Jon Ledecky is co-owner of the New York Islanders in the National Hockey League and the Bridgeport Islanders in the American Hockey League. Jon’s partnership also owns the award winning UBS Arena in Elmont and built the first LIRR train stop in over 50 years at the Arena. Jon founded U.S. Office Products in 1994, and by 1998 the company had become the fastest entrant ever in the history of the Fortune 500. U.S. Office Products owned Mail Boxes, Etc. (now the UPS Store) and several other national brands. Jon has been the founder, co-founder or initial investor in over 20 companies that eventually became publicly traded. Jon Ledecky’s initial foray into professional sports ownership occurred in 1999 when, with partner Ted Leonsis, he bought the Washington Capitals and an interest in the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association. Jon later sold his partnership interest and started a foundation that dedicated itself to the education of underprivileged children in Boston, New York and Washington. Jon continues this work today in the greater New York metropolitan area through the New York Islanders Children’s Foundation. Jon Ledecky is an honors graduate of Harvard College and also graduated from Harvard Business School. He has been a director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Commission on Entrepreneurship. He received an Honorary DoctoralDegree from George Washington University where he was also a Commencement Speaker.

Steve Dubin is a veteran of nearly 30 years in the sports industry, with a career that spans marketing, law, athlete representation, and strategic business development. After graduating from the University of Michigan, Steve began his career in entertainment and sports marketing and public relations, gaining early experience in shaping celebrity sponsorships. His first brand partnership was pairing Corona Beer and Jimmy Buffet, a relationship that lasted for over 30 years. Steve’s growing interest in the legal side of the business led him to simultaneously pursue a law degree, after which he practiced for five years, sharpening his skills in contract negotiation.

In 1997, Steve partnered with established NFL agent Don Yee to co-found Yee & Dubin Sports in Los Angeles. Over the past three decades, the firm has guided some of the most recognizable names in football. Their clientele has included multiple Super Bowl MVPs—most notably Tom Brady and Julian Edelman; Super Bowl–winning head coaches Sean Payton and Mike McCarthy, and College Football National Championship coach Jim Harbaugh. At one point, Steve was the first and only agent to be both a NFL-certified contract advisor and player marketing representative.

Steve and Don have represented Tom Brady since 1999, helping to manage one of the most celebrated careers in sports history. Beyond the field, they have been instrumental in Brady’s transition into media, ownership, and business -- securing his landmark broadcasting deal with Fox Sports, his ownership interest in the Las Vegas Raiders, and the creation of Shadow Lion, Brady’s production company.

Steve’s work highlights the evolving role of the modern sports agent: not only negotiating contracts, but also helping athletes and coaches build enduring platforms in media, business, and brand development.

Jill Smoller is a partner at WME Sports. In her role, she has built some of the largest careers in sports and entertainment, with a client roster including Allyson Felix, Kevin Garnett, Joel Embiid, PK Subban, Sabrina Ionescu, Andy Roddick, Frances Tiafoe, Sydney McLaughlin, & Bella Hadid. Smoller is widely known for representing Serena Williams for over 20 years and her instrumental role in constructing Williams’ business off the court with industry-leading corporate partnerships with brands such as Nike, Gatorade, Gucci, Michelob ULTRA, Lincoln, and Audemars Piguet, among others.

A pioneering female sports agent, Smoller originally began her career as a professional tennis player. She later joined agency ICM in 1996 in the mailroom and then transitioned to what was then the William Morris Agency in 2000. Smoller was named to SBJ’s Women in Sports Business Game Changers list and Adweek’s Most Powerful Women in Sports list.

Smoller earned a Communications degree from the University of Arizona. She was born in Chicago, grew up in New York, and currently resides in Los Angeles.

