Deni Avdija

NBA All-Star Player
Portland Trail Blazers

Deni Avdija is an emerging star and a leading contender for the NBA Most Improved Player Award. Through the first half of the 2025-26 campaign, he was one of only three players to average 25 or more points, 7 or more rebounds, and 6 or more assists per game.

Avdija, the son of a former professional basketball player, played for Maccabiah in Israel before entering the NBA as a 2020 first-round pick of the Washington Wizards. He spent four seasons in Washington, steadily improving, before joining the Trail Blazers in a 2024 trade. Nicknamed “Turbo” because of his speed and video-game like ability to flip a switch and blow by defenders, Avdija has soared in the Pacific Northwest. Last season, he became the first Israeli-born player to record triple-double in the NBA, and this season he became the first Israeli to be named an All-Star.

Bela Bajaria

Chief Content Officer
Netflix

Bela Bajaria joined Netflix in 2016 and was named chief content officer in January 2023. She oversees the teams responsible for all Netflix content from around the world including series Stranger Things, Squid Game, Wednesday, Bridgerton, Heeramandi and Lupin, and films Leave the World Behind, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F and Oscar® winners All Quiet on the Western Front and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. Bajaria led Netflix’s push into live events and sports with specials such as “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” “The Roast of Tom Brady” and multiyear deals with the NFL and WWE.

Prior to Netflix, Bajaria was president of Universal Television. Past honors include THR’s “100 Most Powerful Women in Entertainment” list, Variety’s Women’s Impact Report, TIME’s “100 Most Influential People of 2022,” and Fortune’s “Most Powerful Women” for the past five years. Bajaria serves on the boards of The Coca-Cola Company and the Paley Center for Media.

Steve Ballmer

Chairman
LA Clippers

Steve Ballmer is co-founder of Ballmer Group and owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. Ballmer retired as chief executive officer of Microsoft in 2014 after leading the company for nearly 14 years. He remains a significant investor.

Through philanthropy and civic activism, Ballmer Group strengthens promising and proven approaches that increase economic mobility for children and families in the U.S. Ballmer also leads USAFacts, a project seeking to improve transparency in government, including disclosing taxes and borrowings raised, money allocated and spent, and outcomes achieved, much as corporations do through their 10-K reports.

Ballmer became Microsoft’s CEO in 2000, having served for 20 years in roles as president, senior vice president of sales and support, senior vice president of systems software, and vice president of marketing. He was the company’s first business manager. During his tenure Microsoft grew to almost $80 billion in revenue and was the third most profitable company in the U.S.

Mary Ellen Coe

Chief Business Officer
YouTube

Mary Ellen Coe serves as the chief business officer for YouTube, driving business opportunities spanning YouTube’s vast creator, music artist and media partner ecosystem. With YouTube as the home of the creative economy and the epicenter of culture, content and building businesses, Coe leads all global business operations with a mission to invest in creators, engage viewers, and drive monetization to fuel YouTube’s growth via ads and subscriptions. She also leads product, content and distribution partnerships spanning businesses including YouTube TV, YouTube Music, and YouTube Premium.

Previously, Coe served as the president of Google Customer Solutions, overseeing the global ads business for mid-market and small businesses, serving millions of customers and thousands of partners worldwide. Prior to joining Google in 2012, she was a senior partner at McKinsey & Company for 12 years, where she advised leading consumer, media and tech companies, and led the consumer marketing and sales practice in North America.

Shayne Coplan

Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Polymarket

Shayne Coplan is the founder and CEO of Polymarket, the world’s largest prediction market. Coplan left NYU in 2020 to build Polymarket with the vision of making real‑time, information‑driven forecasting accessible to everyone. The platform has since grown into a cultural and financial force, enabling millions of users to trade on outcomes spanning politics, sports, entertainment, global events, and more.

Rick Cordella

President
NBC Sports

Rick Cordella was named president, NBC Sports in September 2023, and oversees all aspects of NBC Sports’ collection of brands and platforms, which includes NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, and NBC Sports Digital. He also oversees sports on Peacock.

