Russ Gray Email & Phone Number

• Head of partnerships division representing 24 rights holder, athlete and talent clients
• Responsible for any facet of client commercial matters including brand partnerships, marketing and communications, content development, publishing and literary opportunities, broadcast rights negotiations, speaking.
• Lead all athlete and talent recruitment and new business opportunities

• Responsible for the development and negotiation of brand partnerships, speaking engagements, and all other business and commercial opportunities for talent clients including athletes and broadcasters
• Manage all day-to-day talent needs including billing, scheduling, and other various services as required
• Assist in the management of broadcast contracts and negotiations
• Responsible for leading talent client recruiting and onboarding

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• Responsible for commercial business development for talent and property clients
• Managed and serviced existing partnership portfolios across multiple sport and entertainment properties
• Led coordination and execution of all internal business operations

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• Supported CEO in all matters of business including scheduling, prospecting, outreach, development of sales materials and industry reports and various assistance as needed
• Assisted in all elements of client servicing from broadcast talent and athletes to sport and media properties
• Responsible for billing and financial reporting across all units of business
• Coordinated full sponsorship sales cycle from prospect identification, sales materials development, negotiations, and agreement execution on behalf of sports property and media clients

Toronto, Canada Area

• Coordinated and executed all Toronto Maple Leaf player appearances alongside MLSE business units including Global Partnerships, Marketing, Ticket Sales, and the MLSE Foundation
• Managed Maple Leaf Alumni & Community Ambassador relationships, schedules, and administration
• Developed and implement Toronto Maple Leaf community initiatives including hospital visits, school visits, wish requests, special needs events, and more
• Coordinated NHL league initiatives including NHL Future Goals, Hockey Talks, and Hockey Fights Cancer
• Managed the strategic planning and budgeting of the Maple Leafs off-ice programming schedule

Toronto, Ontario

• Coordinated large group events at Toronto Marlies and Toronto Raptors games to effectively deliver a unique entertainment experience for clients
• Developed strategic partnerships with organizations across the Greater Toronto Area to grow their businesses through client entertainment and employee satisfaction
• Organized large community events for dozens of minor hockey associations to assist in achieving their league objectives

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• Organized community programming to add value to marketing initiatives and corporate sponsorshippackages with the Toronto Maple Leafs
• Managed and coordinated over 100 promotional events across the GTA andSouthwestern Ontario including staffing and budgeting
• Assisted in the coordination and execution of Toronto Maple Leaf and TorontoRaptor player appearances at corporate and community events
• Coordinated the website-build and promotional campaign for the Leafs “YourBetter Starts Here” Clinic presented by SportChek
• Generated new registrations for Leafs Hockey School through strategically implemented in-game and out-of-game promotional activations

Bachelor Of Arts (Honours)

Activities and Societies: Queen's Varsity Rugby, Queen's Rugby Football Club Executive

Post-Graduate Certificate, Sport And Event Marketing

Activities and Societies: Right to Play

Certificate, Contract Law