Welcome to Sportico’s transactions wire, a weekly rundown of personnel, partnerships and products across the sports business industry.
PERSONNEL
Martin Shankland to Step Down From Executive Board and Leave Adidas AG
Martin Shankland, executive board member for global operations, has informed Adidas AG’s supervisory board that, after 27 years with the brand, he will step down from the executive board and leave the company. Shankland joined Adidas Russia/CIS in 1997. After leading Adidas emerging markets region from 2017, Martin joined the executive board in 2019, with responsibility for product operations, sourcing and supply chain as well as tech, data & analytics, non-trade-procurement and sustainability. Hoa Ly, SVP sourcing, will have responsibility for all sourcing operations at Adidas reporting. Adidas CFO Harm Ohlmeyer will assume additional responsibility for supply chain and tech.
Under Armour Names Eric Liedtke Executive VP of Brand Strategy
Eric Liedtke has joined Under Armour as executive vice president of brand strategy following the completion of its acquisition of Unless Collective Inc., a zero-plastic regenerative fashion brand. After a 26-year career at Adidas Group, culminating in his roles as brand president and executive board member from 2014 to 2019, Liedtke and industry executives from Adidas, Quicksilver and R/GA set out in 2020 to found Unless and pioneer a way for the industry to prove that plants could replace plastics in the creation of apparel and footwear. Liedtke will be accountable for amplifying Under Armour’s brand identity and storytelling, its strategic planning process and initiatives that accelerate growth.
Mets Introduce Christina King as Chief People Officer
The New York Mets have appointed Christina King as the organization’s first chief people officer and a member of the executive leadership team. King brings human resources experience from past roles at NYCFC, Brooklyn Nets and Endeavor. As part of this role, King will oversee the human resources function including the development of a people strategy for the team, focusing on key areas such as talent development, recruitment, employee benefits, driving workplace culture, employee engagement and DE&I.
Scripps News Hires Paul Crane as Full-Time Sports Reporter
Scripps News, the national network owned by The E.W. Scripps Company, is adding a full-time on-air sports reporter to its lineup of correspondents. Paul Crane has been a regular sports contributor at Scripps News for the past two years and will begin his new full-time correspondent duties on Aug. 12. He will appear on programs across the network. Crane has more than three decades of experience spent mostly as a sports anchor, reporter and play-by-play announcer, including three years of professional basketball in India. His past coverage includes several Super Bowls, college national championships, Final Fours, two Olympics and other major sporting events.
National Pickleball League Names Sonia Burda as Chief Financial Officer
Sonia Burda has been appointed the fractional chief financial officer of the National Pickleball League. She will lead the financial operations of the NPL’s 12-team champions pro (50+) pickleball league. Burda’s role includes supporting the league’s main strategic objectives of team expansion and audience development. Her background includes work in entertainment, digital media, esport and talent representation, including her most recent role with eOne/Lionsgate. Burda’s more than 20 years of experience as an executive also includes roles with Guitar Center, Axiomatic Gaming, International Creative Management and Ernst & Young.
PARTNERSHIPS
Scout, SANIL Announce Strategic Partnership to Empower College Athletes
Scout, a financial guidance and education platform for college athletes, and SANIL, the largest commercial operator of NIL collectives in the United States, announced a partnership designed to enhance the financial well-being of college athletes. Through the collaboration, SANIL will facilitate the integration of Scout’s financial platform across its network of over 50 partner universities, delivering crucial financial training, tax preparation and ongoing support to more than 20,000 college athletes.
Panini America to Partner With The Rolling Stones for Career Trading Card Set
Panini America has partnered with The Rolling Stones to produce the first fully-licensed career spanning trading card set of the band. Coming off the group’s Hackney Diamonds 2024 North American Tour, Panini will release Prizm The Rolling Stones. The card set will celebrate more than 60 years of the Stones as a band and chronicle their music and record-setting tours. The collection will be headlined by the case-hit Panini’s Color Blast featuring frontman Mick Jagger, drummer Charlie Watts and guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood in front of a color burst Tongue and Lips logo. The Prizm collection will also include a 100-card base set with more than 15 different color parallels.
