Tackling Competition and Risk in Media and Sports
Topics: Big Data / Analytics Customer Finance Marketing / Sales
2016 Entertainment, Sports and Media Symposium
The 8th annual Entertainment, Sports and Media Club’s Symposium was held on Thursday, April 14th and Friday, April 15th. The symposium looked at the media industry’s shifting competitive landscape and the considerations behind recruiting and sponsoring athletes. Panelists included executives from Legendary Entertainment, Fenway Sports Management, US Olympic Programs at Deloitte, WWE, FreeWheel, and Showtime. This event was hosted by the student-run Entertainment, Sports & Media Club at the Tuck School of Business.
Thursday, April 14th:
Keynote: Disrupting Hollywood Paradigms Using Data and Analytics
Speaker: Matt Marolda T’02, Chief Analytics Officer, Legendary Entertainment
Matt walked through Legendary’s use of data and analytics to inform their creative process (greenlighting, casting, release dating, etc.) and to transform their marketing.
Friday, April 15th:
“Betting on Athletes: A High-Stakes Game”
Panelists: John Clark, SVP Sales & Ops, Fenway Sports Management and Douglas Neff, Senior Manager, US Olympic Programs at Deloitte
This panel focused on exploring the topic of how teams, sponsors, and leagues bet on individual athletes. The panel discussed the processes and considerations by which organizations make these multi-million dollar decisions.
“The Media Industry’s House of Cards: Risk, Strategy, and Innovation”
Panelists: Andrew Brown T’11, Senior Director, International Strategy & Operations at WWE; Mike Lawlor T’06, SVP, FreeWheel; Nick Thorndike T’09, VP, Finance, BD & ops at Showtime
This panel covered the shifting competitive landscape between content producers, networks, and distributors / providers in the media industry.
