KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

James E. Delany
Commissioner, Big Ten Conference

Only the Big Ten’s fifth commissioner since its founding in 1896, James E. Delany is in his 20th year in that role. He has led the Big Ten through significant periods of change and growth that have helped the conference maintain its preeminent position as one of the nation’s leaders in providing quality athletic and academic experiences for young people.

Some of the accomplishments and changes that the conference has experienced under Delany’s leadership since he arrived in 1989 have included the expansion of the conference to 11 institutions with the addition of Penn State and the adoption of the Gender Equity Action Plan, which began in 1992 when the Big Ten became the first conference to voluntarily adopt participation goals for female student-athletes. Delany has overseen unprecedented success and attendance growth in football and basketball while establishing the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments. He also implemented a set of conference-wide sportsmanship initiatives and developed the first collegiate version of football instant replay.

Most recently, Delany negotiated extensions of ABC, CBS and ESPN agreements and created the first national conference-owned television network -- the Big Ten Network, which launched in August 2007 and became the first network in history to reach 30 million homes in 30 days. Since 1990, Delany has participated in a variety of NCAA, BCS and conference media negotiations, resulting in rights fees in excess of 10 billion dollars.

In the community, he established an outreach program through which the conference office has partnered with two Chicago elementary schools to improve reading performance and established the “Big Ten 9-11 Scholarship Fund” following the national tragedy in 2001.

The 60-year old Delany is a native of South Orange, N.J. Delany graduated from St. Benedict’s Prep. School in Newark, New Jersey in 1966. He received his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of North Carolina in 1970 and juris doctorate degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1973.  At UNC, Delany was a three‑year member of the varsity basketball team, serving as tri‑captain in 1970.  As a Tar Heel, Delany twice participated in NCAA Final Four competition.

After earning his law degree, Delany served as counsel for the North Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee from 1973 to 1974, and was staff attorney for the North Carolina Justice Department from 1974 to 1975.

Delany’s distinguished career in administering intercollegiate athletics began at the NCAA where he was employed as an enforcement representative from 1975‑79.  For the next decade, he served as commissioner of the Ohio Valley Conference.

Delany and his wife, Catherine “Kitty” Fisher Delany, also an attorney, have two sons, Newman, 21 years old and James Chancellor, 17 years old.

George Pyne
President, IMG Sports and Entertainment

George Pyne leads IMG's global sports and entertainment enterprises spanning 30 countries and including the world's pre-eminent clients and events in college sports, motorsports, golf, tennis, fashion and entertainment, along with consulting, licensing and the IMG Academies.  As a member of IMG's Board of Directors, Mr. Pyne also helps shape the company's strategic initiatives.

Prior to IMG, Mr. Pyne was Chief Operating Officer of NASCAR and the second non-family member in 57 years to join its Board of Directors.  During his eleven-year tenure, NASCAR emerged as a dominant force in North American sports.  At the forefront of their explosive growth, Mr. Pyne's accomplishments included a $4.5 billion television rights deal in 2005, the $750 million sponsorship of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series in 2004, investments by 100 of the Fortune 500 companies, the creation of a $2 billion licensing business and the recognition of the NASCAR brand as one of the most admired brands in North America.

Before NASCAR, Mr. Pyne worked at the Portman Companies where he helped develop a strategic plan for the company's $2 billion debt restructuring.  He was later appointed Executive Director of AMC Events, a division of the Portman Companies that creates and manages marketing events for major sports properties. 

Mr. Pyne has been named to the Sports Business Journal's 'Forty Under Forty' list three times as well as to the Sports Business Journal's 'Hall of Fame.'  He also has been named one of Advertising Age's 'Top-100 Marketers' and has been regularly listed as one of the most influential people in professional sports by Business Week and The Sporting News.

Mr. Pyne attended Brown University where he served as captain of the football team and earned All-Ivy League and All-New England honors.

Jennifer Lynn Storms
Senior Vice President for Sports and Event Marketing, Gatorade

Jennifer Storms serves as senior vice president for sports and event marketing for The Gatorade Company, a division of PepsiCo.  Storms manages the extensive athletic relationships and sports assets for the leading global sports brand as it continues its evolution from sports beverage company to a sports innovation leader.

Storms heads a team of sports marketing professionals charged with communicating the scientific efficacy of Gatorade’s unrivaled hydration portfolio to leagues, teams, athletes and a vast array of athletic influencers such as coaches, athletic trainers and nutritionists.  Through those unique partnerships Storms and her team strive to unlock and evaluate insights to help the brand continue to develop innovative products that meet the growing needs of today’s athletes.

Storms leads sports strategy and property management for Gatorade, including league, team, influencer, and athlete relations.  She oversees the brand’s relationships with the NFL, NBA, MLB, WNBA, AVP, NHL, US Soccer, Major League Soccer, and other professional, collegiate and amateur teams.  She also oversees the brand’s myriad partnerships with athletes, which includes some of the world’s greatest professionals across a wide spectrum of sports, such as Peyton Manning, Serena Williams, Derek Jeter, Candace Parker, Kevin Garnett, Usain Bolt, Ellery Hollingsworth, Jimmie Johnson, Dwyane Wade and Michael Jordan.

Storms’ solid leadership, vast sports knowledge and unparalleled media savvy have helped maximize the brand’s exposure in paid and earned media channels, and helped Gatorade move beyond the traditional sports sidelines to reach a broader range of athletes and active people than ever before.

Storms joined Gatorade in June 2009 after 14 years of hands-on experience with Turner Broadcasting Systems (TBS Inc.), where she rose through the ranks to serve as a senior vice president of Turner Sports Marketing & Programming.  During her tenure at Turner Sports, Storms was instrumental in overseeing sports programming on both TBS and TNT networks as well as the division's online properties including the NBA Digital Portfolio, NASCAR.COM and PGA.com among others.  She also oversaw business and strategy development for the network's four television properties (NBA, NASCAR, MLB, and professional golf) and managed the internal promotion agency responsible for all on-air and off-channel creative development.

For three consecutive years, Storms was named to Sports Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” list earning her induction into the award's hall of fame.  In 2008, Storms was named to the “Marketers of the New Generation" by Brandweek.  She currently serves on the board of directors for USA Canoe/Kayak, the governing body for canoe and kayak racing in the United States.

Prior to joining Turner Sports, Storms worked for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).  She served as the International Games preparation liaison and lived in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, from 1994 to 1995 working on the Pan American Games.  Storms is a graduate of Northwestern University where she earned a bachelor of arts degree.