Executive Transactions: LA28 names Sparks' Vanessa Shay VP/Sales

Oct 22, 2023

LA28 named L.A. Sparks President VANESSA SHAY VP/Sales. Shay will be leveraging her years of experience in the L.A. market to grow the commercial program of the Games, which are privately funded and through commercial revenue will be delivered at no cost to L.A. taxpayers. She will report to LA28 Chief Commercial Officer CHRIS PEPE (LA28).

Logitix named General Sports Worldwide EVP/Exec Search and Team Consulting TRAVIS APPLE CRO. Previously, he served as VP/Ticket Sales and Service for the Marlins and Senior Dir of Team Marketing and Business Operations for the NBA, where he oversaw ticketing for all NBA, WNBA and G-League teams. The company also recently named Amazon Web Services Head of Worldwide Sales Strategy & Operations (Microsoft Workloads) MICHAEL RAMIREZ VP/Business Operations (Bret McCormick, SBJ).

The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics named Washington State Univ. AD PAT CHUN President for the 2023-24 academic year. Chun has served as a NACDA Officer since 2021 and was previously a NACDA Exec Committee member from 2016-20. Chun replaces Southern Methodist Univ. AD RICK HART, whose tenure concluded earlier this summer (Washington State Univ.). Meanwhile, the NACDA also named Northern Illinois Univ. VP and AD SEAN FRAZIER 3rd VP for 2023-24. Frazier previously served in a leadership role as a member of the NACDA Exec Committee from 2016-20 and served as President of the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association from 2010-13 (Northern Illinois Univ.).

Mitchell & Ness named Nike Global VP & GM of Jordan Brand's men's business ELI KUMEKPOR CEO. While at Nike, Kumekpor served as co-Chair of the Nike Black Employee Network and was a member of the Nike Black Community Commitment Taskforce, a select group of executives responsible for leading the organization’s $140M commitment to Black communities. Kumekpor will be based in Irvine, Calif. and report to Fanatics Vertical Brands CEO JOE BOZICH (Mitchell & Ness).

Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Company named former Scene75 COO VAL MCGEE SVP/Revenue. McGee will lead efforts to create and integrate revenue streams throughout the company's business verticals, which include media and gaming. McGee's 30-year career in the hospitality and family entertainment industries also includes time spent at Great Wolf Resorts and Six Flags/Geauga Lake (Hall of Fame Resorts & Entertainment).

The Warriors promoted SPENCER ARBURN to Senior Account Exec for Group Sales (SCW), MICHAELA ROUAN and TAMMY SERRATO to Managers of VIP Guest Services, ANNIKA KELSEY to Manager of Ticket Sales with GSW, PRATEEK SAINI to Manager of People Systems & Analytics, SANTI MANCHANDA to Manager of Parking, NICOLE CANN to Manager of Membership Services, JAZMYN HAMMONS and KALINA HENDERSON-GEBEYEHOU to Managers of Box Office Operations, MIKHAIL ZUBOVICH to IT Systems Administration Manager and LILY JOHNSON to Manager of Event Services (Warriors).

These career changes are recorded every day in the SBJ Atlas Executive Directory. With more than 64,000 contacts curated over 15 years and boosted by the power of DemandBase, the SBJ Atlas Executive Directory provides clients with a searchable database of the most relevant executives.

To have your personnel announcements included in “Executive Transactions,” please send information to [email protected].

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