Game Changers shines in Manhattan

This year's Game Changer honorees (the 14th class) were recognized in a ceremony for attendees, colleagues, friends and family in a jam-packed Astor Ballroom at the New York Marriot Marquis in Times Square. Decorated sports journalist and founder/CEO of Walk Swiftly Productions Bonnie Bernstein emceed the festivities.

Our Game Changers each shared a fun fact about themselves before accepting their award. The Class of 2024 is an eclectic and talented group and includes a Wheel of Fortune contestant (Patrice Distler); an avid biker who not only commutes to work via bike but logs an average of 1,400 miles per year (Fran Weld) and; adult rec hockey player and beer league ice hockey team player (Beth Penfield). Along with their fun facts, our Game Changers chose their own walk-up songs as they took the stage. We've compiled all the songs in a Spotify playlist for you. It's a great listen! SBJ Assistant Managing Editor Betty Gomes can attest, as she was listening during the Friday workday.

As Rebecca Gitlitz, founder of DocCity Productions, was called up onstage, her wife, Sam Rapoport (one of last year's Game Changers) stood up to cheer and record a video on her iPhone. The remarkable duo marks the first married couple to become Game Changers. Many parents, spouses and families attended Wednesday's ceremony. 2024 Game Changer honoree Marla Ostroff, Ticketmaster managing director, North America, was accompanied by her son, Ethan, who works with the Devils. 

Confidence is key

• Keynote speaker Fia Fasbinder, founder & CEO of Moxie Institute, kicked off the day by leading a session on reframing one’s experiences and mindset and cultivating a more powerful presence. “When a leader struggles with confidence, it erodes their ability to lead,” Fasbinder said. “And when a leader lacks confidence, it doesn’t just affect the leader. It affects the entire team.” But that confidence must come from within and be built over time, she continued. Fasbinder led the audience through two steps of her seven-stage Moxie Method, including diaphragmatic breathing exercises.

• In a discussion with SBJ Publisher and Executive Editor Abe Madkour, LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan noted the importance of her experience as an athlete, which instilled her with confidence that serves her now as an executive. “Sports is, in my mind, the best way to do that -- and intentionally do that,” she said.

‘Pay it forward’

• Mentorship is important, but there is a difference between a mentor and sponsor, Klutch Sports Group President/Football Nicole Lynn stressed during a one-on-one panel hosted by Bonnie Bernstein. “A mentor is someone that’s a teacher,” Lynn said. “A sponsor is an advocate. A sponsor has a seat at the table, they have skin and the game, and they can help the trajectory of your career.” If she had to choose, Lynn would take a sponsor over a mentor any day. “The issue is that sponsors have to have a seat at the table -- and who’s at the table? Are there a lot of women at the table? Not always,” she continued. “So, I challenge the men in the room: Sponsor a woman. Sponsor someone who doesn’t look like you.”

• Later in the day, Texas Executive Senior Associate AD and Chief of Staff Chris Plonsky closed the "Advice to My Younger Self" panel by sharing advice to the women in the room: “Be prepared to pay it forward and help somebody else while you’re doing what you do,” she said. “It’s really important for us to do as women and as leaders. And it’s not an easy path all the time. But the way this room got filled with 770 [people] is somebody did it for us.”

Diversity needed for authentic storytelling

• The NFL and Verizon announced an expansion of their Live Content Correspondent (LCC) program, creating a mentorship program to bring more women into the NFL ecosystem. ESPN’s Elle Duncan described three touchpoints of success to bring marginalized groups into mainstream spaces: access, equity and mentorship. “When I talk with young content creators, specifically women, I find that even if they're given the other two, the access and the equity, they are not necessarily getting the tutelage,” said Duncan. Bringing the house down, she finished with: “You have to have a seat at the table or it's likely you're on the menu.”

• To close the day, Unrivaled Chief Brand Officer Kirby Porter brought up how the upcoming basketball league is leaning into storytelling to build momentum and enthusiasm for the league. “One piece of it is leaning into the fact that there is a new women's sports audience that is just interested in the excitement behind women's sports,” said Porter. “As a league, how do you scale that storytelling and how do you have direct plans in different verticals that amplify your athletes in that space but also create opportunities for yourself as a league, whether it's through sponsorships or content opportunities?” For Porter, that includes leaning into the creator economy and engaging sports creators with the brand.

Thursday morning kicked off with 100+ attendees at Game Changers Connect, SBJ’s structured networking program, sponsored by TelevisaUnivision and moderated by the network's Olek Loewenstein and SBJ Tech Managing Director Dan Kaufman. Participants talked through two rounds of discussion questions over breakfast, first at a table of 8-10 people then as a group. The two major topics tackled that morning:

1. The importance of considering the burden on the fan as RSNs crumble and streaming services proliferate (Have we made it too difficult for fans to find sports content, even if they are ready to pay for it?)
   
