Venu Sports CEO Pete Distad has solidified his leadership team ahead of the offering’s launch on track for this fall, subject to regulatory approval.
The team, which will be based in New York and Los Angeles and hail from leading entertainment, media, technology, sports, and sports betting companies, includes Brian Borkowski, Jessica Casano-Antonellis, Tim Connolly, Amit Dudakia, Skarpi Hedinsson, David Hillman, Gautam Ranji, and Judy Schwab.
“Getting the chance to assemble the starting lineup for the management team responsible for building the Venu organization, creating the culture, setting the pace of innovation, and ultimately, fueling the growth behind our forthcoming service has been an incredible opportunity,” Distad said in a statement. “We searched for people with an entrepreneurial spirit who could bring diverse perspectives to Venu Sports with experience launching beloved consumer products and growing high-performing teams, and brought together a group of all-stars in their respective fields.”
Borkowski will serve as chief marketing officer, where he will be responsible for Venu’s marketing, branding and growth strategies.
Prior to joining Venu, he led marketing for FanDuel and held multiple roles at Hulu, including vice president of media and acquisition and head of subscriber acquisition. He also was chief marketing officer at predictive analytics startup Verikai and held various marketing leadership roles at Neilson Financial Services and Farmers Insurance.
Connolly joins as chief business officer, where he will be responsible for steering strategic initiatives including content rights and licensing, distribution and strategic partnerships, business development, subscriber growth, and retention strategies. He previously led subscriber growth for Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass and held senior leadership roles at Hulu and Disney.
Antonellis, who was officially announced in May, currently serves as Venu’s senior vice president and head of communications. Prior to Venu, she led communications at SiriusXM and oversaw global communication strategies for Disney+ and Hulu.
Amit Dudakia will be Venu’s senior vice president and head of product, where he will lead all facets of product management and design, along with programming and editorial for the service.
He previously held various production leadership roles across Fox Corporation and its portfolio of entertainment brands, most recently serving as SVP of product management for Fox Technology & Digital, where he led the product and design organization for Fox Sports. His tenure at Fox started at FX Networks, where he was a key member of the launch team behind FX NOW, Simpsons World, and FX+.
Hedinsson will serve as chief technology officer, where he will be tasked with executing Venu’s tech strategy and execution and building out its team of technologists. Prior to Venu, Hedinsson served as CTO of the Los Angeles Rams as well as Disney/ABC Television Group CTO during the launch of the WATCH ABC and WATCH Disney services.
Hillman joins as chief legal officer, overseeing all legal matters for Venu Sports. He most recently served as EVP and general counsel for CBS Sports, CBS News and Stations and Broadcast Operations, where he oversaw negotiations of key strategic content agreements with programming partners, sports leagues and talent. Before that, he served as EVP and general counsel at Simon & Schuster and Westwood One.
Gautam Ranji has been named chief financial officer for the sports venture. Prior to joining Venu, he led Sphere Entertainment’s finance functions as CFO and treasurer and was part of the management team behind the launch of the Las Vegas Sphere. Before that, he oversaw strategic planning and business development at CBS and co-led the merger integration following the combination of Viacom in 2019. He also held senior posts at the Hearst Corporation and Viacom.
Schwab joins as Venu’s SVP and head of people, overseeing strategy and operations including workforce planning, organizational effectiveness, talent acquisition, talent management and development, and total rewards, as well as its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. She most recently served as an HR leader in Apple’s Services division. Before that, she led HR for ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu and served as a key executive that launched Disney+ and integrated Hulu.
In addition to the Venu Sports management team, there are currently over 150 engineers and executives dedicated to building the Venu product, which aims to serve sports fans outside of the traditional TV bundle.
Venu Sports will offer access to content from linear sports networks including ESPN, ESPN+, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV, as well as the ABC network. It will include content from the NFL, UFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL, college football (including the College Football Playoff), men’s and women’s college basketball (including the men’s and women’s college basketball national championships), PGA golf, grand slam tennis, cycling, soccer, UFC, Formula1 and NASCAR. Subscribers will also have the option to bundle the product with Disney+, Hulu and Max.
Fox, Disney and WBD will each own a 1/3 stake, have equal board representation and will license their sports content to the joint venture on a non-exclusive basis. Each company will continue to bid independently and compete with each other and others for the sports rights.
Analysts have estimated that the JV’s pricing could fall anywhere between $35 to $50 per month. Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch suggested it would be in the “higher ranges of what people are talking about.” An individual close to the venture previously told TheWrap that pricing would be lower than YouTube TV’s $72.99 per month base plan.
Rather than split revenue equally from the partnership, the companies are expected to earn a similar carriage fee rate as they do through other distribution channels where their networks are available. The trio’s members will each be responsible for selling their own advertising and will retain all of the advertising revenue from their content, the individual close to the venture said.
The venture is aiming for 1 million subscribers by the end of the calendar year and 5 million subscribers within the first five years of its launch.
