partnership professionals through his support of the European Sponsorship Association Diploma.

Kevin holds a bachelors in Business Science with a focus on international management and entrepreneurship.

Paddy Somers

Teneo
IRELAND
Associate Director

LinkedIn

Paddy Somers is an Associate Director with Teneo’s Sports Advisory team and has over ten years’ experience in sponsorship strategy, sponsorship negotiation, commercial modelling for sporting organisations, sponsorship activation, sports marketing campaigning and research and insight development. The Team was named European Sponsorship Agency of the Year at the 2022 & 2023 European Sponsorship Awards. Paddy has devised and managed integrated marketing campaigns for brands across the Financial, Retail and Technology sectors. Paddy previously worked with AIB for 14 years where his most recent role was Senior Marketing Manager responsible for the management of AIB’s sponsorship team and portfolio, the brand was named Marketing Team of the year at the All-Ireland Marketing Awards in 2017 & 2018.

Abby Stanworth

Self Employed
UK
Partnership Consultant

LinkedIn

I am a partnership specialist with 15 years’ experience in the media industry. I have held numerous roles at market-leading organisations, including ITV and Maxus, and was most recently Head of Partnerships at mSix&Partners.

I have vast expertise across the entire media space, from traditional to emerging media, and broadcast to digital. This know-how helps me lead the conversation around the value of partnerships within the media industry.

My impressive track-record of partnering with clients at a comprehensive level is built on this idea that partnerships should be conducive to real, long-lasting collaboration, not limited to media buying. And I have consistently put that into action in award-winning projects, most recently at mSix&Partners. I was also named the UK Sponsorship Awards Media Sponsorship Champion for 2023.

Jonathan Steel

TEAM Marketing
SWITZERLAND
Head of Marketing Partnerships

LinkedIn

With one Canadian and one British parent and growing up in Germany and the UK; I’ve been raised with an international mindset, and since 2007 I’ve been involved in sponsorship. All of which to say ESA and I have much in common.

Since 2014 I’ve been involved in some of the biggest pan-European sponsorships in football, brand partnerships of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA men’s club competitions at TEAM Marketing in Switzerland.

Before that I worked in London and Dublin managing partnerships for the likes of HSBC, Heineken, adidas, Amlin and FedEx, with roles at European Rugby and Chime Sports Marketing.

My experience is mainly in sports, but I keep a healthy interest in other domains of sponsorship. It is the versatility and increasingly multi-faceted evaluation potential of sponsorship that maintains my overall interest in the marketing discipline.

Holly Stoker

Pitch Marketing Group
UK
Account Director

LinkedIn

I’m an avid sports fan and marketer with 10 years of agency experience, who revels in bringing big ideas to life through content creation, events, PR, digital marketing and experiential activations. I am the Partnerships Account Director at Pitch Marketing Group, working with brands across Premiership Rugby, Team GB (BOA), LFC and horseracing sponsorships. From creating a giant dachshund for Vitality, masterminding Heston Blumenthal cooking demos at cricket grounds, creating never been done before crossover Premiership rugby team content and orchestrating a battle of the Brut ambassadors (Anderson & Root) cricket match, it’s been a varied career so far! I’ve run sponsorships for Gallagher, Thinkmarkets, cinch, Waitrose, Laithwaite’s Wine’s, Dove Men+Care and Vitality, spanning rugby, football, cricket, mass participation events, hockey and netball. I also spent a fantastic three years in New Zealand, creating marketing and content campaigns primarily for adidas’s All Blacks sponsorship, but also for Ford, Mondelez and Pepsico.

Conor Talty

Future Proof Media
IRELAND
CEO

LinkedIn

Conor is a experienced marketer and business owner who set up Dublin based agency Future Proof Media in 2019. Conor has extensive experience in the sponsorship industry working on ESA Award winning and highly commended campaigns with brands such as AIB, AIG, Electric Ireland, Guinness and many more.

Conor also co-founded Future Proof Insights which is Ireland’s first Consumer Neuroscience agency. Consumer Nueroscience allows brands and agencies test consumers subconscious reaction to advertising and experiences using scientific tools like EEG (Brain Scanning), Eye Tracking, Facial Coding, GSR (Skin Conductivity), and heart rate.

Jon Tibbs

JTA
UK
Founder and Chair

LinkedIn

Founder and Chair of JTA and its purpose-driven sponsorship division, Partner on Purpose.

