Forty Under 40 - SportsBusiness Daily

Posted: 16 Mar 2020 12:00 AM PDT

TJ Adeshola

Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square.

Whit Albohm

Charlie Dixon. I've never had more on my plate than I do now, and Charlie has been instrumental in guiding and pushing me. He is not just a boss, he is an incredible teammate.

Nic Barlage

This one has been a team of great people: Dan Gilbert, Len Komoroski, Mike Tomon, Dr. Bill Sutton, Jeff Ianello, Robert Sarver and Jason Rowley.

Michael Behan

Mike Ondrejko is the one that has had the most profound impact on my career. As the person who gave me my first opportunity in the industry with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2005 and the leader I have worked most closely with the last nine years at Legends, Mike has shown me the road map to being a successful executive in our industry.

Gabe Braselton

Brad Clark, senior principal at Populous, has been a guiding force throughout my time as an architect. He's fostered a culture in our practice that rewards innovative thinking and allows the best ideas to rise to the surface. He supports and credits his staff and is a true inspiration for how to get the best out of a design team.

Austin Brown

Henry Thomas. The most respected, loyal, and honest individual I've ever met in the business. His integrity and reputation in the industry are unmatched.

Nate Checketts

Brian Rolapp. He's just been a mentor for me at every step. Every time I needed a piece of advice, I've always gone to him.

Arjun Chowdri

Alex Nieroth, who was then one of the founders and MDs of Velocity in the first couple of months of my first full-time job, stopped and took a couple hours through an iterative process over a week to teach me how to write. This type of skill has been invaluable to me in my career progression and now as a manager has had a second point of impact in terms of understanding the value of teaching.

Ahron Cohen

Kevin Warren, because he's served as my north star from the moment I started in this industry and has been an incredible mentor and friend.

Wes Day

Ben Sutton was a mentor and coach long before I entered the sports space. He has given me incredible opportunity and continuous coaching that has guided me significantly to this point in my career.

Bethany Donaphin

My college coach, Tara VanDerveer. Her program instilled values that I continue to employ in my career.

Michael Fedele

Mike Repole has taught me so much.

Geoff Garmhausen

Joel Segal has taught me everything I know about the athlete representation business.

Jessie Giordano

Jan Katzoff has been a great champion and a mentor.

Ishwara Glassman Chrein

Thank you to David Abrutyn and Geoff Reiss for believing in me, challenging me, teaching me, and caring about me.

Adam Grossman

Larry Lucchino gave me my start, taught me invaluable lessons and brought together so many important people in my life who ended up becoming friends and mentors.

Ben Gumpert

Amy Brooks. I worked with her at Bain & Company and at the NBA. She constantly challenged me, put me in positions of scary growth opportunities, yet always felt she wouldn't let me fail.

Brian Herbst

Too many NASCAR leaders to count. They kept giving me chances that I didn't deserve.

David Jurenka

George Peckham, former head of global publishing at Xbox, was the first person that took a bet on my potential and continues to provide invaluable advice to this day.

Nick Kelly

(Former A-B media and sports chief) Tony Ponturo, and Washington Nationals GM Mike Rizzo, who I've been close friends with for 15 years and seen grow from a scout, to a team president.

Akshay Khanna

Chris Heck. He taught me the value of paying attention to the details that matter and of identifying complementary talent to surround yourself with.

Francesca Leiweke-Bodie

My dad, Tim Leiweke, absolutely has been and continues to be the most influential person in my professional career. He's always been tough but fair making sure that I knew I had to prove myself and wasn't going to get a free ride. But at the same time, he's always encouraged me to take risks and make mistakes so that when I finally did get it right, I'd have the foundation to think even bigger the next time.

Joe Maczko

Rick Buchanan, NBA general counsel. In addition to being a brilliant lawyer, he has an uncanny ability to identify the weaknesses in an argument, which has forced me to refine both my analytical and communication skills.

Andrea Marini

My father.

Joseph Markowski

James Rushton, DAZN chief revenue officer. He's one of my best friends and has been an amazing influence on my career. I regularly think about how he would handle situations. I continue to learn a lot from him.

Zach Maurides

Watching David Cutcliffe turn around Duke football showed me both the process and value of building a strong team culture. Instilling core values takes time but is the most meaningful work a leader can do.

Maura McGreevy

Christian Muirhead, Endeavor's chief communications officer. He saw something in me before I saw it in myself, and has never wavered in his support.

Jared Merrell

My parents have been most influential in pursuing my career aspirations. I wouldn't be where I am without their support and encouragement.

Tanja Olano

Casey Wasserman. I'm constantly inspired by how he thinks outside the box and challenges the status quo.

Melissa Proctor

Jay Sabol was the first person professionally to take a chance on me, by allowing a girl to become a part of his basketball operations team. That one opportunity opened up a world of possibility for me.

Uzma Rawn

Scott O'Neil, Randy Bernstein and Noah Garden.

Neema Sahni

Recently, one of my clients, a female general counsel whose career I've always admired, told me not to sell myself short, and not to assume my clients expect someone more senior to run a matter or interface with opposing counsel. Those words still give me confidence when I'm asked to step up to a new challenge, or when I find myself questioning my abilities.

Brent Schoeb

Al Guido (passionately loves the 24/7 grind); Ethan Casson (best-in-class mentality); Andy Dolich/Mike Redlick (they took a chance on me with my first full-time job).

Adam Schwartz

Dave Campanelli really gave me the opportunity to be myself and cultivate strong relationships across the business.

Russell Scibetti

Mark DiMaurizio, for the best year of on-the-job training I've ever gotten in Philadelphia. Robert Sullivan, for empowering me to build our CRM program at the Jets and showing me how to build the right culture.

Ari Segal

Steve Cohen, AEG's CSO. His experiences in building diverse and innovative businesses, ranging from MLS to utilizing sports to revitalize a blighted, urban downtown, are unparalleled. Michael Schulman, CEO of the Anaheim Ducks, gave me my start in sports and taught me that our job is to make sure all stakeholders are having fun. And Irv Grousbeck, my favorite business school professor. He is a management Jedi.

Ryan Spoon

My father, who is smart, thoughtful, experienced and generous in ways that can only be aspirational. I think a great deal about the fact that we both spent meaningful parts of our careers at the intersection of media, content, and platform changes. I can only hope to mirror his impact, longevity, and — most importantly — principles.

Jared Stacy

Vin Scully. Growing up in L.A., Vin was a god-like figure to me and my dad. When I got the chance to work with him starting in 2006, I was so nervous to even be around him. Then you realize not only is he incredibly warm and kind, but very funny and the ultimate pro.

Ben Tario

Michael Kelly, vice president of athletics at the University of South Florida. Beyond work ethic, attention to detail, and sincere kindness, I learned from observing him how to build lasting relationships in this industry.

Shelly Wilkes

Dr. Bill Sutton has been an amazing advocate and mentor since meeting him in grad school at UCF. He has always offered advice and is a great sounding board for any issues that may arise!