We round up the latest movements from within the ticketing sector and associated industries…
Jeff Olson has been named vice-president of booking for Crypto. com Arena, Microsoft Theater and L.A. LIVE.
In his new role, Olson (pictured left) will be primarily focused on sourcing talent, negotiating, and securing deals with high-priority clients and promoters for shows for all three venues. In addition, he will also be responsible for working with the Los Angeles Lakers, LA Kings, Los Angeles Clippers, and Los Angeles Sparks to assist with the scheduling and maintaining the arena’s calendar as well as working with the award shows and residencies to assist with the scheduling and maintaining Microsoft Theater and L.A. LIVE venue calendars.
Most recently, Olson was the director of booking and special events for Snapdragon Stadium/OVG360. He previously held a similar role for the Memphis Grizzlies and FedEx Forum.
“We are incredibly excited to have Jeff Olson joining our team at Crypto. com Arena, Microsoft Theater and L.A. LIVE,” said Lee Zeidman, president of Crypto. com Arena. “He brings over 23 years of experience and knowledge of booking and event production to our venues and to the market, along with strong industry relationships. We are looking forward to having Jeff joining us here in Los Angeles and booking a variety of content for our venues in this competitive market.”
LS Events has announced changes to its company structure which will see Dave Grindle and Steve Reynolds take on the role of co-chief executive.
Grindle was a founding member of LS Events (formerly Loud Sound) with Jim King in 2004, while Reynolds has been instrumental in widening the scope of the LS Events client portfolio since joining in 2016.
LS Events said: “This strategic announcement comes ahead of a busy 2023, with a diverse and exciting rosta of projects including delivering two of the UK’s major music festivals in American Express presents BST Hyde Park and LUNO presents All Points East and reprising our role as Formula E 2023 Hankook London E-Prix Local Operator, whilst also supporting delivery of Cape Town E-Prix and the Greenko Hyderabad E-Prix.”
Twickenham Stadium has expanded its sales team with the appointments of Emily Simmons-Wright and Keelan Wells as business development managers.
Stadium chiefs said the move underlines the ambition of the venue as it seeks to attract more major events.
Simmons-Wright previously worked at Searcy’s and Central Hall Venues, while Keelan brings experience from across the Levy UK&I group, having worked in stadiums including reading FC, Harlequins, Brentford FC and Watford FC.
Johanna Byrane, head of business development at Twickenham, said: “It’s been a really good start to the year for the business, and we’ve hosted some really high-profile events here at Twickenham Stadium already. There is an appetite for what we do here and how we do it and this is reflected in the enquiries we’re seeing. We’re keen to continue to grow our business, and the options that event organisers have here, Emily and Keelan are a big part of that strategy.”
Samba Digital has announced the appointment of Daniel McLaren as head of UK & Europe and Matt Taylor (pictured right) as UK account lead.
McLaren, who moves from client director, will lead all elements of Samba’s business within the UK, where its service-offering helps sports properties including Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea increase their international presence through localised content, paid media, PR and sponsorship activation.
Taylor has spent the last three years growing Everton’s global fanbase through strategic partnerships, brand and business development, international academies and overseas pre-season tours.
“Dan has deep-rooted expertise and knowledge of the UK market and with the support of account leads like Matt, who knows first-hand the international opportunities open to UK football clubs, we believe Samba is well-positioned to deliver even greater client impact in a key market for both sport and our business,” said Frédéric Fausser, president and co-founder of Samba Digital.
Samba’s global restructure has also seen Miami-based Matteo Trevisani take the new position of head of Americas. Samba clients across the region include the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs and Orlando Magic in the NBA.
Do you have news of an appointment that we should know about? Get in touch by emailing news.editor@theticketingbusiness.com and we’ll include it in our next round-up.