Sophie Morris

ESA Chair
Sponsor View
(Research representative)

Sophie Morris is Co-Founder and Director of Sponsor View (formerly Millharbour Marketing). Sponsor View is the first-of-its-kind independent sponsor satisfaction research and measurement service helping rights holders identify how they can evolve their offering, improve their service and increase the value they provide to their sponsors.

Sophie has worked in marketing and sponsorship for over 20 years. She is a Chartered Marketer, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a member of the Market Research Society.

Sophie also sits on the Board of the Institute for Sport Business at Loughborough University and the Danish sponsorship group ‘SPOT:ON’ and judges sponsorship awards in the UK, Belgium, Slovenia and for ESA.

Nigel Geach

ESA Vice-Chair & Company Secretary
IRIS Sport
(Research/Insights representative)

Nigel is Director of Global Motorsport at Iris Sport.

Having been involved with sports marketing and sponsorship industry for over 35 years, he has seen the steady growth of the area of sponsorship evaluation as being a fundamental part of sponsorship activity.

Prior to his roles with Nielsen Sports, REPUCOM and Sports Marketing Surveys, he worked in the UK and America with multinational companies in the consumer durable industry after graduating in Business Management.

Nigel has been involved in sponsorship research since 1984 and has seen the massive growth of televised sport throughout the world.

Nigel has been an ESA Board Director for 16 years. He holds the position of Company Secretary, and brings a depth of knowledge and commitment to the Board, utilising his wealth of experience of people and techniques. Nigel was appointed Vice-Chair of ESA in June 2013.

Antony Douglass

Specsavers
(Brand & legal Professional Advisor representative)

Sport and Sponsorship expertise:

• An active member of the European Sponsorship Association.
• Broad ranging sport sponsorship experience (legal advisor) across several sports including rugby, football, cricket, F1/motorsport and golf.
• Helping deliver ‘The Specsavers Ashes’ in 2019 – one of the most significant sporting sponsorships at the time, incorporating grass roots, county and international cricket.
• Historically managing the affairs of sporting personalities, as well as acting for sporting clubs and associations – from establishment and rights management, through to professional contracting.

I am media response trained. I am equally comfortable around sports and sponsorship regulatory, as well as media work.

Karen Fan

ESA General Manager

Karen joined ESA in 2017 with 19 years’ experience working in sponsorship market research for the likes of City Football Group, The Ocean Race, Standard Chartered Bank, Bank of Ireland and Nissan. Karen also worked on compliance monitoring for the IOC and FIFA for three Olympic Games and one FIFA World Cup.

James Goode

IMG
(Agency & Rights Holder representative)

Over 20 years’ industry experience working either for or as a rights holder across a range of sport and entertainment properties predominantly in the UK, EMEA and US. History in aligning intuitive brands with consumers through passion point subject events.

Developed trusted long term relationships with brand stakeholders and IP owners across a broad range of business categories. Manage a team on a day-to-day basis across sponsorship, exhibition stand and hospitality sales, plus an account management function.

I also invest a lot of time in the business development space working with IP owners and external rights holders to develop experience based event opportunities.

Michael Hope-Milne

Pearl & Dean
(Media/ Rights Holder representative)

Mike has worked in the media industry for +25 years, 23 of which have had a core focus on sponsorship, promotions and creative commercial partnerships. He has worked on both the agency and media owner side in that time and developed a deep and well-rounded knowledge of media sponsorship.

He has been an active member of ESA’s Media Working Committee for the last 13 years and took on the role of Chair just under two years ago.

He currently works at Pearl & Dean as Enterprise Director – ultimately responsible for all revenue generation for the company, but with a specific focus on developing their commercial partnerships and developing new revenue streams.

Heli Kemppainen

(Brand representative)

Because of my professional experience – as a rights holder and a brand side sponsor – I have experience, skills and broad perspective of sponsoring. I am interested in influencing and broadening the operations, activities and network of the Association, and answering the continuing needs in the field of the sponsoring market. As a private person, I’m also very passioned for both sports and culture. I have 15 years’ experience in global sponsorships, event management, and brand marketing.

In my previous role, I’ve been leading Neste’s global brand marketing collaborations and sponsorships, and managing selected major brand and corporate events. Previously, I’ve also worked with the Finnish Automobile Association (country’s representative in FIA) as the Commercial Director being responsible for the FIA’s World Rally Championship Neste Rally Finland commercial partnership sales, brand marketing, and event management in a relationship with WRC and FIA.

