Michigan Sport Business Conference

MSBC 13 keynote speaker, Julie Uhrman, moderator, Kate Johnson, and Co-Presidents, Annie Skier and Natalie Gormely, were featured in last week’s Sport Business Journal! Check it out. https://lnkd.in/gHAx2QYa

We’re missing MSBC 13 already. Thank you to all our speakers, stakeholders, attendees, and student planning team for making this the best one yet!

The Michigan Sport Business Conference is excited to announce its final moderator, David Herman! David Herman is the General Manager at Fresh Tape Media, a creative production company based in NYC and Denver. In this role, David oversees day-to-day operations of a team of 15+, leading initiatives across sales, finance, creative, and client engagement to deliver standout content for clients in the sports and entertainment industries. Prior to joining Fresh Tape, David was the Lead of US Sports Partnerships at Twitter, working within the company’s Global Content Partnerships team. In this role, he managed strategic sports partnerships with leagues, networks, teams, and media partners, helping bring premium sports content to Twitter. A proud graduate of the University of Michigan, David remains involved with the university as a founding member of the Michigan Sports Business Conference (MSBC), the nation’s only undergraduate student-run sports business conference. He serves on the Board of Advisors, mentoring student leaders and guiding the organization’s strategy.

We’re excited to present our final Partner Playbook! We are thrilled to be partnering with such great companies. See you on Friday! #MSBC Detroit Pistons, Motor City Cruise, Certor Sports, 2K, rEvolution, Mitchell & Ness Nostalgia Co., Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings, Psychlytics, Sports Business Ventures, State and Liberty Clothing Co.

The Michigan Sport Business Conference is excited to announce its final panelist, Frederick Richard! Fred Richard is an elite American gymnast known for his success at both the collegiate and international levels. Competing for the University of Michigan, Richard quickly emerged as one of the top athletes in the NCAA, earning All-American honors and contributing to Michigan’s dominance in men’s gymnastics. As a freshman, he made an immediate impact, helping the Wolverines secure multiple team victories and collecting individual titles across various apparatuses. On the international stage, Richard represented the United States at the Olympics, showcasing his talent in events like the high bar and parallel bars. His strong performances were instrumental in helping Team USA secure a bronze medal in the team all-around, the nation's first podium finish in the event in over a decade. Competing with consistency and precision, Richard proved himself as a key contributor on the world’s biggest stage, solidifying his reputation as one of the sport’s brightest young talents.

The Michigan Sport Business Conference is excited to announce its next moderator, Josh Abramowitz! Josh has forever been passionate about sports and entertainment. His earliest baby photos show him dressed in a Michael Jordan onesie, and his first home videos capture embarrassing performances of him singing John Travolta’s “Go Grease Lightning” - leather jacket and all. Despite playing basketball his entire life, it became clear when he didn’t surpass 5’5” that his NBA dream may not be in the cards, so he pivoted to focus on the business side. Josh attended the University of Michigan to study Sport Management where he lead the development of the first virtual Michigan Sport Business Conference as Co-President during the Pandemic. After graduating in 2021 Josh moved to New York, beginning his career at Wasserman driving brand strategy, partner activation, account management, and talent negotiation for AT&T’s gaming and esports portfolio. He took this experience into a business development role where he pitched experiential activation for more than 30 blue-chip brands. Josh recently started a new role at Fanatics in their Collectibles division where he oversees licensing partnerships for the iconic Topps brand.

The Michigan Sport Business Conference is excited to announce its final keynote speaker, Julie Uhrman! Julie Uhrman is the President and Co-Founder of Angel City Football Club (ACFC), Los Angeles' professional women's soccer team that debuted in 2022 in the National Women's Soccer League.? ACFC is one of the world's only majority female-founded and run professional sports teams and was recently named the world’s most valuable women’s sports team. Uhrman founded ACFC with Academy Award-winning actress and activist Natalie Portman, and technology venture capitalist Kara Nortman. She was named a member of the 2023 Sports Business Journal (SBJ) Game Changer class. She was listed as one of the Ten Influencers of 2023 by SportsPro Media, one of the Most Influential People in Sports Business 2022 by the SBJ, and a member of Adweek's 2021 and 2020 Most Powerful Women In Sports.? In May of 2023, Angel City Football Club was named Sports Team of the Year by SBJ and was the first women's team ever to win the category.? Most recently, Angel City Football Club was honored by ESPN as the Humanitarian Team of the Year at the 2024 ESPY Awards, in recognition of the club’s incredible community impact work.

The Michigan Sport Business Conference is excited to announce its next panelist, Katie Bynum Aznavorian! Katie Bynum Aznavorian has served as the chief strategy & growth officer for the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee since June 2020, having previously served as chief of staff since April 2019. In her role, she is responsible for the strategy and business innovation function and all brand, reputation, and fan engagement efforts of the USOPC. She works closely with CEO Sarah Hirshland to advance the strategic priorities of the USOPC and the organization’s commercial future, including the successful award of the Salt Lake City-Utah 2034 Games and the organization’s relationship with LA 2028 and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Properties, the joint venture between the USOPC and LA 2028 that is charged with generating revenue for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Los Angeles 2028. Prior to the USOPC, she served as the managing director of partnerships and championship experiences for the United States Golf Association. She oversaw three revenue-generating functions, which included developing key strategic partnerships and integrated programs and experiences to strengthen the USGA’s global reach and reputation in support of its mission. She previously served as senior manager of global consulting at Wasserman, where she was instrumental in the opening of the agency’s first international consulting office based out of London.

The Michigan Sport Business Conference is excited to announce its next moderator, Annie Skier! Annie Skier is the Co-President of the Michigan Sport Business Conference (MSBC), previously serving on the Creative and Branding team for two years. As a Co-President, she helps to curate a high-level vision and strategy for MSBC’s 13th annual sport business conference. She empowers a 39-person student team to execute this vision through intimate and frequent consulting. She leads the charge on speaker outreach, conference programming, and all other conference-related tasks. Annie is a senior at the University of Michigan studying Sport Management with a minor in Law, Justice, and Social Change, hailing from New York City. She spent her previous summer with Bleacher Report working on the B/R Kicks team as a Social Content Intern, where she regularly maintained B/R Kicks’ digital presence across social media platforms through content ideation and creation.

The Michigan Sport Business Conference is excited to announce its next panelist, Katie Bynum Aznavorian! Katie Bynum Aznavorian has served as the chief strategy & growth officer for the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee since June 2020, having previously served as chief of staff since April 2019. In her role, she is responsible for the strategy and business innovation function and all brand, reputation, and fan engagement efforts of the USOPC. She works closely with CEO Sarah Hirshland to advance the strategic priorities of the USOPC and the organization’s commercial future, including the successful award of the Salt Lake City-Utah 2034 Games and the organization’s relationship with LA 2028 and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Properties, the joint venture between the USOPC and LA 2028 that is charged with generating revenue for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Los Angeles 2028. Prior to the USOPC, she served as the managing director of partnerships and championship experiences for the United States Golf Association. She oversaw three revenue-generating functions, which included developing key strategic partnerships and integrated programs and experiences to strengthen the USGA’s global reach and reputation in support of its mission. She previously served as senior manager of global consulting at Wasserman, where she was instrumental in the opening of the agency’s first international consulting office based out of London.