Month: August 2021

– Regional, on-the-ground organizational structure signifies continued investment in the European market and global growth – 

NEW YORK – August 23, 2021 – Legends International today announced continued and further investment in the ever-growing international division exemplified by two leaders in their respective European regions. As part of the company’s long-term approach to territory centered, on-the-ground structure, Martin Jennings has been promoted to Managing Director of the UK and Head of Global Planning for the International business, with former Sportfive executive Jens König joining Legends International as Managing Director of Central Europe.   

“We have established a world class foundation in the international market and are poised for extraordinary growth. To accelerate this growth, and to continue to deliver at the highest level for our clients, we are excited to launch an enhanced operations model led by two native-born world-class experts in Martin and Jens,” said Mike Tomon, Co-President and COO, Legends. “This strategic approach not only represents the recognition of the uniqueness of each regional business environment, but also highlights our commitment to continue to invest in significant infrastructure across our unique 360-degree platform.”   

To support Legends’ thriving business in Europe, Jennings and König will oversee the development and implementation of the company’s 360º services platform in their respective territories. Legends is partnered with many of the world’s most iconic sports, entertainment, and attractions brands, including Real Madrid CF, Liverpool FC, The Shard, Rugby World Cup 2019 and 2021, UFC, The European Tour and Ryder Cup. Clients benefit from comprehensive services through six global operating divisions – Global Planning, Global Sales, Global Partnerships, Hospitality, Global Merchandise and Global Technology Solutions – which offer best-in-class leadership and integrated 360º solutions. 

Additionally, Andrew Hampel has decided to step back as President of Legends International and will transition to a new role as Senior Advisor in October 2021. 

The Managing Directors will collectively comprise an International Operating Committee, working in partnership to further drive business success. Positions will be announced for France, Italy and Spain in the coming months. 

Jennings joined Legends International in 2018 as Senior Vice President, Project Development and has been instrumental in the strong foundation Legends has established internationally, managing a wide range of prominent stadium and arena/exhibition centre development projects across Europe. Jennings has been central to Legends’ work for many European clients, including Real Madrid CF, Liverpool FC and Fulham FC. His arena/exhibition centre experience covers several major new venues in the UK and both new and renovated venues across Scandinavia. 

A versatile and proven leader with experience across league, club and agency sectors, König most recently served as Senior Vice President and Head of Global Business Development at Sportfive. During his nearly 10 years with the international sports rights marketing agency, he managed multiple top international stadium and club projects from development and commercialization to operations. Throughout the European market, König has overseen partnerships, premium ticketing, marketing, customer experience and digitalization. He will manage operations from Hamburg, Germany. 

– New corporate management structure designed to further accelerate worldwide business development and position the company for long-term growth – 

–Business technology expert Jennifer Greer-Glanville named Chief Information Officer –  

NEW YORK – August 23, 2021 – Legends today announced a strategic realignment of its global corporate management structure naming longtime Legends executive Mike Tomon and prominent financial operations executive Curt McClellan as the first-ever Co-Presidents of the business. The restructuring of Legends operations in the U.S. and internationally aligns with the company’s long-term commitment to worldwide growth and positions the premium experience company for the future.   

“As we ramp back up at a rapid pace, we are positioning our company to more effectively execute our long-term growth strategy and must match that with the right leadership and structure to support our teams and clients, ensuring that we can sustain and elevate the world-class service we deliver to partners,” said Shervin Mirhashemi, CEO, Legends. “Mike and Curt are exceptionally talented, innovative and forward-looking leaders, with track records implementing ultra-successful global strategies and will be excellent stewards of our business as co-presidents. And with the addition of Jennifer as CIO, who has a stellar reputation delivering business value across all areas of the technology ecosystem, our new leadership composition is a perfect fit to accelerate our vision.” 

Tomon assumes expanded responsibilities of Co-President along with his current role as Chief Operating Officer, and will oversee all revenue generating and operational components of the company, including all Legends operating divisions.  In addition, he will oversee Marketing, Creative, and Communications. In addition to serving as Co-President, McClellan will assume the role of Chief Corporate Officer, overseeing infrastructure components of the company, including IT, Finance and Accounting, Legal and Human Resources.  

Advancing its objective to support the business with world-class expertise, Legends has appointed business technology executive Jennifer Greer-Glanville as Chief Information Officer. As CIO, she will lead strategic direction, management, and oversight in the areas of Enterprise Architecture, IT Security and Compliance, Infrastructure, Technical Services, Workplace Technologies and Event Support for Operations.  

