Ariel Emanuel To Keynote VenuesNow Conference

(Courtesy Endeavor) – Ariel Emanuel

Ariel Emanuel, CEO of Endeavor, has been announced as the closing keynote speaker for this year’s VenuesNow Conference taking place June 19-20 at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.
 
After co-founding his own agency in 1995, Emanuel and Executive Chairman Patrick Whitesell orchestrated the largest talent agency merger in history in 2009 when they partnered with William Morris to form WME, which represents some of the most  successful artists and experts across music, sports, film, television and more. 

Endeavor now operates in more than 30 countries and is the parent company of industry-leading subsidiaries, including WME, IMG and UFC. Collectively, Endeavor specializes in talent representation and management; brand strategy, activation and licensing; media sales and distribution; and event management.
 
In its second year, the VenuesNow conference is a forum for industry leaders of live entertainment facilities promoting innovation through exploration and analysis of current trends and strategies within sports, music, technology, sponsorship, security and beyond.
 
This year’s conference will feature a number of the live industry’s top executives, including: Matthew Bell, VP, Kroenke Sports & Ent.; Rich Best, President of Booking, Live Nation; Dan Berkowitz, CEO, CID Ent.; Richard Browne, Partner, Sterling Project Development; Paulo Cabral, Head of Global Event Partners, Waze; Nicole Feld, EVP/Producer, Feld Ent.;  Kenneth Feld, CEO, Feld Ent.; Joe Furin, General Manager, LA Coliseum, USC; Brian Garrison, President, Value Retail Intl.; Jerry Jacobs Jr., Co-CEO, Delaware North, Alternate Governor, Boston Bruins; Greg Oswald, WME Nashville; Tricia Silliphant, Senior Director, Music & Live Events, Maple Leaf Sports and Ent.; and David Zedeck, Global Head of Music, United Talent Agency, among others.

– VenuesNow Conference

Endeavor acquisitions over the past two years include UFC, the world’s premier professional mixed martial arts (MMA) organization, Professional Bull Riders, Inc., The Miss Universe Organization and Frieze, among others. In 2017, Emanuel and Whitesell announced the formation of a holding company for their global portfolio, Endeavor.
 
Emanuel began his career at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and went on to become a senior agent at InterTalent and International Creative Management (ICM). A graduate of Macalester College, Emanuel is an associate member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences and sits on the boards of Live Nation and MOCA. Additionally, Emanuel has been named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business, one of Fortune’s Businesspersons of the Year, and one of Sport Business Journal’s 50 Most Influential People in Sports.
 
VenuesNow and the VenuesNow Conference is part of Oak View Group’s Media & Conferences division, which also includes Pollstar and the PollstarLive! Conference & Awards and SportTechie. The division programmed this year’s inaugural Live Summit at the Midem Conference in Cannes and is expected to grow its live event portfolio in the coming months. PollstarLive! will mark its 30th anniversary in 2019.
 
The Oak View Group is global advisory, development and investment company for the sports and live entertainment industries. Based in Los Angeles, OVG is helmed by its CEO Tim Leiweke and backed by Azoff MSG Entertainment. OVG comprises of a sponsorship/partnership company, a consulting division, a venue security company, a media division, a venture fund/equity division and an Arena Alliance.
 
More information on this year’s VenuesNow Conference available here.