SBJ was back in New York for Awards Week this year, honoring the next wave of rising star executives in the sports business space.
Friday night saw the industry come together to celebrate 25 years of Forty Under 40 honorees at our black-tie gala at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan. In addition to honoring this year's class, the event recognized Forty Under 40 Hall of Fame inductees Daniel Cohen of Octagon and Jason Krochak of Proskauer as three-time honorees. A number of Forty Under 40 alumni were also honored and recognized during the gala, which was hosted by “Up and Adams” host Kay Adams.
On Thursday night, it was sixth annual SBJ New Voices Under 30 event at the Paradise Club at the Times Square Edition Hotel. Assisted by an outside panel of 12 sports business execs, SBJ honored individuals for their ability to break boundaries, create new roles to the benefit of their organizations or establish their own sports businesses -- all before the age of 30.
A big thank you to all of the honorees who made it out to Manhattan for the events, as well their families, friends and colleagues that joined them for the celebrations. Also, a special thanks to our presenting sponsors who have helped grow these two programs -- Anheuser-Busch, TurnkeyZRG, Verizon, MGM Resorts and Ally Financial. And thank you to our bronze sponsor for Forty Under 40 -- SeatGeek.
SBJ honors its Forty Under 40 at Chelsea Piers
With the Hudson River as a background, SBJ’s annual Forty Under 40 gala hit Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers on Friday night with over 600 people on hand to honor the execs who will be shaping the future of sports business. There were 39 of this year's 40 honorees in attendance. Ally Financial’s Stephanie Marciano attended, but left early to care for her newborn, while the Florida Panthers' Bryce Hollweg was not in attendance because of the birth of Addison Parker Hollweg on Thursday.
There were two Forty Under 40 Hall of Fame inductees this year in Octagon’s Daniel Cohen (who was doused in champagne onstage by colleague William Mao) and Proskauer’s Jason Krochak (those two have been named to the list in three different years).
Check out a highlight video of Forty Under 40 here.
SBJ Publisher and Executive Editor Abe Madkour once again honored/roasted the recipients with his annual opening (with the help "Up and Adams" host Kay Adams as emcee). Among the hits from Madkour’s speech for the honorees:
- “The Daniel Jones era is over, and it’s fitting that we have Kay Adams here tonight as our emcee. Kay, of course, publicly denied and laughed off rumors she had ever dated Daniel Jones. Apparently, he tried to make a couple of passes at her, but like most of his passes, it was picked off.”
- "This event will NOT be long, slow or boring. This is not a Proskauer staff meeting. Two, this event will be done before you know it ... kind of like the Cleveland Browns’ playoff hopes.”
- “The San Francisco 49ers have had seven honorees [over the 25 years], which is actually the same number of active lawsuits the city of Santa Clara has filed against the team.”
- “The school with the most honorees? A junior college in Ann Arbor -- the University of Michigan with 23. Go Blue! Yes, I know, we’ve all heard of 'the Michigan difference.' ... And if you’re not sure how great the graduates of that school are, just ask them, they’ll tell you. The Wolverines, of course, are coming off a football national championship. And if the CFP expanded to 96 teams this season, they’d get a chance to defend that title.”
The event was attended by a number of past Forty Under 40 honorees, including CAA Sports’ Mike Levine, ESPN's Rosalyn Durant, Range Sports' David Sternberg, Greg Luckman and Lowell Taub (who is already in go-mode for the 2026 Winter Olympics), Verizon’s Nick Kelly, Learfield’s Cole Gahagan, Elevate’s Ben Gumpert, Excel Sports Management's Mark Steinberg, the PGA of America's Jeff Price, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment's Kevin Demoff, the Cowboys' Chad Estis and Jason Cohen, the Ravens' Sashi Brown, the 49ers' Al Guido, the NHL's Keith Wachtel, YES Network's Jon Litner, U.S. Soccer's David Wright, A-B InBev's Matt Davis, the University of Illinois' Josh Whitman (whose Fighting Illini won a thriller the next day at Rutgers), Genesco Sports Enterprises' John Tatum and Next League's Juan De Jesus (supporting his partner and 2024 honoree, Amanda Chin of the Warriors).
Also spotted supporting the honorees and catching up with industry colleagues were LIV Golf's Greg Norman and Adam Harter, Haslam Sports Group's Dave Jenkins, ESPN's Flora Kelly, Santa Brito and Tim Bayus, the Spurs' RC Buford, the Cowboys' Charlotte Jones, Learfield's Kim Damron, the Blues' Chris Zimmerman, former ESPN exec Ed Erhardt, Genesco Sports' Kit Geis, TurnkeyZRG's Len Perna, Billy King, Chad Chatlos and Nisar Qureshi, WWE's Chris Legentil and Prosek Partners' Kristen Duarte (supporting her brother, 2024 honoree Matt Duarte).
The loudest supporters' section went to MLB, whose three rowdy tables made their presence felt to support 2024 honoree Uzma Rawn. But the biggest round of applause of the night (two standing ovations, actually) was for Caroline Klein of the Jazz, who showed great determination in attending the event while she battles Stage 4 cancer.
