Advisory Board

A senior digital marketing executive with over 20 years of digital media and technology experience across both B2C and B2B. Craig has an extensive and deep knowledge in developing and executing digital transformation and marketing engagement strategies that have a proven record in improving business performance. Craig is a focused and passionate change agent who strives to build world class teams that transform, innovate and disrupt legacy marketing models. Craig has broad & detailed knowledge of the digital technology landscape, media & brand planning, online consumer behaviour, mobile marketing, content development, OTT and consumer experiences and has been responsible for developing brand marketing strategies and digital transformation programs for some of the world’s largest brands including Rentokil Initial, STA Travel, Nokia, Microsoft, Tata and now Leading the digital transformation strategy at UEFA to enhance fan engagement across all areas of football.

Matthew Campelli is a journalist, strategist and communicator specialising in sport and sustainability. He is the founder of The Sustainability Report, an insight an intelligence platform that helps sports organisations become more environmentally and socially responsible.

Michael was appointed as the CTO for the PGA European Tour in November 2017, with the responsibilities extending across Digital Systems, Scoring Systems, Technology Infrastructure and Data Management including Official World Golf Rankings.

Formerly, Michael was CEO And Co-founder for TrueGold Communications, a sports marketing agency specialising in technology-based global sport sponsorship, supporting the number of Olympic Games and sponsors for Rio2016, Pyeongchang 2018 and Tokyo2020, as well as the 2019 Pan American Games in Peru.

Bio Coming Soon…

Benjamin is a native from Munich, Germany that studied Media Management and Sports Marketing. Steen has worked for over 15 years now in Germany’s largest and most successful soccer club, FC Bayern Munich. Since 2010 Benjamin has been responsible for the operations, marketing and development of digital projects. In 2014 Benjamin was put in charge of customer care, digital licensing as well as the digitalization of the Allianz Arena.

Sam Jones is the CEO of NFL Game Pass/OverTier, and is responsible for operating NFL Game Pass, the innovative subscription streaming service for the National Football League, across 61 European markets. Sam is a renowned executive who has built leading-edge, direct-to-consumer growth enterprises for world renowned tech, media and e-commerce companies including Bauer Media Group, Perform Group, Warner Music and Silicon Valley-based Kyte. Throughout his career, Jones has consistently delivered inspired innovation to connect millions to their passions via every screen, device, and platform; driving bottom-line revenue and user growth.

Alexandra has achieved industry-wide recognition in her use of technology to transform the perceptions of a traditional brand in her role at Wimbledon, building an award-winning digital and communications strategy that is at the heart of the long-term future of the brand.

Through the combination of a content-first, platform second approach, a data-led audience strategy, and placing value on consistent innovation as well as continuous evolution, Alexandra has led Wimbledon to become one of the most well-respected digital brands in sport.

Alexander (Sasha) Ryazantsev joined the Board of Directors of Everton Football Club in March 2016 following a successful career in finance and investment banking spanning more than 20 years.

He became the Club’s first Chief Finance and Commercial Officer in June 2018.

Sasha graduated from the Russian Plekhanov University of Economics in 1995 with a BSc in Economics and Commercial Management, later working as an investment analyst at Global Natural Energy PLC, where Everton major shareholder Farhad Moshiri was CEO.

After completing his Masters in Finance from the London Business School in 2002, Sasha joined ABN AMRO Bank, where he led a team advising European consumer brands on their capital structures and corporate financing. Sasha was then invited to join the corporate financing and risk solutions team at RBS in 2007, where he was responsible for bond issues and mergers and acquisitions across Europe, Middle East and Africa. In 2016, Sasha advised Mr Moshiri on the acquisition of a significant stake in Everton and the strategy of the football club going forward.

Born into a footballing family, Sasha’s father was a goalkeeper at a number of clubs across the former USSR in the 1960s and 1970s and he himself played at right-back for Dynamo Moscow boys until the age of 16 but then turned his focus towards his studies.

In 2018, Sasha completed the Business of Entertainment, Media and Sport programme at Harvard Business School to further enhance his commitment to the business of sport and finance.

Bio Coming Soon…

Elizabeth is a Canadian expat who relocated to the UK earlier this year to join Twitter’s Global Content Partnerships team, managing sport partnerships. She works with some of the UK’s largest broadcasters, leagues, teams, federations and sporting events, including Sky, Eurosport, BBC, Wimbledon and the European Tour, to bring great sports video content to the platform. Prior to her move across the pond, she was a Client Account Manager with Twitter’s advertising sales team in Toronto for 3+ years. She started her professional career in Sponsorship with the Canadian Olympic Committee, where she funneled her passion for sports and marketing and “ice” hockey into her day job. You can follow her at @estranges on Twitter.

Pontus Eskilsson is the Director of Partnerships, EMEA at Twitch, where he works with broadcasting partners from individuals to developers, publishers, and organizations. Pontus’s expertise lies in Esports and Digital / Creative Advertising. Before joining Twitch, Pontus was the Director for the biggest esports and gaming site in the Nordics, Fragbite, where he developed esports activations for brands like McDonald’s, Com Hem, and Pokerstars.

Anna manages sports media partnerships for Facebook across EMEA. She helps sports broadcasters leverage Facebook and Instagram to drive commercial objectives for their FTA, PayTV, digital-born or linear broadcasting businesses. Prior to her role at Facebook, Anna was managing content strategy and rights acquisition for beIN Sports around the world.

Having been at the forefront of sports media trends, Anna enjoys passing on her knowledge to students as a part-time professor of sports media at the Football Business Academy, and has guest lectured at universities including Loughborough and Birkbeck. She is very passionate about advancing gender-equality in the sports industry and is the founder of WBR Network – a digital-first production company sharing stories of women breaking records in sports.

Bio Coming Soon…