A Legends veteran and principal leader in its dynamic and diverse growth since 2014, Tomon has been a key accelerant in the advancement and implementation of the 360-degree service solution platform. Over the past seven years, the former Georgetown student-athlete has been instrumental in Legends’ global operations expansion and overall business development charge. Before joining Legends, Tomon served as Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships at AEG, spearheading business development and overseeing the global premium sales strategy for assets worldwide. Prior to AEG, Tomon lead different facets of revenue and operations for NBA teams such as the Phoenix Suns, Charlotte Bobcats and Cleveland Cavaliers. 

McClellan augments the Legends team with over three decades of experience, building efficient and effective infrastructure teams that support and drive business at global leading companies. Most recently, as Executive in Residence for KSL Capital Partners, McClellan delivered leadership, operational and financial expertise to portfolio company leadership as well as providing guidance, diligence efforts and support for potential investments. Prior to that, the Abilene Christian graduate provided leadership to golf club operator ClubCorp USA as the organization’s CFO and Treasurer for 11 years. During his tenure, McClellan oversaw over 350 employee partners across, finance, accounting, tax, investor relations, information technology, legal and risk management. Additionally, he was responsible for managing treasury and capital market relationships and strategies. 

Greer-Glanville comes to Legends following a career arc helping to transform multibillion dollar corporations. Most recently, she was CIO of ClubCorp, driving strategic digital transformation initiatives and cybersecurity/compliance solutions while also building credibility through improvements in the day-to-day technology and service predictability across the entire technical landscape. As the VP of IT Transformation Technology and Corporate Officer at foodservice leader Sysco Corporation, she drove key business process and systems transformation, turned around struggling programs, implemented critical controls, and led complex contract renegotiations to extract value and drive cost efficiency. Prior to Sysco, the Texas A&M graduate was the VP IT for Global Telecommunications at Cadbury PLC, where she was the global lead for numerous SAP programs, drove both IT and business process outsourcing efforts and was responsible for global telecommunications operations. Greer-Glanville spent the first 10 years of her career at Accenture providing technology consulting services to global clients. 

NEW YORK (August 3, 2021) – The Professional Fighters League (PFL), the fastest growing sports league, today announced a strategic long-term partnership with Legends, a premium experiences company that specializes in delivering holistic solutions for sports and entertainment organizations and venues. In addition, as part of this long-term partnership, Legends has made an investment in PFL for a minority ownership stake.

Through this comprehensive partnership, Legends will help create and execute premium, unique experiences and opportunities for sponsors, partners, and fans. The 360-degree partnership will focus on developing and optimizing a range of services including sponsorship sales, ticketing, global planning, hospitality services, venue site opportunities, technology solutions, and the development of a next-generation PFL training and production facility.

“Legends is an industrial-strength partner in areas that can turbo-change the PFL business,” said PFL Chairman and Founder Donn Davis. “The Legends business partnership and equity investment will accelerate PFL momentum and growth as we further build our audience and business upon our standing as the No. 2 MMA company worldwide.”

“The leadership team at PFL has created a unique and burgeoning MMA league that is well-positioned for expansion in the years ahead,” said Legends President and CEO Shervin Mirhashemi. “We are excited to build upon PFL’s momentum and deliver innovative and impactful solutions that will drive business and further accelerate growth.”

“With 550 million fans around the globe, PFL is primed to capitalize on the underserved MMA market,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray. “We are thrilled to partner with the world-class organization and team at Legends to create unique and powerful opportunities for sponsors, partners, and fans not available in any other sports league.”

“Through this strategic partnership with PFL, we will bring our acumen in experiences, operations, and overall revenue generation, leveraging our entire global platform,” said Legends Chief Operating Officer Mike Tomon. “Legends will work closely with PFL to enhance the fan experience, and also create new revenue-generating opportunities that will help further the long term goals of the league.”

This partnership announcement comes just days before the most exciting month in MMA kicks off with the PFL Playoffs.  PFL hosts its single-elimination playoff events on Aug. 13, 19 and 27 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The final four fighters from each of six weight-classes have single-elimination fights to earn a spot in the PFL World Championship.   The PFL World Championship is six title fights in six weight-classes for $6 million all in 1 night – the biggest night of the year in MMA.