Adam Neuman joined the Big Ten Conference in January 2020 as Chief of Staff, Strategy and Operations. He assists Commissioner Kevin Warren in creating a movement of leadership in sports, academics and social responsibility to meet the challenges of our times. In January of 2021, he retained his Chief of Staff duties and was promoted to Deputy General Counsel.

The Commissioner’s Office seeks to provide the tools and culture to inspire student-athletes of the 14 Big Ten universities to assume meaningful personal and professional roles during and after their collegiate athletic careers. Neuman serves as a strategic advisor and aide to the Commissioner, implementing Commissioner Warren’s ideas and vision into practice, ensuring student-athletes are at the center of all decisions.

Neuman is a licensed attorney with the State Bar of Illinois and New York.

Carol Stiff serves as an advisor for FAST Studios’ Women’s Sports Network and is the president of Stiff Sports Media Consulting, LLC, where she consults with brands and companies looking to get behind women’s sports. She is a 30+ year veteran of ESPN and Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inductee credited with advancing the growth of women’s sports at the collegiate and professional level and was responsible for the acquisition and programming of a variety of sports including NCAA women’s basketball, various NCAA Men’s & Women’s championships, WNBA, and professional softball across multiple ESPN properties. Carol also served as Vice President of content integration for espnW, integrating women’s sports across ESPN platforms.

Driven by frustration at not being able to follow the careers of her friends, former teams, and coaches after she retired from professional soccer, Haley Rosen founded Just Women’s Sports in 2020 to change the game for women’s sports coverage.

Today, Just Women’s Sports is the leading multimedia platform exclusively dedicated to women’s sports, providing fans with in-depth coverage, exclusive interviews, highlights and analysis through editorial content, live programming, podcasts, video series, a bi-weekly newsletter, and a first-of-its-kind live scoreboard dedicated to major women’s sports leagues.

Prior to founding Just Women’s Sports, Rosen worked at a tech startup in San Francisco where she combined her curiosity in the enterprise usage of virtual reality with her experience as a professional athlete.

Rosen was recognized as part of Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2022 and has been honored as one of Sports Business Journal’s New Voices Under 30.

In June 2021, Burke Magnus was promoted to the new title of president, programming and original content.  A 26-year ESPN veteran, he previously served as executive vice president, programming acquisitions and scheduling since May 2015, adding oversight of ESPN’s relationship with BAMTech in June 2017 and of original content in November 2020.    

In making the announcement, Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman, ESPN and Sports Content said, “Burke is a talented leader and collaborative colleague who has been instrumental in guiding ESPN through what has undoubtedly been one of the most challenging and critical periods in our history.  He is an industry-leading programming strategist who continues to take on new challenges with his signature combination of relationship building and creativity.”  

Magnus is responsible for all programming and rights acquisition and scheduling, as well as ESPN and ESPN+ original content development and scheduling (including ESPN Films and 30 for 30 franchise). In his role, Magnus is responsible for rightsholder relationships, content strategy and cross-platform programming rights acquisition/scheduling on a global basis. He is a key driver of Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer priority, including ESPN+, through his team’s close collaboration with DMED (Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution).  

In late 2020 and 2021, he guided ESPN and The Walt Disney Company through one of its most active and notable sports rights acquisition periods. He helped drive new, cross-platform (linear, direct-to-consumer, digital, social, etc.) agreements and/or extensions with the NFL, MLB, NHL, SEC, LaLiga and more. Additionally, he led a programming team that collaborated with numerous league, conference and event partners to navigate the postponement, cancellation and rescheduling of thousands of events across ESPN platforms in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak.  

Previous agreements forged during Magnus’ time as executive vice president include the NBA, the Masters and PGA Championship, UFC, the German Bundesliga, and more. 

Magnus previously served as senior vice president, programming and acquisitions (January 2014 – May 2015), and senior vice president, college sports programming, since March 2008.   

