New York, N.Y., March 1, 2023 – Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (NYSE: MSGS) (“MSG Sports”) today announced that Chris Overholt – a highly-regarded sports, media and entertainment executive – has been named Senior Vice President, Global Partnerships, effective March 27.
In this position, Mr. Overholt will oversee all global partnership sales efforts for Madison Square Garden Sports and Madison Square Garden Entertainment, including large cross-venue and platform deals across both companies’ portfolio of world-renowned assets. He will work closely with the executive management team to develop and lead a first-class sales and service organization maximizing revenue and partner quality for MSG Sports and MSG Entertainment’s partner base.
Mr. Overholt will oversee a partnership strategy team responsible for providing exceptional service and relationship management to the companies’ group of partners, providing industry leading strategic thinking, integration of innovative activation plans and execution with the goal of providing world class service. He will report to David Hopkinson, President and Chief Operating Officer, MSG Sports.
“Chris brings more than 30-years of industry experience across several professional sports leagues, where he has focused on multiple areas of business operations including sponsorship, marketing, licensing and media,” said Mr. Hopkinson. “We look forward to having him as a part of our leadership team and are confident that his ability as a marketer, brand builder and leader will provide incredible value as we continue to evolve and explore opportunities both domestically and internationally.”
“Madison Square Garden, its teams, venues and people collectively represent the worlds’ preeminent sports, media & entertainment platform,” said Mr. Overholt. “I could not be more honored to be asked to join such an esteemed organization. I look forward to contributing to the already incredible work being done each day by this dynamic team of leaders.”
Mr. Overholt joins MSG Sports from Overactive Media, Canada’s leading esports and media enterprise, where he was the President and Chief Executive Officer. While at Overactive, Mr. Overholt helped establish the organization as the global leader in the industry, helping produce prominent audience reach across all platforms supporting media and sponsorship growth strategies. In addition, he was leading the development for a planned 7,000-seat Performance Venue at Toronto’s famed Exhibition Place and helped create a multi-million dollar and industry-leading marketing partnership business.
Prior to joining Overactive Media, Mr. Overholt was the Chief Executive Officer for the Canadian Olympic Committee where he helped oversee Canada’s most successful Winter and Summer Olympic Games in succession, while delivering monumental financial value to the Canadian Olympic Team through innovative marketing and media partnerships. Earlier in his career, Overholt held various positions in the sports industry, including Vice President of Partnerships and Marketing for the Miami Dolphins; Executive Vice President, Business Operations for the Florida Panthers and Vice President, Sales and Service for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.
Mr. Overholt received a bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Western Ontario and attended the Executive General Managers Program at Harvard Business School.