As a Department Head of WME Basketball, Carlos Fleming oversees talent management, marketing strategy, recruiting and staffing for the department. WME Basketball established itself as a full-service basketball agency in 2021 in a joint venture with Bill Duffy and Associates (BDA), which it then acquired in March of 2023. WME Basketball has quickly emerged as the number one agency in the sport. The agency now represents over 60 NBA clients including Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards, Joel Embiid, Jalen Williams, Zion Williamson, Chet Holmgren, RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Candace Parker, Sabrina Ionescu, Alex Sarr and others.

Throughout his career Carlos has represented a variety of best-in-class athletes. His clients include number one ranked athletes in various sports: number one tennis player in the world (Venus Williams); number one American tennis player (Coco Gauff); top-ranked tennis player in the world (Ben Shelton); number one NFL Draft Pick (Cam Newton); number one American soccer player (Christian Pulisic); number one female golfer (Michelle Wie); and top-rated NCAA Men's basketball player (Chet Holmgren).

Carlos played collegiate tennis at Kansas University where he was an All-American. He started his career at IMG as an agent in the tennis division.

Bobby Sharma is the Founder & Managing Partner of Bluestone Equity Partners. A business leader with a global track-record of accomplishment across finance, strategy, management, operations, and law, Sharma was previously Chairman of investment firm Blue Devil Holdings, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of esports advisory firm Electronic Sports Group, and Partner at private equity firm GACP Sports, including serving as Vice Chairman & CEO of portfolio company Soccerex, the world's largest organizer of European football industry conferences. He is also Special Adviser to the Sports & Entertainment Group at the law firm Foley & Lardner LLP. Prior to that, Sharma was SVP, Global Head of Basketball & Strategic Initiatives at IMG, the premier international sports, fashion, and media company. He led the growth of a range of businesses worldwide, including the management of global sports media rights, and the actual creation, development, and management of basketball, soccer, and cricket properties – from grassroots programs and academies, to national teams and professional leagues – with a focus on major emerging markets such as India, Brazil, China, Turkey, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. In such countries he helped build infrastructure for amateur and professional sports organizations, including financial, commercial, and franchise models, along with integrated media and marketing plans, as well as training facilities and event venues. Among those accomplishment, Sharma developed exclusive commercial rights to professional basketball and soccer in India, and basketball in Nigeria – each in partnership with the respective governing federations and their national team programs. Sharma was also VP & General Counsel of the NBA Development League for nearly a decade, helping lead the establishment of the National Basketball Association's first minor league. He was responsible for all league and team businesses, operations, and legal matters, including franchise administration, broadcast, digital media, sponsorship, marketing, licensing, tickets, arenas, employment, anti-doping, and security. Sharma was responsible for development and management of all league and team agreements, rules, policies, and procedures, as well as integration of the minor league into the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement. He handled a variety of corporate transactional matters for the NBA, WNBA, and the NBA Development League, including joint ventures and other innovative sports transactions relating to the acquisition, financing, and operation of franchises. Sharma also led the creation of the NBA's first international league consulting business unit. During his tenure at the NBA, the NBA Development League (now G-League) grew from a single-entity with 6 NBA League-owned regional teams, to 16 privately-held individual team businesses across the country, achieving significant business growth along the way – including quadrupling franchise values; setting record attendance marks and revenues from sponsorship, ticket, and naming-rights sales; broadening media distribution via new broadcast and digital outlets; and reducing key operational costs. In addition, major NBA development goals were attained, including nearly one-quarter of all NBA players and one-half of all NBA referees having NBA D-League experience by the 2010-11 season. Sharma also served on the presidential campaign staff of former U.S. Senator and Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Bradley, and practiced law in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and in New York City with Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. In addition to various corporate boards, Sharma serves on the Board of Directors for both the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and USA Archery (USAA), the National Governing Bodies for their respective sports in the United States, overseeing grassroots through professional and Olympic competition. A frequent speaker at universities, conferences, and in news media, Sharma was named one of the "25 Most Influential South Asian Executives in the Media & Entertainment Industry" by Korn Ferry in March 2009. In October 2010 he was given the Corporate Counsel Award by the South Asian Bar Association of New York, and, later that year, the Sports Counsel of the Year Award by the Association of Media & Entertainment Counsel. Sharma received the Rising Star Executive Award from Media Partners Global in March 2011, and the Basketball Federation of India Legacy Award in January 2012. In June 2014, he was named one of the "Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business" by the Asian American Business Development Center, and in January 2021 he was named "Sports & Entertainment Industry Power Player" by the Sports Business Journal. Sharma is a graduate of Duke University and Duke Law School, and completed the Harvard Business School executive program on the Business of Entertainment, Media & Sports.

