Experience

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  Premiership Rugby

  • London, England, United Kingdom

  • Chief Commercial Officer

    • Feb 2020 - Present
    • London, England, United Kingdom

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  Sports Rights Management

  • CEO

    • Oct 2018 - Present

    Sports Rights Management works with international sport and entertainment industry rightsholders and IP owners to unlock new revenue and build value - specialising in commercial strategy, rights acquisition and exploitation, events and content.

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  Gfinity Plc

  • London, United Kingdom

  • Chief Commercial Officer

    • May 2017 - Present
    • London, United Kingdom

    Responsible for all commercial revenue across Gfinity owned content, Elite Series and white label events on behalf of selected game publishers, brands and tier one sporting organisations.Gfinity is one of the top esports companies and the only AIM listed company in this sector. They have created one of the largest dedicated esports studios in the heart of London, from which they broadcast their own events as well as tournaments on behalf of third parties.The Gfinity Elite Series is a multi-week professional eSports tournament featuring eight teams from around the world. Season One was broadcast on BBC3, BT Sports, Eleven Sports and Twitch and secured over 3 million viewers, of which 73% were 18 – 34-year olds.Gfinity were also appointed by Formula 1 in July 2017 to run their inaugural F1 esports series, which will culminate in a live broadcast race from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

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  SYCO ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED

  • London

  • Global Head of Commercial

    • May 2011 - Feb 2017
    • London

    Responsible for all commercial and revenue generating activity for SYCO core brands, formats and represented talent.During his time at SYCO Mark oversaw increased commercial revenue of 32% for X Factor and Got Talent. He was part of the team that successfully negotiated 2 three year renewal cycles with ITV for both X Factor and Got Talent formatsRestructured contestant agreements to allow SYCO to participate in ancillary commercial rights post show, resulting is over 30 licensing dealsWorked across the digital expansion and innovation of SYCO properties to drive both consumer engagement and commercial revenue.

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  INDEPENDENT TALENT BRANDS LIMITED

  • Managing Director Independent Talent Brands

    • Sep 2010 - Jul 2011

    Worked with the senior management to develop and activate the entertainment division of Independent Talent

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  XIX ENTERTAINMENT

  • London, United Kingdom

  • SVP Commercial

    • Sep 2004 - Jun 2010
    • London, United Kingdom

    Ran the commercial strategy for XIX on American Idol Seasons 5 – 8, during which time American Idol was the most influential entertainment show in the US.Focussed on activations across multiple brands including Coca Cola, Ford, AT&T, iTunes, Pringles, Kellogg’s, Guitar Hero, Nestle and MarsWorked with Simon Fuller on the creation of Idol Gives Back which went to generate over $70m for charity.Negotiated agreement with Disney to create The American Idol Experience at Disneyland FloridaOversaw the commercial strategy for the American Idol TourWorked with Simon Fuller to secure the signing of Andy Murray to XIX Entertainment, devising and executing the commercial strategy

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  Associated Newspapers

  • Special Projects Editor / Corporate Business Development Manager / Brand Manager

    • Nov 2000 - Dec 2003

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  News Corp

  • London, United Kingdom

  • Marketing Manager

    • Nov 1996 - Nov 2000
    • London, United Kingdom

    International Exchange Programme (News Limited Australia) - February 1999 - August 1999Advertising Sales Exchange - April 1997 - February 1999NI Graduate training scheme - November 1996 - April 1997