Michigan Sport Business Conference

The Michigan Sport Business Conference is excited to announce its next moderator, Sarah Herman!   Sarah Herman is an experienced sports media and business professional with over 15 years of experience in the sports industry. She is currently in her 9th season working at the National Football League, as a Director on the Club Business Development team. She focuses her day to day on consulting across the 32 executive leadership teams and Ownership groups, providing best practices for them to optimize their local businesses and international growth. Prior to her time at the NFL, she worked at Yahoo Sports! and Rivals.com. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California, a Master’s Degree in Communication Management from the University of Southern California, a Master’s Degree in Sports Industry Management from Georgetown University, and a certificate in the Fundamentals of Global Sports from New York University.

The Michigan Sport Business Conference is excited to announce its next panelist, Jelani Rooks! Jelani Rooks is a three-time Emmy award winning Coordinating Producer for CBS Sports’ industry-leading UEFA Champions League, Serie A, and Concacaf Men’s Nations League and Concacaf Women’s World Cup Qualifying coverage. In particular, Jelani has played a crucial role in CBS Sports becoming the leading destination for soccer coverage in the United States with its UEFA Champions League Today studio show, which has become appointment viewing for fans across the globe in addition to players and coaches throughout Europe. In addition to his production duties, Jelani is a production liaison responsible for daily interfacing across sales, marketing, operations, communications, editorial and social teams to align soccer goals and interests. Key to the success of CBS Sports’ success in the soccer media landscape have been Jelani’s contributions to cross-divisional content releases to keep all departments and messaging on brand for UEFA, Serie A and Concacaf properties. Prior to soccer - Jelani worked on numerous Super Bowls and Final Fours as a production lead.

The Michigan Sport Business Conference is excited to announce its next panelist, Charles Baker! Charles Baker co-chairs Sidley’s Entertainment, Sports and Media industry group. Chuck represents investors in professional sports businesses and teams and advises on sports and entertainment transactions. With decades of experience in the sports industry, Chuck has represented franchise owners across multiple leagues, including the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), Major League Soccer (MLS), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Hockey League (NHL), the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), Liga MX, and multiple European football leagues. He recently advised on the record-breaking US$6.05B purchase of the Washington Commanders, the acquisition of the Charlotte Hornets, and the acquisition of the NWSL’s Chicago Red Stars. Chuck also represented the owners of Angel City FC and KC Current soccer franchises in their expansion into the NWSL and handles all of their commercial deals. Recently, he represented the owners of the Premier Hockey Federation, the top international women’s hockey league in their sale to launch the PWHL, as well as the Professional Fighters League (PFL) in their investment by SURJ Sports Investment of Saudi Arabia and the acquisition of Bellator MMA from Paramount Global.

The Michigan Sport Business Conference is excited to announce its next moderator, Sarah Schell! Sarah Schell is VP of Data, Analytics, and Marketing for New York-based GameChanger, a DICK’S Sporting Goods sports technology company. In this role, she is responsible for leading and overseeing the marketing and data-related functions within the organization. This includes collecting, managing, analyzing, and interpreting data from the over 7M+ games and 750K youth sports teams on GameChanger each year. Since joining the team in 2016, Sarah has transformed how the organization leverages data. Under her guidance, the data and analytics team has expanded from two to 15 teammates, firmly establishing data as a critical factor in the organization's decision-making process. Blending her knowledge of biostatistics and epidemiology earned through a Master's in Public Health from Columbia with her experience in SaaS analytics, she is uniquely qualified to examine the behavior of populations, understand causal inference, and navigate sparse data. As a former collegiate basketball point guard, Sarah is fueled by her passion for helping others do their job well. Her love for GameChanger is rooted in the joy of seeing young people grow and develop through sports. Sarah currently resides in Brooklyn with her partner Amelia and daughter Naomi.

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The Michigan Sport Business Conference is excited to announce its first moderator, Dannie Rogers! Dannie Rogers is a 2017 Sport Management grad who was born and raised in Monroe County. After two and a half years in local TV in Toledo post grad, Dannie and a handful of other Michigan Football assistants embarked on the cross country trek to the University of Arizona where Dannie was named team reporter for the Wildcats. Six short months later, she returned home for an opportunity of a lifetime, to report on her hometown team, the Detroit Lions. After an NFC North championship season where Dannie reported on Dan Campbell’s team's journey to the NFC Championship game, she will be heading into her fourth NFL season. During college football season, Dannie sideline reports for the Big Ten Network and hosts for Sirius XM radio. #MSBC

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The Michigan Sport Business Conference is excited to announce its first panelist, Gary Zenkel! Gary Zenkel has been President, NBC Olympics, since 2005. In this role, he oversees NBC’s Olympic business and works closely with the International Olympic Committee, U.S. Olympic Committee and NBC’s distribution partners and affiliates to advance coverage, distribution and marketing while navigating the constantly changing media landscape. Since the acquisition of NBCUniversal by Comcast in 2011, Zenkel has led two successful NBCU acquisitions of U.S. media rights to the Olympic Games and has also been instrumental in major soccer acquisitions for NBCU, including Telemundo’s exclusive Spanish-language U.S. media rights to FIFA World Cup® Soccer from 2015 through 2026, and NBC Sports Group’s three-season Premier League acquisition in 2013. Before serving as President of NBC Olympics, Zenkel served as Executive Vice President of NBC Olympics, Senior Vice President of Business Development and Marketing at NBC Olympics, and Vice President of NBC Sports and Executive Assistant to NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol. During that period he played a major role in NBC’s acquisition, contract negotiations, and renewals of the Olympics, French Open, Major League Baseball, Notre Dame Football, PGA Tour, U.S. Golf Association championships and Ryder Cup. Zenkel joined NBC Sports in 1990 as Director of Sports Contract Negotiations. Prior to joining NBC Sports, Zenkel was a corporate associate with Cahill, Gordon & Reindel, a New York City-based law firm. Zenkel graduated from the University of Michigan in 1983 and from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1987. He was a two-year letterman on the Wolverines golf team. Stayed tuned for more and look out for our tickets dropping THIS WEDNESDAY. #MSBC

Our MSBC 13 BIG Initiative Applications are now open! The BIG Initiative Award is given to a group of select students who are trailblazers in the sports industry. Use the link below to apply and learn more! https://lnkd.in/eRyEGxZX

We’re excited to spotlight Pamela Bebry, Will Biagi, and Jill Ashinsky, all of whom are part of our Ambassador Program this year! Hear more about why these industry professionals wanted to get involved with MSBC and their advice for aspiring sport business leaders.