Ben Fund is a Managing Director - Partner on the Credit Opportunities team, focusing on private credit opportunities. He is based in New York. Mr. Fund leads the firm's investment focus across Sports, Media and Entertainment. Prior to joining Carlyle, Mr. Fund was an Analyst at Point72 Asset Management, where he focused on investing in corporate credit in a long/short hedge fund strategy. Prior to that, Mr. Fund spent five years at Apollo Global Management, where he was most recently a Principal in the Illiquid Opportunistic Credit group. Prior to joining Apollo, Mr. Fund spent time in investment banking at both Barclays and Bear Stearns. Mr. Fund received his BBA from Goizueta School of Business at Emory University, as well as a BA with honors from Emory University.

Julia Wittlin is a Partner at RedBird Capital and oversees RedBird's Venture and Emerging Growth investment vertical and is a senior investor in its sports investments business. In her current role, Julia oversees RedBird's efforts in venture and emerging growth where it backs disruptive technologies and business models in RedBird's core areas of expertise. On the Sports side, Julia is actively involved in the Firm's investments including Fenway Sports Group, Alpine, and Dream11. Prior to joining RedBird, Julia spent 15 years at BlackRock. Most recently, Julia was a Managing Director and a senior portfolio manager within BlackRock Alternative Investors, where she developed and led the team's growth equity investment efforts and deployed over $500 million. Julia's prior investments include leading companies such as Hashicorp, Rivian, Epic Games, Attentive, and Databricks. Julia has been recognized by the Wall Street Journal as a Woman to Watch in Private Equity and has authored a number of white papers on private equity and the private markets portfolio. Julia is on the steering committee for the southeast chapter of WAVE, the Women's Association of Venture and Equity. Julia received her undergraduate degree from the University of Rochester. She also holds an FRM, CAIA, and CFA charter designation.

Jon Schwartz is managing director and head of sports at Prosek Partners. He was previously senior vice president, communications, marketing, digital and social media for the Big Ten Conference and senior vice president, communications and public affairs for the NFL – where he led the League’s strategic communications efforts. Prior to the NFL, Schwartz led integrated marketing communications at NASCAR – which was named PRWeek’s In-House Team of the Year in 2015. He also held senior in-house communications roles at Bank of America, MasterCard Worldwide,  and a consumer-packaged goods company – all deeply invested in sports sponsorships. Earlier in his career, Schwartz worked in the XFL, Arena Football League and at Taylor – where he serviced blue-chip clients like MasterCard, Reebok and Castrol. In 2012, he was named to PRWeek’s Forty Under 40 list and was PRNews’ Corporate Social Responsibility Leader of the Year. While earning a Journalism degree at the University of Maryland, Schwartz worked at the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals and in the American Hockey League as a team PR Director. He currently sits on the board for the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism at University of Maryland, is an adjunct professor at NYU and serves as chairman of the American Special Hockey Association.

Mr. Carvajal is a Managing Director at HPS Investment Partners. Prior to joining HPS in 2020, Mr. Carvajal was a Managing Director at 23 Capital, a sports, media, and entertainment specialty finance investment platform. During his tenure at 23 Capital, Mr. Carvajal was responsible for origination, structuring, and execution of first lien and mezzanine financings. Prior to 23 Capital, Mr. Carvajal was a Vice President in J.P. Morgan’s Entertainment Industries Group, focused on global syndicated and leveraged finance transactions. Mr. Carvajal holds a BS in Finance and Business Administration from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.