For years, Magnus set the strategic direction of the company’s college sports content which included acquiring, scheduling and programming college football, college basketball and NCAA Championships across the ESPN networks. He played an integral role in securing long-term rights to the College Football Playoff, the Rose, Sugar and Orange Bowls, the NCAA and some of the nation’s top college athletics conferences, including the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.  

From November 2004 through March 2008, Magnus served as vice president and general manager of ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network. He guided all programming, production and operations and led the inter-departmental team responsible for the growth and development of the network and related multi-media initiatives. Under his direction, men’s college basketball ratings increased over multiple consecutive seasons and new initiatives such as Bracket Buster Saturday and College GameDay (basketball) were introduced.  

Magnus joined ESPN in 1995 as a program associate and in 1996 was promoted to program planner. In 1998, he advanced to program manager and later became director of brand management in 2000 (later changed to director, programming and acquisitions), primarily responsible for ESPN’s men’s college basketball programming and scheduling. From 2002-04, Magnus was a member of the ESPN Original Entertainment (EOE) team where he served as the project manager for several programs, including the biopic on the life of Dale Earnhardt entitled “3”, which was critically acclaimed and the second-highest rated movie of 2004 on ad-supported cable.   

Magnus has been named to the annual CableFax 100, which salutes the industry’s top power players and game changers, each year since 2018. He was honored with the National Football Foundation’s prestigious Legacy Award in 2013 for his support and leadership in promoting college football. In 2006, Magnus was also named to the distinguished Sports Business Journal Forty Under 40, honoring the most promising young executives in sports business under the age of 40.  

A native of Ridgewood, N.J., Magnus graduated from Holy Cross in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in history and then received his master’s degree in sport management from the University of Massachusetts in 1994. During this time, he also served as a programming intern for CBS Sports from 1993 to 1994. UMass awarded him the Distinguished Alumnus Award by the McCormack Department of Sport Management in 2011.  

Magnus is an active board member for a variety of organizations, including the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, and the McCormack Advisory Board for the Department of Sport Management at UMass. He is also on the Board of Advisors for the Allan “Bud” Selig Sports Law and Business program at the Arizona State University Law School, and he is part of the National Football Foundation Awards Committee, which annually selects the National Scholar-Athlete and Campbell Trophy recipients.

Amanda is the USGA’s Managing Director of Broadcast, Digital Media and Ticketing and oversees the organization’s global media business including domestic and international broadcast/streaming rights, the USGA app and website(s), data and content licensing, new business, and innovation. Amanda also leads the Admissions team where her focus is on revenue generation, go-to-market strategy, ticket/credential operations and the overall fan experience for the U.S. Open and the USGA’s other ticketed championships. Before her time at the USGA, Amanda worked in marketing at Modell’s Sporting Goods HQ, global merchandising at the National Basketball Association and on the advertising side at The Golf Digest Companies.

Regarded as the world’s premier point guard, Sue Bird is the WNBA’s All-Time Leader in Assists and known for being selfless, driven, encouraging and smart. Bird is a seasoned veteran and a born leader who has dominated at every level. She is one of only seven women to win an Olympic Gold Medal (she’s won four), a World Championship Gold Medal (she’s won four) an NCAA Championship (she’s won two), and a WNBA Championship (she’s won three). Sue is also a five-time Euroleague Champion, an eleven-time WNBA All-Star, was voted by the fans as one of the WNBA’s Top 15 Players of All Time and chosen by the league as a member of the WNBA’s Top 20 players.

Off the court, you can currently find Sue working as basketball operations associate for the Denver Nuggets or advocating for equality, health and wellness and expanding opportunities for girls.

Tina Shah is Executive Vice President and General Manager for Turner Sports. Shah is a primary day-to-day point of contact with league partners including the NBA, NCAA and MLB, and she is responsible for business strategy on behalf of the NBA Digital portfolio (consisting of NBA TV, the NBA App, NBA.com and NBA League Pass). She leads business affairs, business development, rights acquisitions and strategy functions for Turner Sports, along with the programming and data, analytics and insights teams. Shah also oversees business strategy and operations, products, marketing and analytics for Bleacher Report. She reports directly to Lenny Daniels, President of Turner Sports.