Venu Sports CEO Pete Distad has put his leadership team in place ahead of the Fox, Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery collab’s launch this fall (subject to regulatory approval), according to The Wrap.
What’s Happening:
- Fox, Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery’s high-profile sports collaboration, Venu Sports, is led by former Hulu and Apple exec Pete Distad, who has reportedly added several members to his leadership team behind the sports streaming venture.
- Venu Sports, on track for a launch this fall, subject to regulatory approval, will have its leadership team based in New York and Los Angeles, all of which hail from leading entertainment, media, technology, sports, and sports betting companies.
- These executives include Brian Borkowski, Jessica Casano-Antonellis, Tim Connolly, Amit Dudakia, Skarpi Hedinsson, David Hillman, Gautam Ranji, and Judy Schwab.
- Venu Sports will offer access to content from linear sports networks including ESPN, ESPN+, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV, as well as the ABC network.
- It will include content from the NFL, UFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL, college football (including the College Football Playoff), men’s and women’s college basketball (including the men’s and women’s college basketball national championships), PGA golf, grand slam tennis, cycling, soccer, UFC, Formula1 and NASCAR. Subscribers will also have the option to bundle the product with Disney+, Hulu and Max.
- Fox, Disney and WBD will each own a 1/3 stake, have equal board representation and will license their sports content to the joint venture on a non-exclusive basis. Each company will continue to bid independently and compete with each other and others for the sports rights.
- Borkowski will serve as chief marketing officer, where he will be responsible for Venu’s marketing, branding and growth strategies.
- Previously, he led marketing for FanDuel and held multiple roles at Hulu, including vice president of media and acquisition and head of subscriber acquisition.
- Connolly joins as chief business officer, where he will be responsible for steering strategic initiatives including content rights and licensing, distribution and strategic partnerships, business development, subscriber growth, and retention strategies. He previously led subscriber growth for Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass and held senior leadership roles at Hulu and Disney.
- Antonellis, who was officially announced in May, currently serves as Venu’s senior vice president and head of communications. Prior to Venu, she led communications at SiriusXM and oversaw global communication strategies for Disney+ and Hulu.
- Amit Dudakia will be Venu’s senior vice president and head of product, where he will lead all facets of product management and design, along with programming and editorial for the service. Previously, he held various production leadership roles across Fox Corporation and its portfolio of entertainment brands, most recently serving as SVP of product management for Fox Technology & Digital, where he led the product and design organization for Fox Sports. His tenure at Fox started at FX Networks, where he was a key member of the launch team behind FX NOW, Simpsons World, and FX+.
- Hedinsson will serve as chief technology officer, where he will be tasked with executing Venu’s tech strategy and execution and building out its team of technologists. Prior to Venu, Hedinsson served as Disney/ABC Television Group CTO during the launch of the WATCH ABC and WATCH Disney services.
- Hillman joins as chief legal officer, overseeing all legal matters for Venu Sports. He most recently served as EVP and general counsel for CBS Sports, CBS News and Stations and Broadcast Operations, where he oversaw negotiations of key strategic content agreements with programming partners, sports leagues and talent. Before that, he served as EVP and general counsel at Simon & Schuster and Westwood One.
- Gautam Ranji has been named chief financial officer for the sports venture. Prior to joining Venu, he led Sphere Entertainment’s finance functions as CFO and treasurer and was part of the management team behind the launch of the Las Vegas Sphere. Before that, he oversaw strategic planning and business development at CBS and co-led the merger integration following the combination of Viacom in 2019. He also held senior posts at the Hearst Corporation and Viacom.
- Schwab joins as Venu’s SVP and head of people, overseeing strategy and operations including workforce planning, organizational effectiveness, talent acquisition, talent management and development, and total rewards, as well as its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. She most recently served as an HR leader in Apple’s Services division. Before that, she led HR for ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu and served as a key executive that launched Disney+ and integrated Hulu.
- In addition to the Venu Sports management team, there are currently over 150 engineers and executives dedicated to building the Venu product, which aims to serve sports fans outside of the traditional TV bundle.
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