The CAA World Congress of Sports is kicking off today at the JW Marriott at L.A. Live. The event began with a structured networking and information sharing session called World Congress Connect. After brunch and opening remarks from SBJ Publisher & Executive Editor Abe Madkour, the first panel of the event discussed key industry issues. Speakers on that panel included Arctos Partners’ TJ Adeshola, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment’s Kevin Demoff, the Mariners’ Catie Griggs, the Pro Tennis Players Association’s Ahmad Nassar and NBC Olympics Productions’ Molly Solomon.
On Day 1 of World Congress, attendees will hear from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Fanatics Chair Michael Rubin, DraftKings’ Jason Robins and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. The event kicked off on Monday night with a welcome reception for 250 attendees at the JW Marriott hosted by Ticketmaster. Prior to the event, many attendees watched the WNBA Draft on ESPN near the bar.
Spotted at the welcome reception were Proskauer’s Brad Ruskin, the PGA of America’s Jeff Price, USA Gymnastics’ Li Li Leung, Elevate’s Ben Gumpert and Lara Toscani Weems, USL’s Court Jeske, the USTA’s Deanne Pownall, GMR Marketing’s Todd Fischer, the Mariners’ Gina Martinez Todd, USA Fencing’s Phil Andrews, the Earthquakes’ Allison Whitson, TurnkeyZRG’s Rick Alessandri
