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Kenneth Jarrett
President at The American Chamber of Commerce in ShanghaiKenneth Jarrett is President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. Previously Mr. Jarrett was Chairman for Greater China of APCO Worldwide, a Washington-based public affairs consultancy, from October 2008 – July 2013. Before APCO, Mr. Jarrett was a U.S. diplomat for 26 years, from 1982-2008. His assignments included U.S. Consul General in Shanghai, Deputy Consul General in Hong Kong, and Director of Asian Affairs in the National Security Council. He also served in Singapore, Manila, Beijing, Chengdu and in Washington, DC. Mr. Jarrett has degrees from Cornell University, Yale University and the National War College. He is a member of the National Committee of US-China Relations.
Mark Fischer
CEO of Eastbridge Sports Management (Shanghai) Co. LtdMark Fischer has enjoyed more than two decades of building sports and media businesses in China and other key markets in Asia. In January this year he launched Eastbridge Sports Management (Shanghai), providing sports advisory and business development services to help brands, rights-holders, and related entities best utilize the growing power and popularity of sports in this region.
Mark previously established operations in the Far East for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, during which time he drove more than 10-fold increases in both audience and revenues, organized UFC’s first six events in the region, and produced a 12-episode Chinese version of the Ultimate Fighter reality show series.
From 1997-2009, Mark held a series of leadership roles at the National Basketball Association (NBA) in Asia, including as Managing Director of NBA China where he oversaw all business segments – media, marketing partnerships, events, merchandise, and PR – and led the territory’s explosive growth from a two-man startup to a valuation of $2.3 billion.
Proficient in Mandarin, the Boston native holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and a Bachelor’s in History from the University of Michigan.
Michael Gu
Vice President at Juss SportsMichael Gu joined Juss in 2007. He is responsible for business planning and developing of current sports events, including Formula One Chinese Grand Prix, ATP Tennis Masters Cup, and other new project initiatives
Michael’s prior experience includes brand marketing, public relations, event management, and channel management at Philips, Ericsson/Sony Ericsson, and Universal Music.
Michael earned his Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.
Michael Ma
CEO of WME | IMG ChinaMichael Ma is CEO of WME | IMG China, a subsidiary of global sports and entertainment leader, Endeavor (formerly WME | IMG). Formed in June 2016 through a Sequoia Capital China-led investment group that includes Tencent, FountainVest Partners and Focus Media, WME | IMG China is focused on advancing the company’s growth in the country across sports and entertainment.
Ma previously spent 13 years with the NBA where he played a pivotal role in developing the organization’s presence in China and later spearheading the league’s global eSports strategy.
Based in Shanghai, Ma now leads a team of sport and entertainment professionals working with industry-leading brands including the English Premier League, UFC®, Chinese Super League, CCTV, Wimbledon and the PGA and LPGA Tours.
Endeavor’s presence in China has spanned several decades and includes: representing leading athletes like Li Na; managing professional golf and tennis events including the WGC HSBC Champions and Shenzhen Open; operating mass participation events including The Color Run; helping stage fashion events like Shenzhen Fashion Week; negotiating media rights on behalf of sports entities such as the Chinese Super League; operating a joint venture with CCTV to develop and promote sporting events; and providing strategic counsel to tourism, sports, corporate and event authorities.
Philip So
BD Lead at Riot GamesPhilip looks after business development and media related opportunities for Riot Games in China. Riot Games is the developer of the worldwide popular online game – League of Legends, headquartered in Los Angeles.
Prior to Riot Games, Philip spent 6 years in the entertainment media sector with 21st Century Fox. He was a Senior Director of Corporate Development at the Hong Kong head office, where he focused on merger and acquisition projects across Asia and Middle East. Philip started his career in audit at KPMG.
Philip holds Bachelor of Business Administration from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. He is Member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA).
David Wang
Senior Vice President at NBA ChinaDavid Wang oversees many key areas of NBA China’s business, including Global Partnerships, Media Sales, Merchandise Licensing, E-Commerce and Interactive Gaming. An expert in sports marketing and licensing in the China market, David has nearly 16 years of experience developing and managing sports brands.
Prior to working at the NBA, Mr. Wang held a key management role at the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (“BOCOG”). Additionally, Mr. Wang has been a special consultant for the organizing committees of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai and the 2011 Summer Universiade in Shenzhen.
Mark Dreyer
Founder & Editor of China Sports Insider- FIRESIDE CHAT: NEW GAMES IN TOWN – NFL and One Championship Share Lessons in Market Entry
- Panel IV: China Sports Investment – Ups and Downs, Ins and Outs
Formerly a football reporter with Sky Sports in the UK, Mark Dreyer has been covering sports around the world for close to 20 years. A veteran of three Olympic and Paralympic Games (Beijing, Vancouver, London 2008-12), where he was an accredited journalist, he has also been a reporter and producer for both Fox Sports and AP Sports in the US. A multi-sports specialist who has reported on sports events in five different continents, his first love is football and he has previously interviewed stars including Pele and David Beckham. He has worked with a number of media outlets in China and is regularly asked to comment on the Chinese sports industry for BBC, CCTV, CNBC, Bloomberg, Financial Times and many others.