In 2023, I was honoured to be one of the ESA Awards judges.

Rebecca Martin

Barclays
(Brand representative)

Rebecca (Becks) Martin has over 14 years’ experience in the brand, marketing and partnerships industry having worked for both fast-paced agencies, such as Fuse Sport & Entertainment and Pitch Marketing Group, as well as for blue-chip brands, such as Barclays and O2.

Becks has been implementing marketing strategies across sport, entertainment and gaming during her career, gaining C-Suite approval from brands such as Carlsberg, Renault, TSB, Gallagher, cinch and O2 which have resulted in driving objectives across both brand and commercial performance.

Becks is on the Board of the European Sponsorship Association, judges the UK Sponsorship Awards and is a Trustee of The Change Foundation.

Khadeen O’Donnell

Onclusive
(Agency representative)

Khadeen has worked in partnerships for the last 16 years and has re-joined the media intelligence industry at Onclusive, working with enterprise clients who need bespoke solutions across their organisations.

Khadeen was previously Head of Corporate & Strategic Partnerships at English National Ballet and Southbank Centre, working with clients as diverse as CHANEL, Cunard, NatWest, Diageo, Burberry, Heineken, Unilever and MasterCard. Khadeen is also a Board Director at b.supreme, a female street dance charity and has an MSc in CSR & Sustainability.

Risto Oksanen

Red Carpet Brand Alliances Oy
(Agency representative)

Risto is a passionate voice for sponsorship and events. He was Chair of the Board of the Finnish Sponsorship & Events Association (spot.fi) for a long time. He is CEO and partner in sponsorship agency Red Carpet Brand Alliances Oy (rcba.fi), working with both Brands and Right Holders in the Sports, Events, Culture and Movie sectors.

Risto works to reinforce the role of sponsorship in an ever-changing media landscape. He is also passionate about strengthening cooperation between European countries within the sponsorship industry.

Career highlights:

• Current work with both Brands and Rights Holders in the Sports, Events, Culture and Movie sectors
• Co-authored a book about the Values and Future of Sponsorship in 2018
• Highly respected keynote speaker and instructor
• Marketing Director, Finnish Football League Association – Veikkausliiga 2010-2017
• Various managerial positions for football and ice-hockey clubs since early 90’s
• Experience in information technology and international industrial trade.

Daragh Persse

The Brand Fans
(Agency representative)

Daragh Persse is a sponsorship specialist and Founder of The Brand Fans, an international independent sponsorship and cause marketing consultancy based in Dublin. Daragh was previously Global Sponsorship Director at Vodafone working with UEFA Champions League, Formula 1, Manchester United, England Cricket and numerous music artists, festivals and events. Daragh pioneered the development of a proprietary model for the evaluation of sponsorship properties on behalf of brands and rights holders. The Brand Fans work with numerous partners including Heineken, Santa Rita, Virgin Media, Energia, Barclays, AIG, Live Nation, Betway, Bacardi, IRFU, FAI and Leinster Rugby, working across strategy, planning, rights negotiation, activation and evaluation.

Martin Prendergast

The Brand Fans
(Agency representative)

I am an arts sponsorship professional with 30 years’ experience working with some of the world’s most exciting brands and arts organisations. I was Arts Manager at The Guardian where I helped create award-winning sponsorships across arts, books, music and film. As Deputy Director of Development at the National Theatre I quadrupled sponsorship income, and led the team to develop sponsorships with Aviva, AmEx, Bank of America, Coutts, Cisco, KPMG and ITV, amongst many others. My consultancy clients include RADA, LSO, Birmingham Hippodrome, Wilton’s Music Hall, Fane, and Lightroom, recently creating partnerships with The Guardian for Artichoke’s ‘The Gallery’, and between Sotheby’s and RADA.

I am a senior leader in ED&I and I played a leading role in RADA’s anti-racism strategy. I am a LGBTI+ campaigner, a Speaker for Schools, and a Creative UK Council member.

I am looking forward to helping ESA realise the untapped potential of arts sponsorship, and to help inspire, unite and grow a welcoming and diverse sponsorship industry.

Jenny Seymour

British Paralympic Association
(Rights Holder representative)

Accomplished sports sponsorship professional with 10 years’ experience in elite multi-sport competition, mass participation events and the charity sector. Currently, Commercial Director at the British Paralympic Association, across partnership activation, income generation and strategic planning.

