Sportradar hires former Univision, ESPN exec Eric Conrad to lead Sports Content & Partnerships team in North America

Sportradar on Wednesday announced the appointment of former Univision and ESPN executive Eric Conrad as Managing Director, Strategic Partnerships & Content, North America. He will report directly to Eduard Blonk, Chief Commercial Officer.

In this newly created role, the sports betting technology and data provider said Conrad will build upon the foundation established by the US Sports Content and Partnerships (SCP) team, which will now report to him. Over the last several years, the SCP team has secured critical partnerships including the NHL, NBA and MLB, all of which have primed Sportradar to innovate and drive value for its customers and sports fans as well as establish the company as the market leader in North America. Conrad will work closely with Sportradar’s media and betting partners to maximize commercial returns, as well as pursue new, long-term partnerships that will help drive continued growth.

Conrad is an accomplished sports media executive with more than 20 years of transactional sports rights experience at both major professional leagues and industry leading media companies, having personally negotiated hundreds of agreements across multiple sport genres for both US and international markets. He joins Sportradar from Univision where most recently he was Executive Vice President, Sports Programming and Acquisitions with the responsibility of building their sports rights portfolio by securing partnerships with top leagues and properties in the world, including FIFA, UEFA, Concacaf, Conmebol, and MLS, among others. Prior to Univision, Conrad served in various roles within ESPN’s Programming and Acquisition team and held media rights and sponsorship sales positions with MLB and the NBA.

Blonk commented about the appointment: “Eric joins Sportradar at a time of rapid growth for the North American market. Eric has the leadership track record and experience we believe are critical to lead the regional SCP team, including the ability to forge additional partnerships, a strong focus on value creation with the sports fan in the center and a focus on delivering value to our customers.”

Last month, Sportradar appointed Michael Gandolfo as Group Head of Regional Sales. He will oversee Sportradar’s North American sales team and report to North America CEO Arne Rees.