Managing the Big League Levers

Chris Greeley – Commissioner of the LCS & Head of League Operations, Riot Games

Rafael Stone – General Counsel, Houston Rockets

Evan Wasch – SVP of Basketball Strategy & Analytics, NBA

Damani Leech – Senior Vice President, Football Strategy & Business Development, NFL

Alison Overholt (Moderator) – Editor-in-Chief, ESPN The Magazine, espnW, and the ESPYs, ESPN

The ecosystem of a sports league is unique, and league offices are given the difficult task of bringing together a set of disparate teams and pointing them towards the best interests of the collective whole. That process presents many challenges, both common across leagues and unique to each sport, and the balance of power between all parties is tenuous. In a game of cat and mouse, teams seek to exploit loopholes while the leagues seek to close them and maintain a level playing field. Still, all leagues hold substantial influence and can utilize a variety of levers to enact change, maintain competitive balance, and ultimately steer their respective sports to shared popularity. However, pulling on one lever too much or ignoring others can lead to unforeseen consequences detrimental to not just leagues and teams, but fans as well. This panel comprised of league and team executives will shed light on the decisions that leagues make to execute their vision and improve their sports.