Genesco feted its Forty Under 40 honoree, EVP Jonas Carr, well into the night during a reception at the Ritz-Carlton on Central Park South. Guests included Verizon's Nick Kelly, Kroenke Sports' Kevin Demoff and LIV Golf's Adam Harter, along with a swath of agency personnel, headed by President and CEO John Tatum, CCO Kit Geis and EVP and Chief Counsel Frank Mahar.
Hip-hop tracks, rock lead Forty Under 40 walk-up track selections
As is tradition, Forty Under 40 honorees were able to select their own walkup music for the event, and hip-hop was again a popular genre.
ESPN's Chara- Lynn Aguiar went with "Regulate" by Warren G, while the Warriors' Amanda Chin went with "Hypnotize" by Notorious B.I.G. Jay-Z's "Public Service Announcement" got a couple hits onstage (by the Red Sox's Jonathan Hay and Fanatics' Omar Wilkes). Ilitch Sports & Entertainment's Ryan Gustafson went with Eminem's "’Till I Collapse," while Elevate's Jonathan Marks picked "Tha Crossroads" by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Omaha Productions' Kristen Herlihy opted for Three 6 Mafia's "Stay Fly."
Modern rock also got some love onstage. USA Fencing's Phil Andrews had Three Days Grace ("The Mountain"), Excel Sports' Kevin Hopkins had Blink 182 ("What's My Age Again"), the Chiefs' Tyler Kirby went with The Killers ("Mr. Brightside") and Learfield's Ben Mathan picked Metallica ("Enter Sandman").
Some opted for classic movie tracks like Skadden's Thad Hartmann ("Danger Zone" from "Top Gun") and MLB's Uzma Rawn("Part of Your World" from "The Little Mermaid").
The NBA's Joey Graziano showed his love of musicals with music from "Newsies," while U.S. Soccer's Daniel Gaiman showed his love for the Wolverines with the Michigan fight song.
Times Square Edition's Paradise Club plays host to New Voices Under 30 ceremony
It was a celebration of the “new influencers” in sports business on Thursday night. A crowd over 200 industry execs, family and friends celebrated at the Paradise Club within the Times Square Edition Hotel in honor of the 2024 class of New Voices Under 30.
Honorees were welcomed with words of career advice from TurnkeyZRG Managing Director and longtime NBA exec Billy Kingbefore taking the stage with shout-outs from DJ Gootz. "I wasn't ever seeking a job -- I was just doing my job," King advised the honorees.
Among those spotted at the event was former MLBer Darryl Strawberry, who was there to support his daughter, Jade Strawberry of RCX Sports. Moolah Kicks' Natalie White(a 2024 honoree) was on hand with her father, while Inner Circle Sports' Tyler Zimmet was among a group supporting their colleague, An Le. Bespoke Sports & Entertainment's Mike Boykin and his wife were on hand to help honor 2024 honoree Nick Carey. Elevate's Ben Gumpert was there to support colleague Alyssa Melanson, while Navigate's Jeff Nelson led a group supporting Kevin Kane, and Learfield's Cory Moss was there to fete Rodney Anderson.
Click here for a full list of the 2024 Award Winners.
New Voices Under 30 shows eclectic music taste with walk-up songs
The young talent at New Voices Under 30 were all over the board on walk-up music selection on Thursday night. There was only one repeat artist, as RCX Sports' Jade Strawberry and the NBA's Christina Harper both had "Girl on Fire" by Alicia Keys.
Hip-hop had plenty of love during the night. The Texas Rangers' Jose Garcia went with "California Love" by Tupac, the NBA's Kenzi Inman went with "All of the Lights" by Kanye West and JPMorgan's Joseph Zelkowitz had "Blueprint 2" by Jay-Z.
Some throwbacks included "Bad Girls" by Donna Summer (Moolah Kicks' Natalie White), "The Rising" by Bruce Springsteen (the NHL's Lizzy Weingast), "Under Pressure" by Queen (MLS' Hannah Rufo) and "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor (Elevate's Alyssa Melanson).
Industry lauds Forty Under 40, New Voices Under 30 honorees on social media
A number of sports industry execs lauded the honorees for both Forty Under 40 and New Voices Under 30 on social media platforms.
Playfly Director of Partnership Development Mallory Berry called the Forty Under 40 class "iconic." NBA Director/HR Bryan Juand Heat VP/HR & Compliance Christine Risso both gave a shoutout to a fellow HR exec, NASCAR's John Ferguson. NWSL Utah Royals President Michelle Hull Hyncik gave some love to three soccer-specific honorees-- Jessica O'Neill, Rick Pineda and Caroline Klein. Anheuser-Busch InBev Group VP/Consumer Connections Spencer Gordon also gave a "congratulations" to the entire class.
Learfield posted a congratulatory message to its Forty Under 40 honoree, Ben Mathan. "Your vision and impact in the industry set the standard for excellence. Well done, Ben!" U.S. Soccer CEO & General Secretary JT Batson posted of honoree Dan Gaiman: "His leadership has been vital in supporting our work in service to soccer."
Elevate on its feed feted both Alyssa Melanson (NVU30) and Jonathan Marks (Forty Under 40) for their accomplishments. ESPN Director Ashley Ward, a 2024 NVU30 honoree, gave love to her entire class.