As a rights holder for a membership organisation (comprised of NGBs/ key stakeholders), that works at both local and international level, I have knowledge and expertise across the sporting landscape, sponsorship trends and a network across UK and global sporting/ commercial organisations. The BPA’s partner portfolio includes those with global reach, with activations supporting brand awareness, consumer preference and driving positive societal change.

A well networked rights holder, with expertise in the territories that ESA operates, I believe that collaboration breeds success and enjoy championing the ESA membership cohort’s needs.

Misha Sher

EssenceMediacom
(Agency representative)

Misha Sher is Global Head of Sport, Entertainment and Culture at EssenceMediacom and has been at the forefront of the sponsorship industry for more than 15 years.

He has negotiated and advised on more than £1B in sponsorship investments with major sport & entertainment properties, including UEFA, IOC, NFL and F1 in more than 25 countries.

At MediaCom, he has built and scaled an award-winning global sport & entertainment business that sits at the intersection of sport, media, lifestyle and culture, with clients that include some of the biggest blue-chip brands like Toyota, Shell, Richemont, American Airlines and Allianz as well as top talent such as Pelé, Brian Lara, Mesut Özil and Eniola Aluko, to name a few.

Misha is a published author and his opinions are regularly featured in leading media outlets including The New York Times, BBC Radio4, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, CNN, Sky, CMO, The Drum, Marketing Magazine and Sport Business International.

Matt Stevenson

1986
(Agency representative)

Matt was Head of Sponsorship, Hospitality and Ticketing, and Talent at BT (covering both BT and EE), prior to co-founding 1986. He has over 20 years of brand and comms experience including 14 years dedicated to sponsorship and partnership activations, which has seen him work across brands such as Nike, O2, Orange and now BT and EE.

Before joining EE, Matt played a pivotal part in the launch of NikeTown London during his four years at the iconic brand. He then moved to O2, where he spent eight years leading the brand’s music sponsorship programme, which included the successful launch of the O2 Wireless Festival (now in its 15^th year).

At BT, Matt led a team of 14 responsible for the company’s sponsorship portfolio – the 4 x football Home Nations, Wembley Stadium, FA Cup, Glastonbury, BAFTA and Apprentice Nation – and its Hospitality and Ticketing offering, and sourcing Talent across the business for filming and various events.

Stuart Wareman

Accor
(Brand representative)

Stuart is SVP Global Sponsorship, Events & Experiences at Accor.

Based in Paris, Stuart leads the team coordinating and managing the hotel group’s global sponsorships, member experiences and corporate hospitality. The portfolio includes Paris Saint-Germain, Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Rugby World Cup France 2023, Roland-Garros, the Accor Arena, AEG, the Accor Stadium, SailGP & the Americas Cup, as well as multiple entertainment venues and food festivals around the world.

Before Accor, Stuart led the Partnerships team for Marriott in Europe, Middle East and Africa for nine years, including its credit card businesses and relationships with airlines, car rental and payment services in addition to major sponsorships such as Manchester United, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, NFL and AEG. Prior to this he worked for ten years at WPP sponsorship agency MEC Access (now Wavemaker) leading the event sponsorships team in London where he created, negotiated, activated and evaluated award winning sponsorships for brands such as Visa, Aviva, Danone, Wrigley’s, BT, Vodafone, Specsavers, Lloyds and Bacardi across sport and entertainment platforms.

Karen Fan

General Manager

Karen joined ESA in 2017 with 19 years’ experience working in sponsorship market research for the likes of City Football Group, The Ocean Race, Standard Chartered Bank, Bank of Ireland and Nissan. Karen also worked on compliance monitoring for the IOC and FIFA for three Olympic Games and one FIFA World Cup.

Jonathan Coates

Marketing, Communications and Events Manager

Jonathan joined ESA in 2021 having worked for five years at sportscotland, alongside a consultancy role with the International Modern Pentathlon Union. Prior to pivoting into marketing, communications and events, he had a 17-year career in sports journalism in the UK, Australia and Ireland.

Anna Jordan

Membership Manager

Anna joined ESA in 2022 with 15 years’ experience in sponsorship from agencies including brandRapport, CAA and Fuse. She has worked across sport and music sponsorships for brands including Vodafone, Samsung, Santander, Jaguar, E.ON and Prudential.

Ruth Luke

ESA Office & Admin

Ruth joined ESA in 2012 following 25 years in IT.