Venu Sports, the joint venture sports streaming service formed by US media giants Disney, Fox Corp, and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), has announced several new appointments to fill out its senior leadership team.
The new additions include Brian Borkowski as chief marketing officer, Tim Connolly (chief business officer), Amit Dudakia (senior vice president and head of product), Skarpi Hedinsson (chief technology officer), and Gautam Ranji (chief financial officer).
The platform will combine the sports streaming property portfolios of the three major broadcasters and control over 50% of live sports broadcasts in the US both regionally and nationally.
Borkowski will be responsible for marketing, branding, and growth strategies to launch and grow Venu Sports, which is set to launch in the second half of 2024 in a completely new app. He previously led marketing at FanDuel and held multiple roles at Hulu.
Connolly will be tasked with the development of strategic initiatives, including content rights and licensing, distribution and strategic partnerships, business development, subscriber growth, and retention strategies. Before joining Venu, he was at Apple and also held senior leadership positions at Hulu, and The Walt Disney Company.
Meanwhile, Ranji will oversee all aspects of the financial operations for the sports venture, Hedinsson will be responsible for the technology strategy and execution for the sports streaming service, and Dudakia will oversee all facets of product management and design, along with programming and editorial for the service.
Ranji was previously CFO at Sphere Entertainment, Hedinsson was the CTO of the Los Angeles Rams, and Dudakia held various product leadership roles across Fox Corp.
Venu has also hired David Hillman as chief legal officer and Judy Schwab as senior vice president and head of people to round out its new management team that will report to chief executive Pete Distad.
Distad said: “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.
“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.”
The Venu Sports name was revealed last month ahead of its expected launch in an app that will come with the potential to bundle it with the Disney+ service, Fox’s Hulu, or WBD’s Max streaming services.
Despite not launching yet, Venu Sports is not without its controversies, with rival sports streamer FuboTV earlier this month leading a coalition of broadcasters, network carriers, and public interest groups in signing a letter to Congress demanding hearings about the venture.
The letter called on members of Congress from the Senate Commerce Committee, Senate Judiciary Committee, House Energy and Commerce Committee, and the House Judiciary Committee, to hold hearings about pay-TV competitiveness.