Highly skilled PR and communications professional with more than 20 years’ experience in international sport, helping International Federations, governing bodies and clubs build their brand, protect their reputation and activate meaningful sponsorships that make a positive change in society.

Hector Tulloch

TEAM Marketing AG
SWITZERLAND
Senior Marketing Partnerships Manager

LinkedIn

Sports marketing professional with 10+ years experience in developing and managing strategic partnerships on behalf of international rights-holders, agencies and brands.

Currently Senior Marketing Partnerships Manager at TEAM Marketing AG who, for over 30 years, has helped build some of the best football competitions – including the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League – while also creating a thriving network of long-standing commercial partners.

Previously part of the commercial operations department at Rangers Football Club as well as the agency team responsible for the activation of SAP’s sponsorship portfolio which included the City Football Group.

2018 ESA Diploma graduate.

Tonje Tuntland

DNB Bank ASA
NORWAY
Marketing – Sponsorship & Partnership

I am proud to be working with sponsorship and partnership marketing in DNB Bank ASA, Norway’s largest financial services group and one of the largest in the Nordic region in terms of market capitalisation. The innovative marketing department is well known for its award winning marketing and advertising campaigns.

Over the past 13 years I have worked with sponsorship and partnership marketing, event management and consulting for the educational sector, the sports industry and banking and finance. I am passionate about business and strategy driven sponsorships, and always get excited and inspired by clever sponsorship activation.

Gregg Turner

MotoGP Consulting
SWITZERLAND
Consultant

LinkedIn

Over 25 years working within Sports Sponsorship across multiple areas of delivery, brand side, agency side and rights holder side has offered me a fortunate career working on and with many iconic moments, deals, events and athletes. Sport remains a constant in my personal life as well as my professional life and I deeply enjoy finding new ways to improve experiences for fans, participants, indeed all those involved, drawing from those experiences. I am now based in Switzerland working on the UEFA National Team football commercial where we are now fully focused on delivering the best EURO tournament ever in Germany 2024.

Neal Van Loock

UCLL
BELGIUM
Coordinator and lecturer Event & Project Management UCLL

LinkedIn

I am coordinator of and lecturer in the elective track Event & Project Management under the bachelor degree Organisation & Management at the University College Leuven Limburg (UCLL) in Belgium.

Within this bachelor degree track I teach courses as Event Management, Event Trends & Skills, Event Production and Event Sponsorship so our students can become event professionals.

My favourite part within event organisation is for sure event sponsorship, probably due to my different educational and professional backgrounds coming together nicely: event management, marketing and communication science.

Last year I had the honour to be judge for the ESA Awards for the very first time and that was so amazing!

Filip Waegemans

SKAUT BV
BELGIUM
Sponsorship Expert & Co-founder

LinkedIn

I am a dedicated expert in sponsorship and partnerships with over 20 years of experience in sponsorship strategy, activation and contract negotiations. I have worked for brands, agencies and events to develop and execute their sponsorship strategies on a national and international level.

Our company Skaut was born after my career of +10 years in telecom and event sponsorship. Skaut’s mission is to inspire and connect brands and event organisers with one clear goal; to make sponsorship and partnerships more effective and efficient. We have a large event network that allows brands to easily enter the Benelux market.

Calum Watkins

Sony Interactive Entertainment / PlayStation
UK
Senior Manager, Global Sponsorships

LinkedIn

Calum is responsible for managing PlayStation’s global activation of key sports sponsorship programmes, with a focus on UEFA men’s and women’s football competitions.

Lauren Webb

Dentsu Sports Analytics
UK
Commercial Director

LinkedIn

Lauren is an insight & analytics expert with over 9 years experience working with Rights Holders, Brands and Agencies of all sizes across both the Sport & FMCG sectors, understanding their key business aims and supporting them, through insight, to achieve these.

Lauren joined dentsu Sports Analytics as Commercial Director in early 2023, following on from key business development roles at both YouGov Sport & Kantar Worldpanel. Within her role, Lauren analyses, investigates and understands stakeholder objectives across the whole sponsorship cycle, working with them to assess requirements and propose a solution of actionable insight to meet their business needs. This can cover scope from understanding their fan base, valuing an opportunity, to measuring impact.

Jean Willers

T&W
SOUTH AFRICA
Managing Director

LinkedIn

Jean is a sports industry professional with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and finance from the University of Stellenbosch, he holds a European Sponsorship Association post-grad diploma and a London School of Economics & Political Science certificate in data analysis.