Sports Illustrated Tickets Partners With Kraft Sports + Entertainment
Sports Illustrated Tickets has partnered with Kraft Sports + Entertainment to become the Official Fan Experience Sponsor of the New England Patriots, Gillette Stadium and New England Revolution. The sponsorship will include a range of exclusive fan experiences offered by Sports Illustrated Tickets for its customers throughout the year. Additionally, Authentic Brands Group, owner of the Sports Illustrated brand, has partnered with Kraft Sports + Entertainment to reimagine Gillette Stadium’s 10,000-square-foot hospitality space in the North End Zone concourse as the Sports Illustrated Pavilion later this year. It will feature multiple screens including a 24-foot video wall, premium food and beverage offerings and a photo booth allowing fans to create their own complimentary Sports Illustrated digital cover in minutes.
Cam Heyward Joins Vox Media in Podcast Partnership With SB Nation
Vox Media announced a partnership with reigning NFL Walter Payton “Man of the Year” and Pittsburgh Steelers team captain, Cam Heyward, who will bring his weekly show, Not Just Football, to SB Nation. Each week on Not Just Football, Heyward and his co-host and best friend of 20 years, Hayden Walsh unpack the biggest stories from around the NFL and share their unfiltered thoughts on the latest sports and pop culture news. Welcoming a rotating cast of athletes, coaches, and celebrities, recent guests on the show have included Lil Wayne, Seth Meyers, Michael Keaton and James Harrison. Vox Media will assume marketing, sales and distribution for the show, which will continue to publish across platforms that include Apple, Spotify, YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. The show joins Vox Media from ESPN, which was its home until earlier this year.
PURCHASES
Avoli’s Initial Funding Seed Round Raises Over $2.1 million
Avoli, an athletic brand for women and girl volleyball players, closed its initial funding round that had originally been targeted at $1.5 million. The company’s initial seed round raised over $2.1 million, with investments coming from a range of investors, including athletic footwear founders and manufacturers, volleyball industry professionals and professional investors. The proceeds will fund working capital and growth initiatives including strategic hires, increased brand marketing and broadening the availability of its market-leading footwear. The angel investors who have made personal investments in Avoli come from the arenas of tech, consumer products, volleyball and respected founders in footwear manufacturing and innovation. They include: Ho Nam (managing director and co-founder at Altos Ventures), Blythe Jack (former managing director at both TSG Consumer Partners and Rosewood Capital) and Pete Saperstone (partner at Greycroft Partners).
PRODUCTS
Underdog Fantasy to Host New Football Show
Former Around the NFL hosts Dan Hanzus and Marc Sessler will host a new football show—Heed the Call—on the Underdog Fantasy media network. The show will debut on Aug. 12, and will air three times per week during the 2024 preseason and five times per week throughout the regular season, including their flagship recap on Sunday night. The show will cover every game and all the news and transactions during the football season. It will be available on all major podcast streaming platforms and on Underdog’s YouTube channel. The announcement of the launch of Heed the Call comes a week after Bill Belichick announced he will be creating and hosting a new football show with Underdog.
Life Time Files Patent, Announces The Ultimate Pickleball
Life Time has filed a patent for The Ultimate Pickleball. Designed to address common issues of inconsistent speed, bounce and durability, the new patent-pending ball will be unveiled during an exclusive event featuring tennis legend and pickleball fan, Andre Agassi, at Life Time’s PENN 1 in New York City on Aug. 19. Pickleballs currently on the market often play too slow, or the faster balls preferred by pros and higher-end players are inconsistent in bounce and have significant issues with durability. As an avid pickleball player and engineer, Life Time founder, CEO and chairman Bahram Akradi collaborated with his team to design a new pickleball with features to address these issues.