Mark has been based in China since 2007 and runs the China Sports Insider website. He is also the Director of Marketing & Communications at AmCham China in Beijing.
Victor Cui
CEO International of One ChampionshipVictor Cui is the Chief Executive Officer, International, ONE Championship, a mixed martial arts organization based in Singapore which is widely regarded as being the biggest in Asia with a 90% market share and has some of the best MMA fighters in the world on the roster. Prior to launching ONE Championship, Cui spent six years with the Event Management Group for Asia’s number one sports broadcaster, ESPN Star Sports (ESS). There, he successfully headed event business development across Asia, and project-led some of the biggest sporting properties and television event partnerships in the region.
Cui was one of only five candidates to be nominated for ‘Leading Man of the Year’ the 2012 World MMA Awards and the only representative of an Asian promotion on this shortlist. He was also recognized by USA Today as one of the Top 25 Most Powerful People in MMA
Richard Young
Managing Director of NFL ChinaRichard joined the NFL as Managing Director of NFL China on December 1st 2010. He has more than 25 years of experience in sports event management, sales, and marketing with a strong focus in media rights and market strategy.
His previous work experience in China includes driving a Chinese media joint venture partnership responsible for launching China’s first nationwide HD sports channel; and founding The Young Company, which provided consulting services in production, distribution and media rights in China for leading sports leagues, broadcasters and commercial sponsors.
Prior to living in China, Richard worked at ESPN STAR Sports as Vice President of the Event Management Group and Programming Development, where he managed over 100 events in 13 different countries over 8 years across Asia. His management experience also includes a number of years in Taipei managing Sports International, Entertainment Plus Ltd when it was the largest professional sports management group in Taiwan. Richard has managed over 150 professional tournaments in 10 different sports throughout his career.
Richard was a student at Beijing Normal University in 1990. After graduating Cum Laude from Boston University with a double major in International Relations and East Asian Studies, Richard earned his MBA from the University of Chicago. He speaks, reads and writes Mandarin Chinese.
Jeffrey Wilson
Chair at Active Kidz ShanghaiJeffrey Wilson is chair of Active Kidz Shanghai, which has operated as a non-profit almost 20 years serving 5,000 children annually in Shanghai in soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball, ice hockey, rugby, and American football programs.
He is also counsel at JunHe LLP, where he is a member of the firm’s labor and employment practice, and the media, entertainment, and sports practice.
He previously was an agent brining basketball and baseball players to Taiwan and mainland China. He has a JD and MA in Chinese Studies from the University of Washington.
Cynthia Lee
APAC Portfolio Commercial Director of Amer SportsAmer Sports is a sporting goods company with internationally recognized brands including Wilson, Salomon, Arc’teryx, Peak Performance, Atomic, Mavic, Suunto and Precor.
As one of the missions of the company is to promote and lead the sports and enable consumer’s active lifestyle, Amer Sports have been playing a very active role in bringing new sports like trail running, hiking, climbing, tennis & baseball, and now winter sports into China market.
Cynthia joined Amer Sports in 2012. Since then, Cynthia leads the local teams to develop and implement the strategic growth plan by introducing & strengthening the wining brands, the local relevant products and the compelling consumer experience at the place of practice and at the place of purchase to the APAC markets including China, Japan, Korea, South east Asia and Australia/New Zealand.
Prior to Amer Sports, Cynthia was the veteran Marketer in FMCG industry with Global, APAC and Greater China experience for international & local Chinese brands.
Tor Petersen
CMO at SpaceCycleTor Petersen, entrepreneur & China expert, has spent the last 25 years building brands in China. In addition to the creation of entrepreneurial ventures in the apparel, consulting, wine and the digital music industries, Tor has been helping blue chip brands such as GoPro, Nike, The Coca-Cola Company, Under Armour, Li-Ning, New Balance, Footlocker, EA, Nokia, NFL, and UPS build their brands in China.
Tor is currently the CMO for SpaceCycle based out of Shanghai. SpaceCycle is a leading active lifestyle company in Asia that operates premium boutique fitness studios throughout China and Taiwan that combine fitness and entertainment into a revolutionary 3.0 model leveraging music, pop culture and world-class innovative teaching methods to change the way people socialize around group exercise. SpaceCycle is at the cutting edge of the live fitness industry, changing the fitness experience with its multi-modality and signature styles of indoor cycling, barre, yoga, and dance.
Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, and born in the United States, Tor received his Bachelor of Arts in Chinese Language and Culture at The Colorado College, graduating with distinction. Tor went on to study at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and continue graduate studies at The Johns Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American studies.
Victor Zhang
COO at SECA AcademyVictor joined SECA Academy in 2016 and in joint efforts with the company founder and team, shaped the company into the most internationalized youth sport training and education organization in China. SECA Academy is not only one of the most renowned youth fencing and squash club in China, but has also partnered with NBA China and SpartanRace to promote the Jr. NBA youth basketball program and SpartanKids youth physical fitness training program, respectively, serving more than 2000 families and dozens of schools.
Prior to SECA Academy, Victor was an entrepreneur in TMT industry and before that, he served Shanghai Media Group (SMG) in the new media department, where he was in charge of fund raising and business development for five years.
Victor earned his Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Marketing from Australia National University.
Paul Hyett
Head of International Sports & Entertainment at HKSPaul has worked on a long list of high profile architectural and urban regeneration projects ranging from new build developments in London’s Docklands, to planning studies for the World Health Organisation in Kazakhstan. Paul transferred from major healthcare work to the sports group in 2007, he has since worked exclusively on sports and entertainment projects.
In addition, he has regularly chaired and spoken at international sports conferences including the 4 IQPC Qatar Conferences. Paul has written extensively on the topic including regular contributions to leading industry periodicals.
Paul’s design experience includes leadership roles in King Abdullah Programme for Sports Stadia, Saudi Arabia, concept Design for the 60,000 seat stadium for RTA in Dubai, the 65,000-seat Optus Stadium in Western Australia, Liverpool Football Club, UK; Copenhagen Arena, Denmark.
He is currently principal-in-charge for a major new stadium/arena/mixed-use development in Tianjin China and has led several peer reviews for various government
Craig Grossarth
Vice President of Global Partnerships at AEG AsiaCraig’s China experience spans 16 years across sports & entertainment properties with a focus on bringing brands and content together.
At AEG, a global leader in venue management and live content, he leads a team in Asia whose mission is to creates one-of-a-kind sales and marketing platforms for partners to activate and promote their brands in collaboration with over 100 AEG assets.
With a passion for igniting conversation between brands and consumers, Craig previously worked at the leading sports events and talent agency WME-IMG China, where he was responsible for sponsorship and business development. Well-versed in working across a diverse network of resources and relationships, his career previously included 6 years at the NBA on the Marketing Partnership Team looking after media activations, events and content for leading brands in China.
James Zhu
Founder and GM of VenueChinaJames Zhu is Founder and General Manager of VenueChina. The company specializes in sports facility operation and consulting in Greater China area. Since its establishment, VenueChina has provided operation and consulting services for many large stadiums, arenas, including Dongfeng Nissan Cultural and Sports Center (Dongguan Basketball Center) as well as some small venues all over the country.
Before VenueChina, James Zhu worked for AEG, a global sports and entertainment group, and Bloomage International Culture and Sports (especially Beijing Wukesong Arena) at venue operation position. James has obtained master's and doctoral degrees in sports industry management from University of South Carolina's School of Sports and Hospitality Management and Beijing Sports University, focusing on sports field operations practice research.
Wesley Zhu
Deputy GM at Shanghai Greenland Shenhua FCZhu is the deputy GM at Shanghai Greeland Shenhua FC, a major football club playing in China Football Association Super League. Zhu has ample experiences in sports industry from different angles and types of sports.
He started his career as a sports journalist in SMG, covering all kinds of international and domestic sports events. In 2002, he followed Yao Ming to Huston Rockets and spent six years in United States to closely look into and report NBA games. During the period, he was one of the most famous columnist for the Titan Sports. After coming back to China, he joined China Sports Industry Group., Ltd., the biggest state-owned and listing company in sports industry, as deputy GM being responsible for operation of sports stadiums. In 2009, Zhu started his new career as a government official in Shanghai Football Association. He was responsible for management of football clubs and operation various football games, including Chinese Super League, AFC Champions Leagues and etc. He led Shanghai U20 Men’s team to win the championship of 13th National Games.
Bin Li
Managing Partner at Ansir InvestmentBin is a seasoned entrepreneur and investor with practical experience in commercializing from concept to reality. Bin has recently served as Chief Investment Officer (CIO) for Mailman Group, a Shanghai-based digital consultancy group with strategic investments in sports IP, event, media, content, merchandising and e-commerce. Bin successfully led Mailman to close Series A and Series A+ round funding, raising more than 100M RMB from strategic investors including Wecapital, Yao Capital and Kaixing Capital. Bin previously served as Head of Sports & Entertainment investment for Kaixing Capital, managing a 10 billion RMB Sports industry fund. Before joining Kaixing, Bin founded Ansir Entertainment, an early stage venture partner for Media and Entertainment companies looking to localize in China. In 2010, Bin co-founded Ansir Innovation Center, a San Diego based technology incubator focus on incubation, commercialization, and globalization of high-tech, TMT and clean-tech innovations. In 2008, Bin founded Ansir Consulting to assist Chinese companies entering international markets, including clients such as Suntech Powers, BYD and GREE.