He joined NBCUniversal in 2006 and has served in a variety of leadership roles. In 2022, Cordella was named president, programming, NBC Sports and Peacock Sports, where he led NBCU’s sports programming strategy across broadcast, cable and streaming. Cordella previously served as chief commercial officer, Peacock; executive vice president and general manager, digital media, NBC Sports; and general manager, fantasy sports.

Prior to joining NBCU, Cordella served as Rotoworld’s general manager.

Cordella earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from Providence College and an MBA from Boston College.

Matt Garman

Chief Executive Officer
Amazon Web Services

Matt Garman has served as CEO Amazon Web Services (AWS) since June 2024. He has been at Amazon since 2006 and helped launch the initial set of AWS services. Garman previously served as senior vice president, AWS sales, marketing, and global services and has held a variety of leadership positions in AWS, including responsibility for product management, engineering, and operations for all compute and storage services at AWS. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial engineering from Stanford and an MBA from Northwestern.

David Blyth Hill

President
Hilly, Inc.

Much of what we see on televised sports today is because of David Hill, a legendary executive who transformed the industry. He got his start in 1981 at Nine Network in Australia, and then joined News Corporation in 1988, helping to launch Sky Television and starting and running Sky Sports and Eurosport.

In 1994, Hill helped launch FOX Sports Media Group, and during the next two-plus decades he built a powerhouse media organization while introducing numerous broadcasting innovations, including the scoreboard on the screen, ground-level cameras and microphones, and freewheeling pregame shows. He also served as president of FOX Network, executive producer of the 2016 Academy Awards telecast, executive producer of American Idol, production consultant for F1, and chairman of National Geographic TV. Currently he is the president of Hilly, his own production company.

Mike Hopkins

Head, Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios
Amazon

Mike Hopkins is head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, a role in which he oversees all aspects of Amazon’s video entertainment business. Hopkins leads the strategic vision, product development and technology behind Amazon’s industry-leading video service, while also overseeing Amazon MGM Studios’ film and television divisions, as well as Prime Video’s live sports and licensed content offerings. Hopkins joined Amazon in February 2020.

Under Hopkins, Prime Video has achieved unprecedented scale, building an international sports portfolio that includes a global media rights agreement with the NBA, NFL Thursday Night Football, Premier League, and UEFA Champions League, all while expanding Amazon MGM Studios’ global Original programming across film and series.

Prior to joining Amazon, Hopkins was chairman of Sony Pictures Television and CEO of Hulu.

Bill Hornbuckle

Chief Executive Officer & President
MGM Resorts International

William (Bill) J. Hornbuckle is CEO and President of MGM Resorts International, a global entertainment company with iconic hotels and casinos, meeting and conference spaces, live entertainment, and diverse dining and retail offerings. MGM Resorts’ portfolio includes some of the most recognizable resort brands in the industry, such as Bellagio, MGM Grand, ARIA, Mandalay Bay, and Borgata, along with international properties such as MGM Macau and MGM Cotai. As CEO, Hornbuckle oversees strategy, operations, and hospitality and gaming development projects, driving global expansion including integrated resort developments in Japan and Dubai, and leading digital gaming initiatives. He successfully guided the company through the COVID-19 pandemic and led acquisitions of CityCenter and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. He also serves as Chair of the U.S. Travel Association, a nonprofit dedicated to growing travel and tourism to the United States.

Amy Howe

Chief Executive Officer
FanDuel Group

Amy Howe serves as the CEO of FanDuel Group with responsibility for the company’s full portfolio of business units across its sportsbook, casino, racing, and daily fantasy platforms. In this role, she is responsible for driving commercial success across the company’s marketing, technology, product, and regulatory practices, ensuring that FanDuel Group maintains its market-leading position as North America’s preeminent mobile gaming operator.

Prior to being named FanDuel Group’s CEO, Howe served as its president, overseeing the company’s core commercial operations and playing a critical role in shaping the company’s growth strategy and operational excellence. She joined FanDuel Group from Live Nation Entertainment, where she held several positions of increasing authority during her tenure, culminating in her role as chief operating officer of Ticketmaster. Howe previously enjoyed a distinguished career as a partner at McKinsey & Company, one of the world’s premier management consulting firms.

Andre Iguodala

Executive Director
National Basketball Players Association

Andre Iguodala is the executive director of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). In this role, Iguodala works on behalf of NBA players to ensure their rights are protected, and they are fairly compensated for the tremendous value they bring to the court and as ambassadors of the game worldwide.

A four-time NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors, Iguodala played 19 seasons, earning NBA All-Star honors, an NBA Finals MVP Award, and two Olympic Gold Medals for Team USA.

Since 2010, Iguodala has been an accomplished venture partner with a portfolio that spans more than 50 companies. Known for his keen business savvy, he recently co-founded MOSAIC, a $200 million early-stage venture capital firm focused on enterprise, fintech, healthcare, and sports companies.

From his Illinois hometown to becoming an NBA champion, Iguodala documented his journey of grit and resilience in his 2019 New York Times best-selling memoir, The Sixth Man.

Carsten Koerl

Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Sportradar

Carsten Koerl is founder and CEO of Sportradar. Under his leadership, Sportradar has grown from a technology start-up into a global leader in sports data, analytics and technology services for leagues, media and technology companies and betting operators, and is publicly listed on NASDAQ. Before founding Sportradar, Koerl held a number of management roles in software development and gaming, including founding betandwin Interactive Entertainment AG (later known as Bwin) in 1997. Koerl holds a master’s degree in electronic and microprocessor engineering from the University for Applied Sciences in Konstanz, Germany.

Paul Liberman

Co-Founder & President, Operations
DraftKings

Paul Liberman co-founded DraftKings in 2012 and maintains strategic leadership and global accountability for DraftKings’ technology platform, product, and IT functions. He has acted as CTO, CMO, and COO before moving into his current position as president of operations. Liberman’s data-driven mindset has been instrumental in catapulting DraftKings from a small Boston start-up to a global sports-tech entertainment enterprise. Under his leadership, Liberman’s team has developed award-winning, stand-alone apps and products across daily fantasy, regulated gaming, digital media and more.

Liberman attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute where he received his degree in electrical engineering and computer science.

Luana Lopes Lara

Chief Operating Officer
Kalshi

Luana Lopes Lara is co-founder and COO of Kalshi, the world’s largest federally regulated financial exchange for trading on events.

The exchange trades hundreds of millions of contracts monthly and offers contracts on politics, sports, economics, and entertainment, among many others. Kalshi has raised over $500 million in funding from investors including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Paradigm, and Spark Capital. Before founding Kalshi, Lopes Lara worked as a quantitative trader at Citadel Securities and as a software engineer at Bridgewater Associates. She earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and mathematics at MIT. She was a professional ballerina with the Bolshoi Ballet School before starting at MIT. She is originally from Brazil.

Tarek Mansour

Chief Executive Officer
Kalshi

Tarek Mansour is the co-founder and CEO of Kalshi, the world’s largest federally regulated financial exchange for trading on events.

Founded in 2018, Kalshi created and established prediction markets as a new financial asset class called “event contracts,” which allow traders to take positions on whether a future event will happen or not. Users can trade on real-world events to predict the outcomes of events that have real-time market impact, such as elections, economic indicators, cultural moments, and more. Kalshi has ushered in a fundamental shift in consumer behavior, where people have gone from passive watchers to active participants in what’s happening around them in the world.

Mansour previously worked as a quantitative trader at Goldman Sachs and Citadel. He received a bachelor degree in computer science and mathematics, and a masters in engineering from MIT. He is from Lebanon and was a professional skier for some time.

Adam Mosseri

Head
Instagram

Adam Mosseri is the head of Instagram, where he is responsible for overseeing the engineering, product, and business teams, as well as shaping the app experience. He is also responsible for leading the Threads team as the company’s newest app. A designer by training, Mosseri enjoys the challenge of marrying sharp design thinking with thoughtful product strategy to create experiences that bring people together.

Mosseri has been at Meta for more than fifteen years. He started at Meta as a designer for Facebook’s mobile app before moving to product management, where he led the Facebook News Feed product and engineering teams, and served as the head of Facebook News Feed.

Mosseri began his career founding a design consultancy focused on graphic, interaction, and exhibition design before joining TokBox as the company’s first designer. Mosseri earned a bachelor’s degree from the Gallatin School of Interdisciplinary Study at NYU, where he studied information design and media.

Candace Parker

Analyst
NBA on Prime

Candace Parker was named a game and studio analyst for NBA on Prime prior to the inaugural season of Prime Video’s exclusive NBA coverage.

Parker has solidified herself as one of the most influential athletes of her generation and is widely regarded as one of the greatest WNBA players of all time. Selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks following her championship career at Tennessee, Parker made an immediate impact in the league. She became the first player to earn WNBA MVP and Rookie of the Year honors in the same season. Throughout her illustrious career, Parker captured three WNBA championship titles and earned two Olympic gold medals with Team USA.

Since retiring from the WNBA, she has become a public speaker, activist, and entrepreneur. Directly after retiring, Parker was named president of Adidas women’s basketball. She also has established herself as an esteemed analyst already, as she has provided coverage for TNT Sports since 2018.

Jimmy Pitaro

Chairman
ESPN

Jimmy Pitaro was named chairman, ESPN in February 2023, responsible for full operational control of ESPN, one of the three core business segments of The Walt Disney Company. This includes the management and supervision of the organization’s full portfolio of sports content, products and experiences across all of Disney’s platforms worldwide.

A visionary leader, Pitaro has identified and consistently communicated internally and externally the following business priorities–direct-to-consumer, innovation, storytelling and programming, and audience expansion–with diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging woven through it all.

In 2025, Pitaro oversaw the launch of ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer streaming service, with an enhanced ESPN app. ESPN has reached landmark rights agreements with the NBA, NCAA, NFL, MLB, WWE, NHL and more during Pitaro’s leadership. ESPN continues to strengthen its hold on digital and social platforms, standing as number one among U.S. digital sports properties.

Jesse “Jesser” Riedel

Founder
Bucketsquad

Jesse “Jesser” Riedel is a two-time Streamy Awards winner and founder of Bucketsquad, the creator-led sports and lifestyle company redefining how fans experience sports entertainment. With more than 45 million followers and 8 billion YouTube views, Riedel has built a blueprint for how creators can scale their influence into global enterprises. His work spans content, commerce and community, including collaborations with the NBA, NFL and top athletes across sports culture. He has partnered with leading brands such as Nike, Amazon, Meta, Netflix, Paramount and EA Sports, while becoming one of the NBA’s most visible creator partners. In 2025, he served as the official fan vote host and judge for the NBA Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend in San Francisco, appearing courtside with legends Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady. Through Bucketsquad Apparel, Jesser-branded consumer goods, and experiences such as Camp Jesser, he continues to shape the future of creator-driven sports entertainment.

Michael Rubin

Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Fanatics

Michael Rubin, internet entrepreneur, philanthropist, and social justice advocate, is founder and CEO of Fanatics, a global sports platform that is reimagining the fan experience across some of the most important categories in sports, including fan gear; collectibles and trading cards; sports betting; and events. With more than 22,000 employees, 80 offices globally, and $13 billion in expected revenue for 2026, Fanatics is one of the most valuable sports companies in the world. Fanatics also has a database of over 120 million sports fans; over 2,000 retail locations; and a partner network with over 900 sports properties globally and over 5,000 athletes and celebrities.

Rubin is the co-chair of REFORM Alliance, an organization that includes the biggest names in sports, business and culture dedicated to eradicating antiquated probation laws. He was also the driving force behind Fanatics’ partnership with Make-A-Wish.

Shay Segev

Chief Executive Officer
DAZN Group

Shay Segev is CEO of DAZN Group, the world’s leading sports entertainment platform. DAZN’s proprietary and market-leading technology is redefining how sport is experienced around the world. Segev is responsible for overseeing the company’s global strategy and driving DAZN through its next phase of growth.

