In a post-COVID, increasingly AI- and private equity-driven world, the sports business is facing the potential for disruption. Where those disruptions intersect with hiring — in volume and the type of skill sets that are valued — will affect those in leadership roles and early-career staffers alike.
Last month, Sports Business Journal convened a roundtable discussion at the Penn Club of New York that included C-level executives, a chief people officer from a major league and Power Four athletic director. Led by SBJ Publisher and Executive Editor Abe Madkour, they examined ways the talent makeup of the sports industry is evolving; how disruptive forces such as AI and private equity are accelerating that evolution; and the traits they believe the next wave of sports commissioners and CEOs should embody, among other topics. The following is an edited transcript, along with other coverage, of the discussion.
Trends in hiring and talent recruitment
Skills for the next generation of commissioners
How the role of team CEO has evolved
Panelists
Matthew Caldwell, chief executive officer, Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx
Sabrina Ellis, executive vice president and chief people officer, NBA
Matt Hong, president of USA Sports, Versant
Chris Marinak, president, Playfly Sports
Len Perna, chairman and chief executive officer, ZRG Turnkey
Max Siegel, chief executive officer, USA Track & Field
Deepali Vyas, global head of data and AI sector, ZRG Partners
Danny White, athletic director, University of Tennessee