He has over 10 years of experience in the business of sport, sponsorship & marketing industry. He is skilled in research, data analysis, and sponsorship valuation.

Currently, the Managing Director of T&W – South Africa’s leading content creation and marketing agency https://www.tandw.co.za/

Additionally, he is currently a board member of Nielsen Sports South Africa as well as Cash N Sports.

Elliot Willis

WEEM Group
UK
Founder & CEO

LinkedIn

I’ve worked in media for over 24 years and have enjoyed a variety of commercial and business leadership roles from corporations like ITV and Endemol to start ups such as The Hook and ChannelFlip. In 2021 I launched WEEM, an agency geared toward creating purpose driven partnerships and business services for brands and rights holders.

The past few years have been an incredible journey and my goals and drive are clearer than ever.

Since WEEM was founded I have worked hands on with 6 projects helping them navigate various businesses requirements from sales team performance, to social marketing and most recently working as the lead commercial consultant to find a naming rights partner for what is now known as Aviva Studios. I’m a new father and family man which has happily superseded me being an avid golfer… I would play every day if I could… if i didn’t work!

Luke Wilson

Millwall Football Club
UK
Chief Commercial Officer

LinkedIn

I have 15 years’ experience delivering high-profile sports marketing campaigns within a mix of both agency and rights-holder roles. In my current role as Chief Commercial Officer at Millwall Football Club I am responsible for developing and implementing the commercial strategy for the Club across partnerships, retail, hospitality and events.

I joined the Club following a two-year spell working within the Department for Business and Trade where I helped to further develop the delivery of sponsorship activities around Government events such as the Commonwealth games, Cop26 (UN Climate change summit) and EXPO 2020 Dubai.

Prior to this I have held positions as Head of Partnerships at Pitch Marketing Group – guiding negotiation, strategy and activation for brands such as cinch, Gallagher and TAG Heuer; TEAM Marketing – where I led a team responsible for managing half of the UEFA Champions League Official Partners; and Arsenal Football Club where I oversaw relationships with a number of Global and Regional Partners.

Gemma Woor

MKTG Sports + Entertainment
UK
Senior Client Director

LinkedIn

Gemma is an award-winning sponsorship and marketing lead with 10 years’ experience, working with some of the world’s biggest brands, rightsholders and talent. She is a fully integrated client lead with extensive experience in football, motorsports, rugby, tennis and Olympics, spanning FMCG, retail, tech and entertainment. Gemma’s career encompasses stints both rightsholder and agency side. Currently she’s a Senior Client Director and the global business lead for the agency’s largest account, Mondelez. Gemma heads up a team of 20, consulting high-profile clients on their partnership portfolio. From Mondelez to Manchester United, Formula 1 to FedEx, Neymar to Leah Williamson, Usain Bolt to UEFA, TeamGB, ATP, Wickes, Mastercard, Workday and Premier League, Bundesliga and EFL teams and players, Gemma helps brands navigate the sponsorship marketplace, find solutions and maximise return from their partnerships. Gemma’s experience enables her to spot opportunities, advise on strategy, implement activations and launch integrated partnerships.

Mike Wootton

Sponsorship Pantry
NEW ZEALAND
CEO/Founder

LinkedIn

Mike Wootton was named the inaugural winner of the New Zealand Sponsorship Professional of the Year Award.

He has worked for leading brands such as ASB Bank and AMP Insurance managing a number of prominent sponsorships.

His career has also seen him working on some of the world’s largest sporting events through the likes of Winter Olympics and Rugby World Cup.

Having been at the forefront of best practice sponsorship and events marketing in both New Zealand and abroad, Mike has been nominated for a number of New Zealand’s top marketing awards. Mike now focuses on training sponsorship professionals through his agency www.sponsorshippantry.com while also leading sponsorship for Gallagher.

Vero Zmijanac

SportIT – Sports Marketing & Management
SERBIA
Creative Director

LinkedIn

Veroljub Zmijanac is a partner at SportIT – Sports Marketing & Sponsorship is a series sports entrepreneur and sports marketing enthusiast with a background in marketing management, and information technology. Vero is interested in marketing communications both as a part of the marketing mix for business success and as a marketing per see, as concept, tool, and phenomenon that can bring positive changes and inspire people to live more active and reach life. His work in mainstreaming jogging, running, and running culture brought tremendous social change in Serbia, raising the number of people active in sports by a factor of 100 in the last 10 years. For his work in running in 2021, he won the second place BeActive Local Hero award, given by the European Commission through Europen Week of Sports.