DAZN is the global home of European football, boxing, combat sports, the NFL and NHL internationally, and brings many other sports including basketball, motorsports, and golf to a worldwide audience. DAZN’s vast portfolio of rights allows it to deliver premium content from top-tier leagues and competitions, including the NBA, Bundesliga, FIBA, Formula 1, J.League, LALIGA, Serie A, and the UEFA Champions League. On DAZN’s immersive, interactive platform sports fans can seamlessly watch, bet, play, share, socialize, and buy tickets and merchandise.

Before joining DAZN in 2021, Segev was CEO of Entain, a FTSE 100 sports betting and gaming company, where he oversaw a period of exceptional growth, including the acquisition of bwin.party and Ladbrokes Coral, and establishment of U.S. market leader BetMGM.

Fidji Simo

Chief Executive Officer, Applications
OpenAI

Fidji Simo is CEO of applications at OpenAI, where she leads the company’s applications such as ChatGPT, and all of its operations, including product development, engineering, sales, finance, marketing, legal, and people teams. A seasoned consumer technology leader, she has spent more than 15 years driving product, strategy, and operations for some of the world’s most influential companies.

Before joining OpenAI, Simo was CEO and chair of Instacart, guiding it through its successful public offering. Prior to Instacart, she spent a decade at Meta, where she built Facebook’s advertising business and led the Facebook app.

Simo also serves on the board at Shopify and is the co-founder of Chronicle Bio, a tech‑bio company on a mission to cure complex chronic conditions.

Originally from the south of France, Simo holds a master of management from HEC Paris, completing her final year at UCLA Anderson School of Business. She lives in California with her husband and daughter.

Steve Stoute

Founder & Chief Executive Officer
UnitedMasters + Translation

Steve Stoute is an advertising entrepreneur and music industry pioneer. He is the founder and CEO of UnitedMasters Inc., which encompasses UnitedMasters and Translation. UnitedMasters Inc. is revolutionizing how brands and artists collaborate to shape and propel culture forward.

For two decades, Translation has helped ambitious brands leverage contemporary culture to overcome their greatest challenges by identifying, activating, and scaling cultural insights. Translation has partnered with iconic brands such as AT&T, McDonald’s, and the NBA to craft innovative campaigns that resonate with today’s audiences.

In 2014, Stoute partnered with Google, Apple, and Andreessen Horowitz to found UnitedMasters, a technology platform that empowers over 2M+ global independent artists to distribute their music and fulfill their potential creatively and financially. UnitedMasters’ artists retain full ownership of their master recording rights and can earn beyond streaming through connections with the world’s biggest brands.

Hiroki Totoki

President & Chief Executive Officer
Sony Group Corporation

Hiroki Totoki is president and CEO of Sony Group Corporation. Totoki began his distinguished career at Sony Corporation (currently Sony Group Corporation) in 1987 and advanced through key leadership roles across the company’s diverse portfolio. In 2001, he co-founded Sony Bank, one of Japan’s first internet banks. He then took on leadership positions at Sony Communication Network Inc. (currently Sony Network Communications), where he played a key role in the internet service and entertainment businesses in 2005.

In 2013, he returned to Sony Corporation as senior vice president in charge of corporate planning, finance and strategy divisions, and became president and CEO of Sony Mobile Communications in 2014.  He was appointed Sony’s CFO in 2018 and subsequently served as president, COO and CFO.

Totoki assumed his current position in 2025, marking a pivotal step in his sustained stewardship of the company’s evolution as he leads Sony’s strategic emphasis on entertainment and intellectual property.

Casey Wasserman

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Wasserman
Chairperson & President, LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Casey Wasserman is the chairman and CEO of Wasserman, a global business at the forefront of sports, music, and entertainment. With its headquarters in Los Angeles, Wasserman operates across 28 countries and more than 70 cities, representing top talent, brands, and properties worldwide.

Wasserman also serves as president and chairperson of LA28, leading the efforts to bring the Summer Olympics and Paralympics back to the U.S. for the first time in more than three decades. In addition, he is the president and CEO of the Wasserman Foundation, a private family foundation focused on advancing education, arts and culture, health, service, and global initiatives.