Matthew Hong will leave his role as chief operating officer at US broadcaster Turner Sports after 11 years at the company. The news comes three months after AT&T officially took control of Time Warner, a deal which saw its wide-ranging sports portfolio change hands, including Turner Sports.
There had been rumours of an executive shakeup at Turner Sports since the AT&T acquisition, but Hong and Turner Sports president Lenny Daniels made it clear that the decision had nothing to do with the takeover. Hong will reportedly depart in the coming weeks.
In a memo sent to employers, Hong said that he first put forward the idea of leaving a ‘few months ago’ and he will now ‘take a few months to recharge, both mentally and physically’.
In a separate memo regarding Hong’s departure, Daniels wrote: ‘He’s made considerable contributions toward the launch of B/R Live [Turner Sports’ OTT service] and ongoing enhancements to our suite of digital products and platforms’.
Following his departure, Hong’s four direct reports – Bleacher Report chief executive Howard Mittman, senior vice president programming and content Scooter Vertino, senior vice president business Val Immele and senior vice president digital Mark Johnson – will report to Daniels on an interim basis.
Elsewhere, McLaren Racing has appointed Mark Waller to the new position of managing director, sales and marketing. He will oversee all aspects of the company's commercial and marketing activity, reporting to chief executive Zak Brown.
Jiří Kejval and Robin Mitchell have been appointed to replace Tsunekazu Takeda and Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah as chairs of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Marketing and Olympic Solidarity Commission. Takeda resigned as a member of the IOC in March this year after he was linked to bribery allegations surrounding Tokyo's successful bid for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Sheikh Ahmad stood down in November 2018 after accusations of forgery.
In the wake of Pete Guelli’s departure last month, the Charlotte Hornets has made a series of internal promotions. The National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise has promoted Jacob Gallagher to chief risk officer and is establishing a brand management division to be run by Josh Kramer. Seth Bennet will now run the new fan experience and traditional marketing division.
Pay-TV service Tennis Channel has appointed Timothy Athans to director, strategic partnerships. Athans will report to Irv Schulman, senior vice president, national sales manager, focusing on expanding the network's ad sales reach via untapped partnerships and non-traditional integrations.
Overactive Media, the esports organisation behind the Overwatch League’s Toronto Defiant team, has announced Jason Toledano as its new chief financial officer.
Venue management and partnerships company Spectra has hired Joe Heyer as its director of esports partnerships. He will lead the sponsorship sales for N3rd Street Gamers, Philadelphia Fusion and the upcoming Fusion Arena.
Stephan Katzmann, managing director of German TV channel Sport1, will leave his role at the end of the month. Christian Barth, who is currently the director of finance and controlling for all subsidiaries of the channel’s parent company Constantin Medien AG, will take over on 1st June.
The esports Overwatch League franchise Washington Justice has hired Grant Paranjape as its vice president of esports business.
Conrad Lagemann has become director international kit partnerships at Lagardère Sports, the sports and entertainment agency. He joins from Under Armour.
