Speakers

Keynote Speakers

Darren Heitner

Founder, HeitnerLegal

Darren Heitner was born on February 9, 1985 in Hollywood, Florida. Since he was young, Darren has always had tremendous passion for sports and law. While in college at the University of Florida, Darren was able to use his passion and turn his dreams into reality. Darren’s start in the sports world came while he was in college, when he created a website so he could stay on top of everything important that was happening in the industry he was joining, which would go on to be called Sports Agent Blog. Twenty years later, Sports Agent Blog has become the “top blog that every aspiring sports agent should read” and has also been dubbed “most credible source for sports agent-related news.”

After graduating in 2007 with a B.A. in Political Science, he continued to prove himself at such a young age by launching his own sports agency while still in law school at the University of Florida. He called it Dynasty Athlete Representation, and by the time he graduated, he already represented forty clients. On top of that, he managed to spend some time as the President of the Entertainment, Sports, and Law Society and as the Chair of Sports Law Symposiums at the University of Florida.

Heitner would go on to contribute to Forbes for six years, writing a daily column called “Sports Change Agent,” where he also received much recognition and praise.

Darren continued to flourish, writing several books and pieces of information, and even returned to the classroom to become a teacher at the same University he went to, but perhaps his most important work came in 2014, when he created his own law firm. Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., was created by Heitner and since it’s creation, he has represented tons of people in the sports and entertainment world, and has also represented many professional athletes in several sports. Through Heitner Legal, he has gone on to become one of the most influential people in the sports industry and has done many impactful things.

Finally, he has a list of several other works and achievements that have caused him to receive praise and have massive amounts of success. He has been named to the University of Florida’s 40 under 40 list in 2019 and continues to grow and succeed in the sports world.

Katrina Adams

Former President, United States Tennis Association

Chair of US Open and International Tennis Association

Author, "Own The Arena"

With an outstanding track record in leading, innovating and collaborating Katrina Adams is a woman of many firsts. The first African American to lead the United States Tennis Association (USTA), the first two term Chairman and President(2015-2018) of said organization and the first former player to hold that honor.

As the youngest person to hold the responsibility of $300 million+ revenue while representing excellence in sport, Adams has showcased her ability to impact, influence and make sound business decisions while navigating a plethora of moving parts and 700,000+ members.

Under her tutelage the USTA achieved a number of major milestones, including the opening of the 100 court USTA National Campus in Orlando, the strategic transformation of the $600 million USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. and an unprecedented outreach effort into underserved communities in an effort to share the sport of tennis with more people.

Having attended Northwestern University and led her team to a Big Ten Championship in 1986 and partnered with Diane Donnelly to win the 1987 NCAA Doubles Championship, Adams learned early on, the importance of teamwork. A familiar face in sports commentary, as a professional player Adams competed for 12 years on the WTA Tour, winning 20 career doubles titles and reaching the quarterfinals or better in doubles at all four Grand Slam events. By operating at the highest level in sport and business she has been able to lead successive boards in setting clearly defined strategies to further the organizations’ missions and ensure that management are afforded the tools needed to execute and excel.

Adams’ sheer determination and hard work in tennis, leadership and philanthropy has earned her many accolades including: being named on Adweek magazine’s “Most Powerful Women in Sports” list twice (2016 and 2017), Forbes magazine’s “Most Powerful Women in Sports” list in 2017 and Ebony magazine’s “Power 100” list.

As vice president of the prestigious International Tennis Federation, Chairman of the Billie Jean King Cup Committee, Chairman of the Gender Equality in Tennis Committee, Board member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the Executive Director of the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program, Adams believes this is just the beginning. She has branched into the private sector as a Board member and Audit Committee Chair, of Pivotal Acquisition Corp III, Board Member of GSE Worldwide and as an Advisory Board Member of Athletes Unlimited, Full Court Tennis and Highlight Pro Skydiving Team. In addition, she is a Nominating Committee Member of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.

*A native of Chicago, Adams lives in Yonkers, New York. Her maiden novel “Own the Arena” was published by Harper Collins Publishers, Amistad Books, February 23, 2021

Bubble Operations

Featuring on-site personnel of the NBA and MLS "Bubble", this conversation will take us behind the scenes of one of the most incredible league-wide achievements we've ever seen.

Dr. Leroy Sims

Senior VP, Medical Affairs

NBA

Jeff Stonebreaker

VP, Safety and Security

Major League Soccer

Brent Delgado

VP, Operations

Major League Soccer

Harry Wilson

Head of Events Security

NBA

Stadium Design

Have you ever wondered what the process is for building an arena? In this presentation from Populous, we will learn about the many different ways a state-of-the-art arena or stadium can impact an organization.

Jason Carmello

Architect, Principal

Populous

Lea Del Rosario

Senior VP, Human Resources

New York Islanders

Sports Betting

With members from Leger 350, Penn National Gaming and You Better You Bet Podcast, this conversation will the current state and future of the Sports Betting industry.

Simon Jaworski

President

Leger USA

Laura Freeman

Director of Product

Penn Interactive

Ken Barkley

Co-Host

You Better You Bet Podcast

Women in Sports

This conversation will feature three women in the sports industry who are promoting the advancement and equality of women in the world of sports.

Erin Sorensen

Deputy Editor & Social Media Strategist

Hail Varsity

Alana Meraz

Founder & CEO

LatinX in Sports

LeShonda Martin

Founder & CEO

The Sport Sorority

Athlete Branding

This panel will talk about the importance of becoming "more than an athlete" across many different sports.

Marc Bluestein

President & CEO

Aquarius Sports & Entertainment

Juliette Daley

Director of Marketing

Excel Sports Management

Jeremy Aisenberg

VP, Strategic Operations

Octagon

Taiki Green

Co-Founder

Watch Momentum

Pitching Analytics

This conversation will feature some of the greatest minds in pitching and will go in-depth about the world of Pitching, and the analytics and science behind it.