Major League Baseball has hired Billy Chambers to the newly created position of Executive Vice President, Local Media, and promoted Kenny Gersh to Executive Vice President, Media and Business Development, it was announced today. Both executives will report to MLB’s Chief Revenue Officer Noah Garden.
Chambers will start on February 1, 2023, overseeing MLB’s management and distribution of local media rights. He will work closely with the 30 Clubs on the most effective means to distribute games to fans in local markets throughout the country. Chambers possesses more than 20 years of senior financial leadership experience in television sports including with Sinclair Broadcasting and FOX Sports Media Group.
“Billy is an important addition to Major League Baseball and will play an integral role in how we navigate the rapidly evolving local media landscape in the future,” said Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. “Billy’s extensive knowledge and experience in all areas of regional sports network operations will help us maximize the reach of our game in the Clubs’ local markets.”
Chambers served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer of the 21 regional sports networks acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group from Disney where he assisted in the sales process. Chambers was responsible for finance, legal, business development, traffic, and human resources during his time at Sinclair.
Prior to that role, Chambers spent 20 years with FOX Sports Media Group where he ascended to the position of Chief Financial Officer which included oversight of FOX Sports Broadcast Network, their 22 regional sports networks, FS1 & FS2, Big Ten Network, and FOX Deportes . In addition to overseeing finance, budgeting, and traffic, Chambers negotiated telecast acquisitions for MLB, NBA, and NHL league and team rights.
Chambers will also work closely with Kenny Gersh, whose role has expanded to include oversight of all of MLB’s national and international media rights, distribution, and production. In addition, Gersh continues to be responsible for driving new revenue streams and business initiatives for MLB, including all business aspects of the league’s sports betting strategy, data distribution and fantasy games, the league’s direct to consumer media businesses, Web 3 opportunities such as NFTs , and Minor League Baseball business operations. Gersh joined MLB in 2006 as an executive at MLB Advanced Media, the interactive media company of MLB, and has held a variety of roles.
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