   
2. The success of fan engagement techniques that tap into cultural moments or even create their own cultural moments.

    

For the second year in a row, a group of undergraduate women from the University of Oklahoma made the trip to NYC for Game Changers. Nine attended this year -- up from five in 2023 -- with the help of stipends provided by the Price College of Business and the Gaylord College of Journalism & Mass Communication. The students also had company visits with CAA, the NHL and Fox Sports and a sit-down breakfast with Klutch Sports Group's Nicole Lynn, throughout a jam-packed week of professional development programming in the Big Apple.

"I’ve been to many conferences in my career, but I can say without hesitation that the Game Changers conference provides the best opportunity to expand your network and meet some truly incredible people along the way," said Renata Kukowski, an adjunct professor at OU and VP/College at Fanatics. "The 'pay it forward' mentality permeates through the panel discussions, the programming, and the interactions with other attendees. Last year, and again this year, I have seen our students’ confidence blossom throughout the course of the day, and they leave with an even greater sense of purpose and passion. This event makes a real difference, and I look forward to bringing more of our students in future years."

• Melissa Heiter, a 2019 Game Changers honoree from CAA Icon, happily joined in the awards celebration Wednesday night for colleague and 2024 honoree Beth Penfield. Heiter explained that she was unable to attend the 2019 Game Changers event because of a long-planned vacation, which centered on her love of horseback riding. She said she contemplated canceling the trip to attend, but she didn't have the heart to sacrifice the vacation. She said attending this year felt like she was finally getting to celebrate her own recognition, in addition to supporting Penfield.

• Catie Griggs, a 2017 Game Changer and now president of business operations for the Orioles, sent her well wishes from across town. Griggs had traveled with the club as they played at Yankee Stadium, laughing at how close she was to the event and yet still not able to attend.

• Patti Kleinman-Fallick, a 2024 Game Changer, was accompanied to the award ceremony by her daughter Ashley, a VP at Smith & Co.

• Game Changers honoree Nicole Deal had enough time to dance with emcee Bonnie Bernstein onstage -- apparently she had taught some folks salsa dancing while stationed in Algeria -- before her work with the USOPC called her back. The chief of security and athlete services, Deal had to leave at midday Thursday to prepare for Team USA's White House visit Monday. Around 400 athletes will be part of the delegation there to celebrate their success in the Paris Games this summer.

• Rocky Harris, Deal’s boss and the chief of sport and athlete services, flew in for the ceremony and to support Deal. But he had to return to Colorado Springs for a visit from IOC Thomas Bach before heading to Washington himself.

• Elevate senior operating advisor Molly Mazzolini has been a regular Game Changers attendee, and didn’t miss this year, but had to leave on Thursday afternoon to get back for Bach’s visit to Utah around Olympic preparations.

• Founder and CEO of Klutch Sports Group Rich Paul and Co-Head of UTA Sports Andrew Thau were in attendance to support Nicole Lynn, president/football at Klutch Sports Group and a 2020 Game Changers honoree, as she took the stage for a one-on-one discussion with Bonnie Bernstein.

• ESPN's Elle Duncan joked onstage with SBJ media reporter Mollie Cahillane that the two of them were dressed like a "gender reveal" during their NFL-Verizon panel Thursday afternoon.

• After her appearance on stage, Vanguard Maven Group co-founder and Women's Sports Foundation board member Nicole Jeter West, whose daughter is a huge Jade Cargill fan, came up to ask for a pic for her daughter with the WWE champ.

• Team members from MLB encouraged fellow attendees to try the signature drink of the evening, The MLB Mule, while on line at the bar during the post-ceremony reception.

• SBJ's Mollie Cahillane, Rachel Axon, Jennifer Azara and Betty Gomes recapped the Game Changers ceremony on an episode of Buzzcast.

• SBJ's Game Changers event kicks off with star-studded awards ceremony

• The Collective + SBJ Futures Cohort meet at SBJ's Game Changers

• Nicole Lynn talks career path at Game Changers

• Chiefs' Krug outlines team's global branding plan

• Verizon, NFL to launch Behind the Lens program

A big shout out to all of the sponsors for this year's Game Changers event in Manhattan!

• Learfield

• TKO

• Verizon

• USA Soccer

• T-Mobile

• LPGA

• The Wasserman Collective

• Televisa Univision

• MLS

• MLB

• Women Leaders in Sport

• NASCAR

And we look forward to seeing the industry gather at our next event -- Dealmakers-- next month in Washington D.C.