Pete Bevacqua, the NBC Sports Group chairman, is leaving the media company to work as athletic director of the University of Notre Dame, his alma mater. He will join Notre Dame on July 1 and step into the athletic director role in 2024, following the departure of Jack Swarbrick, the university announced.
“This is an unbelievable honor for me and a dream come true,” Bevacqua said in a press statement. “With the exception of my family, nothing means more to me than the University of Notre Dame.”
Bevacqua became NBC Sports chairman in 2020 after joining the company in 2018. Previously, he worked for six years as PGA of America’s chief executive. At the helm of NBC Sports, Bevacqua oversaw the company’s sports media business, which includes the Olympic Channel, NBCSN and the Golf Channel. Under his tenure, NBC Sports parent company NBCUniversal signed an 11-year extension contract to show Sunday Night Football on NBC and Peacock, the company’s streaming service. He also secured the media rights for the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open through 2026, the PGA Tour through 2030 and an NFL Wild Card playoff game in 2024 on Peacock, which will be the first NFL playoff game exclusive to a streaming platform.
NBCUniversal has lost a series of executives in recent months. Bevacqua’s departure follows the exits of Linda Yaccarino and Joe Benarroch, NBCUniversal advertising executives who left the company for Twitter. Until NBCUniversal names a new chairman, Mark Lazarus, television and streaming chairman, will reportedly run the group. In his current role, he oversees NBC Sports.
Who could become the new NBC Sports Group chairman?
Reporters have floated a few names for Bevacqua’s potential replacement, who is likely to be an internal candidate, according to the Sports Business Journal (SBJ), which reported Bevacqua has several possible successors.
Damon Phillips, senior vice president of strategic initiatives at NBC Sports
Phillips oversees strategy and content at NBC Sports, and he also works as head of diversity and inclusion in the division. He joined NBC in 2018 as senior vice president and general manager of NBC Sports Washington. In that role, Phillips helped grow the sports betting and e-sports businesses at NBC’s Washington D.C. branch, according to his company profile. Before that, he spent nine years in vice president positions at ESPN. He also previously worked at the Walt Disney Company, the NBA and DirecTV.
Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics and business at NBC Sports
Zenkel has managed NBC’s Olympics business since 2005. He joined the company in 1990 and worked in several positions, including as director of sports contract negotiations and as executive assistant to Dick Ebersol, the former NBC Sports chairman. Zenkel helped secure the U.S media rights to many Olympic Games. NBC owns the rights to the Olympics through 2032.
Jenny Storms, chief marketing officer for entertainment and sports
Storms leads marketing strategy, audience growth and promotion for NBC’s sports and entertainment businesses, which include channels like NBC Sports, USA and Bravo. She joined the company in 2015 as the chief marketing officer for NBC Sports Group. She previously spent 14 years in marketing at Turner Sports and Turner Broadcasting System, a media conglomerate which Warner Bros. Discovery now owns. Lazarus also worked at Turner, overlapping with Storms for nine years. Storms has also held marketing positions at Gatorade and PepsiCo.
Molly Solomon, executive producer of NBC Olympics and the Golf Channel
Solomon manages coverage for the Olympics and Golf Channel, and her move to the Golf Channel in 2012 made her the first woman to serve as executive producer of a national sports network.
She has worked at NBC Sports for more than 30 years. After graduating college in 1990, Solomon cold-called the company and landed a job as a researcher for the 1992 Olympics, she said in an interview with Local Life. She has moved through several positions since then, including coordinating producer of NBC Olympics and executive vice president of content at the Golf Channel.
Rick Cordella, programming president at NBC Sports and Peacock Sports
Cordella oversees the company’s sports programming strategies on broadcast, cable and streaming. He has also worked as Peacock’s chief revenue officer and chief commercial officer. Cordella joined NBC Sports in 2006 when NBCUniversal acquired Rotoworld, a sports betting and fantasy sports site where Cordella worked at the time. Rotoworld is now known as NBC Sports Edge.
Will McIntosh, president of Fandango and NBC Sports Next
McIntosh leads NBCUniversal’s digital entertainment and sports businesses. He oversees Fandango, the movie ticketing company that owns review site Rotten Tomatoes and streaming service Vudu. He also manages NBC Sports Next, the subdivision of NBC Sports that provides sports technology to fans, including an online booking service for golf tee-times and a swim team management system.
He joined the company in 2009 as senior vice president of business development and strategy at GolfNow, the tee-time reservation service. Before that, he worked as chief executive of Interactive Frontiers Group, a marketing and software development company.
