The Golden Knights. The Raiders. NASCAR. All-Star Games. UFC. Boxing. College basketball and football. Las Vegas is poised to become a new hub for sports and sports business, and soon the A’s, a Super Bowl, and an F1 race will be added to that list (not to mention talk of an expansion team of the NBA in the future). -towards the distant future).
With this growth as a backdrop, SBJ’s Forty Under 40 and New Voices Under 30 landed at Aria Resort & Casino in Vegas last week to celebrate our industry’s emerging executives. Beyond talk of the growth of Sin City’s sports scene, people spoke often at both SBJ events about the marvel that is the new MSG Sphere. Attendees revealed their favorite images that have appeared outside the venue since its debut this summer – and many were impressed by the experiences seen on social media at U2 concerts and other shows inside the venue. hall, which opened its doors last month. .
Many thanks to all of the honorees who traveled to Las Vegas for the events, as well as their families, friends and colleagues who joined them for the celebrations. Thanks also to our title sponsors for both events: Anheuser-Busch, TurnkeyZRG, Verizon and MGM Resorts. And thank you to our bronze sponsor for Forty Under 40 – Fevo.
The lights of Las Vegas shined Friday night for the SBJ’s annual Forty Under 40 Gala, with more than 400 people in attendance at Aria’s Primrose Ballroom to honor the leaders who will shape the future of the sports business. Discover a highlight video of the event here.
SBJ Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Abe Madkour honored/roasted the recipients at its annual opening (with the help of a little Vegas flair alongside Magic by Robb then with the NFL Network host Cynthia Frelund as host of the event). Among the successes of Madkour’s speech for the winners:
- “This gala is going to have rhythm; It’ll be over before you know it. Kind of like the Dodgers’ playoff run. Sorry Royce Cohentoo early?”
- “We are not perfect. I mean, we honored Dan Snyder thrice.”
- “Really strange that the Big Ten table continues to expand. It went from 10, to 12, to 14, to 16… some say you were going to 18.”
- “Before Charles Altchek became a key executive of the MLS commissioner Don Garber, he was a true football star. Seriously! Two-time Ivy League Player of the Year for Harvard. People really wanted to see him play; hell, more people watched him play at Harvard than watched MLS on Apple TV.
Four honorees have been inducted into the Forty Under 40 Hall of Fame (named to the list three times): Monumental Sports’ Zach LeonsisThe Raine group Colin NevilleRiot Games Whale Rozelle and the MLB Morgana Sword.
The event featured a number of forty winners under the age of 40, including Wasserman’s Casey WassermanLA28 Kathy CarterCAA Sports’ Mike Levinethat of the NFL Renee AndersonAB InBev Matt Davisthat of Verizon Nick KellyFox Sports’ Michael MulvihillLearfield Cole GahaganRaise Ben Gumpertthe Premier Lacrosse League Paul RabilArctos Partners TJ AdesholaEventellect George Postolos and the Winners Alliance Ahmad Nassaramong others.
Monumental Sports was also seen supporting the winners and chatting with industry colleagues. Ted Leonsisthe Falcons Steve KooninLévy Restaurants Andy LansingMGM Resorts’ Lance Evansthe Blues’ Chris ZimmermanInner Circle Sports Steve HorowitzRiot Games Leo Faria and the BTNs Francois McGillicuddy.
TurnkeyZRG hosted a reception at Aria’s speakeasy, Easy’s Cocktail Lounge, before the event. Participants included Octagon’s Camille Buxeda (excited about an upcoming trip to France for the Notre Dame-South Carolina women’s college hoops game) and Winston & Strawn’s Robert Pannullo (both honored the night before at NVU30). Among the 40U40 honorees in the crowd were NFL players David High Hill and the Winners Alliance Eric Winston. TurnkeyZRGs have also been spotted Len Perna, Rick Allesandri, Nisar Qureshi, Kelly LewisRiot games David Higdon and Eventellect Will Brannon.
As is tradition, honorees were able to select their own music for the event, and hip-hop and R&B tracks were popular this year.
The Blues’ Keira Emerson and Angel City FC Jess Smith both were accompanied by songs by Lizzo (“Like A Girl” and “It’s About Damn Time”, respectively).
Others in the genre included Talib’s “Get By” Kweli (the NBA player Matthew Carpentier–Dennis), “Public Service Announcement” by Jay-Z (Buzzer’s Bo Han), “Lose Yourself” by Eminem (DC United’s Danita Johnson), “The Man” by Aloe Blacc (CAA Sports’ David Koonin), A Tribe Called Quest’s “Award Tour” (CSM Sports & Entertainment’s Darius Naficy), “Pittsburgh Sound” by Wiz Khalifa (160over90’s Pamela Rappaport), “Put On” by Young Jeezy (former director of Meta Dev Sethi), “Oh Boy” by Cam’ron (The Volume’s Logan Swaim) and “Regulate” by Warren G & Nate Dogg (MLB’s Morgana Sword).
Other tracks that stood out included “Super Mario Bros.” theme song (Riot Games’ Whale Rozelle), the UEFA Champions League theme song (Nolan Partners’ Chad Biagini) and the 1990s Bulls intro theme music (the PLL theme music Mike Rabil).
It was Thursday evening a celebration of the “new influencers” of sports business. A crowd of 100 industry executives, family and friends celebrated at Aria’s Jewel Nightclub in honor of the 2023 class of New Voices under 30.
Matt Westannouncer for the Professional Bull Riders, was the event’s master of ceremonies, just before serving as the voice of the PBR Team Championship at T-Mobile Arena this weekend (it was easy to spot the PBR delegation thanks to the hats personalized cowboy hats). ).
The Drumbots, the LED percussion team of the NHL Golden Knights, brought the noise to the stage during the event.
Among the honorees who brought the team’s energy throughout the evening were Nathan Goldberg Crénierassistant general manager and director of football for Gotham FC of the NWSL, who proudly wore his franchise’s sash throughout the evening.
NVU30 winner Carlin Hudson, director of strategy for the NWSL, thought she would have to choose between her honeymoon – planned for last week – and attending the ceremony in Las Vegas. But ultimately, the former NWSL player chose both, opting to stay in Arizona before heading to Nevada. “We thought we could make memories in both places,” Hudson said, standing next to her new husband, Matthew Oplinger, a former Cardinals LB, who, like Carlin, was a Yale athlete (captain of the Ivy League football team). The couple married on October 14 in Brooklyn.
The young talents of New Voices Under 30 were definitely very hip-hop and R&B for their walk-up music. Three winners chose Eminem’s songs, including Winston & Strawn’s Robert Pannullothe NHL Melissa Parnagian and the NFL Jewell Smolensky.
Playfly Sports’ Melanie Abzug and the NBA Shannon Rhodes went with Beyonce and the PGA of Americas titles Charles Dillahunt and the warriors Kara Agby went with Big Sean.
But some winners have comebacks, notably that of the MLB. Cameron Scott (“The Return of the Mack” by Mark Morrison) and that of Proskauer Nicolas Urban (“Don’t Stop Until You’ve Had Enough” by Michael Jackson).
The Bengals Caroline Blackburn stayed loyal to her NFL team, choosing Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.” The Dolphins’ Katharine Bohlmann showed his alumni’s loyalty to the Maize and Blue, playing the Michigan fight song as music (Hail to the Victors).