Hong Quan
CFO, Managing Partner at Yao CapitalHong Quan has more than 14 years of experience in investment banking and private equity investment. He is the former Executive Director at Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan, specializing in cross-border transactions and overseas financing activities for Chinese companies.
Hong was previously with CDBI Capital. He holds B.S. degree from Lycoming College and MBA degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Ming Lin
Founder and Managing Partner of Z CapitalMr. Ming Lin is founder and Managing Partner of Z Capital, a VC fund focusing on content and technology.
Prior to Z Capital, Mr. Lin was Executive Director at China Media Capital (CMC). Previously, Mr. Lin worked for Telstra Media in Sydney as the Head of Mobile Advertising; while also participating in Chinese Internet M&A work on behalf of the Australian telecomms giant. He started his professional career as a sports TV Producer at Shanghai Media Group, during which time he was assigned to cover Yao Ming and the Rockets in Houston, Texas.
Mr. Lin earned a Master's degree in International Business Law from the University of Sydney; after receiving his undergraduate degree from from Fudan University's School of Journalism.
Jay Li
Vice President, Greater China at WWEJay Li was born and raised in Shanghai China and educated in the United States. Jay joined WWE as Vice President and Greater China GM in April of 2016. Prior to WWE, Jay was the Greater China GM for Skullcandy Inc for four years where he helped launch the brand in China. Jay also worked for the Chinese sporting goods giant Li Ning, as the General Manager of International Division, head of Footwear as well as head of Li Ning’s Global Innovation Center. Jay also served as a board member of the World Federation of Sporting Good Industries (WFSGI). Previously, Jay was a management consultant and his prior employers included IBM Business Consulting Services, PriceWaterhouseCoopers Consulting, and Accenture. He has worked extensively in both China and in the US. Jay received his Bachelor of Arts degree in International Politics and Economics from Middlebury College.
Gideon Clark
Sports Client Director of Mailman GroupGideon has been with Mailman for 4 years serving as account director and now heading up the US Sports team. He is responsible for client and account management for NFL, NHL, UFC and several NBA athletes driving their digital strategies for China.
Established in 1999, Mailman pioneered many of China’s early media and advertising initiatives. Today Mailman is China's leading sports digital consultancy and marketing platform, creating digital, sponsorship and activation for the world's best sports and travel brands.
Gideon’s prior experience includes account management and business development for UL Information & Insights and Innovadex B2B Digital marketing platforms. Gideon earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Chinese and Economics from Hamilton College, in upstate New York. He has been living and working in Shanghai since 2010.
Sam Li
Head of International Business Strategy at Sina SportsSam Li is the Head of International Business Strategy for Sina Sports where he is responsible for domestic and international sports rights acquisition; strategic partnerships with rights holders, teams and individual athletes; and international sponsorships and marketing.
He was previously an Associate Vice President with the National Basketball Association. Sam has a Juris Doctor degree from University of Michigan Law School and dual bachelor degrees from University of California, Los Angeles.
Sherlock Sun
Founder & Managing Partner of Playmaker KidsSherlock is founder and managing partner of Playmaker Kids, an IoT technology and IP licensing company, specializing in
creating immersive and interactive sports entertainment and training attractions for young children.
Playmaker Kids seeks to make sports more relevant to young children by offering a gamified sports experience -developed
for today’s young generation, addressing the pervasive influence of the digital landscape and the lack of sports culture. By using proprietary technology and cutting edge solutions – including facial recognition, automated user activity tracking and recording, as well as data analytics, Playmaker Kids also offers unique personalization and social engagement that seamlessly extends the user experience from offline to online.
Sherlock brings nearly 20 years of sports, media and entertainment experience, and executive management leadership to his role. He was previously a senior executive at NBA China for eight years, and responsible for growing the brand, and the league’s media and marketing business. He also spearheaded the convergence of sports and entertainment, through the development of new NBA properties to expand mainstream appeal for the brand. He was later CEO of PAE Pictures and The Bridge Entertainment - producing film, TV, and online content, including primetime basketball reality show, THE PLAYERS, on Dragon TV and LeTV Sports, starring Kobe Bryant and Chinese award-winning actor Liu Ye, reaching over 600 million views on OTT alone; and producer of upcoming sports drama film PEKING DUNK, directed by Ron Shelton.
After graduating from Babson College with a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurial Studies, he started his career in management and IT consulting at Accenture, developing solutions for Fortune 500 companies.
OTHERS TO BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY...