Center for Media, Entertainment & Sports

Leigh Steinberg, premier sports agent, entrepreneur, best-selling author, and Chairman of Leigh Steinberg Sports and Entertainment Holdings is best known for his work building athletes into stand-alone brands. He is often credited as the real-life inspiration for the Oscar-winning film Jerry Maguire. Leigh has represented many of the most successful athletes and coaches in football, basketball, baseball, hockey, boxing, and golf, including the number one overall pick in the NFL draft for an unprecedented eight times in conjunction with 64 total first round picks. With an unrivaled history of record-setting contracts, Leigh has secured over $4 billion for his 300+ pro athlete clients and directed more than $1 billion to various charities around the world. 

Over the course of his career, Leigh has been featured on numerous national television programs, including 60 Minutes, Larry King Live, The Today Show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and many more. He has been profiled in a host of magazines, including Business Week, Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine, People, Forbes, Playboy, GQ, and FHM. He currently resides in Newport Beach, CA. 

Long Bio

Leigh Steinberg, premier sports agent, entrepreneur, Chairman and founder of Steinberg Sports and Entertainment, is best known for his work building athletes into stand-alone brands. He is often credited as the real-life inspiration for the Oscar-winning film Jerry Maguire. Leigh has represented many of the most successful athletes and coaches in football, basketball, baseball, hockey, boxing, golf, etc., including the number one overall pick in the NFL draft for an unprecedented eight times in conjunction with 64 total first round picks. Furthermore, Leigh has represented other notable athletes, including Oscar De La Hoya and Lennox Lewis, as well as multiple Olympians and professional teams. With an unrivaled history of record-setting contracts, Leigh has secured over $4 billion for his 300+ pro athlete clients and directed more than $1 billion to various charities around the world.

Before making a name for himself in the sports industry, Leigh was born and raised in Los Angeles by his parents, a teacher and librarian. He obtained both his B.A. in political science and his J.D. from UC Berkeley, where he was student body president during each tenure. Passionate about giving back and making it his unrelenting personal goal to make the world a better place, Leigh has also distinguished himself by his dedication to philanthropy. He has received commendations from Congress, State Senate, State Legislature, the Los Angeles City Council, the Orange County Board of Supervisors, President Reagan, President Bush, and President Clinton. Leigh has been named “Man of the Year” over a dozen times by a variety of groups, including the March of Dimes, Cedars-Sinai, the Southern California Boy Scouts, the Orange County and Los Angeles Human Relations Commissions, the Orange County and Los Angeles divisions of the Anti-Defamation League, and several other professional and charitable organizations. He has also been awarded the “Keys to the City” in San Francisco, CA, Memphis, TN, Jacksonville, FL and Concord, CA and has even been honored with the declaration of “Leigh Steinberg Day” in San Francisco after his efforts to save the Giants. In 2017, Leigh was inducted into the California Sports Hall of Fame.

Over the course of his career, Leigh has been featured on numerous national television programs, including 60 Minutes, Larry King Live, The Today Show, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Frontline, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and many more. He has been profiled in a host of magazines, including Business Week, Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine, People, Forbes, Playboy, GQ, and FHM. Leigh has also served as a consultant on several feature films and television series, including Jerry Maguire, Any Given Sunday, For Love of the Game, and Arli$$. Additionally, he has supplied his expertise on the business of sports and athletes for The Dan Patrick Show, The Jim Rome Show, and The Herd with Colin Cowherd, and multiple other radio and TV outlets. Leigh contributes a weekly column to Forbes, HuffPost, and the Daily Pilot and is a guest columnist at The New York Times, Sporting News, and Yahoo Sports. In addition, Leigh has penned notable articles such as “The Future of Sports” for the Sports Business Journal, “Around the NFL in 80 Million Dollars” for Inside Sports Magazine, and “The Future of Sport” for the Smithsonian Magazine.

In addition to his work in the industry, Leigh is also a best-selling author. His first book, Winning with Integrity, provides insight on how to improve life through non-confrontational negotiation, and his most recent book, The Agent: My 40-Year Career of Making Deals and Changing the Game, details his decades of dominance in the sports industry and sheds light on overcoming his personal struggles to launch his comeback. Leigh has been named one of the most powerful people in the NFL by Football Digest and one of the most powerful people in sports by Sporting News. He currently resides in Newport Beach and has three children.

A 14-year veteran of the National Football League, Anquan Boldin is more than just a football player, he is also a social advocate, philanthropist and humanitarian. Prior to his time with the Detroit Lions (2016-2017), he played with the San Francisco 49ers (2013-2015), the Baltimore Ravens (2010-2012), and the Arizona Cardinals (2003-2009). In 2015, he was given the NFL’s most prestigious honor by being named the Walter Payton Man of the Year for his community service work. In the Fall of 2019, Boldin officially retired as a Baltimore Raven. In 2004, Boldin started The Anquan Boldin Foundation with a mission to expand the educational and life opportunities of underprivileged youth. The Foundation offers various programs throughout the year that benefit the youth and community. His retirement from the NFL came from a decision to focus efforts on humanitarian work, fighting for social justice and racial equality. He serves as the Co-founder of Players Coalition. Players Coalition is an independent, player-driven non-profit organization that exists to end social injustices and racial inequality so future generations have the opportunity to thrive without barriers.

Megan Bell is the VP of Ticketing and Business Intelligence at the LA Chargers. During her 5 years with the Chargers, she has helped them to create their database and infrastructure, built their fan database, and brought in and developed a Membership Services Team and Ticket Sales Department. Megan has over 15 years of experience both working in Professional Sports and using Salesforce and their suite of products. She graduated with her MBA from George Washington University and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Florida.

Johnathan Franklin is a Los Angeles native heading into his eighth season with the Los Angeles Rams. As the Rams Director of Social Justice and Football Development, Franklin uses the power of football as a platform to address education inequities, youth justice and mentorship, all while growing the game at the youth and high school levels. Franklin’s work looks to ensure that all members of the community can rise to prosperity, while providing hope where it does not exist and maintaining it where it does.  

Prior to joining the Los Angeles Rams, Franklin worked at the University of Notre Dame in Student Welfare and Development. In 2013, Franklin had a short stint in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he was drafted by the Green Bay Packers and spent time serving in a rotational internship after retirement. Franklin attended University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he majored in political science. He graduated with honors and received the UCLA Chancellor’s Marshall Award. Franklin interned with former Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa during his time at UCLA and was invited to be the keynote speaker at the Los Angeles Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast during Villaraigosa’s final term. Franklin also had a standout football career at UCLA – he still holds four records at UCLA, including being the Bruins leader in all-purpose and career rushing yards. 

Franklin is a recent graduate of the NFL League of Leaders Program through the Stanford Graduate School of Business and of the Southern California Leadership Networking Class through the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. In 2020, Franklin was named the UCLA Alumnus of the Year. In 2019, he received the Conejo Valley 40 under 40 award. Franklincurrently serves on multiple boards including the Associated Students UCLA, Sidelined USA, Pac 12 Alumni Advisory Council and the Greater Conejo Valley Chamber Board. 

Lexi Vonderlieth is entering her fourth year with the Rams and serves as the club's vice president of brand strategy. In her role, Vonderlieth drives overall strategic and executional development of the Rams brand. 

Previously, Vonderlieth spent seven years at TBWA/Chiat/Day, an advertising agency committed to creating innovative brand and marketing programs. The majority of her time was spent across Gatorade and Airbnb in numerous roles from sports marketing, branded content to senior marketing manager. Working on Gatorade, she managed all sports marketing advertising with leagues/teams/athletes, brand integrated marketing programs and branded content.

Vonderlieth led the development of the Gatorade branded content program with the debut of "RG3: The Will to Win" documentary which was a first-time deal between Gatorade, RG3, NFL Films and ESPN/ABC programming. She also worked closely on the "There is No Tomorrow" documentary that followed the Brazilian National team from the 2012 Olympic defeat to the 2014 World Cup. For Airbnb, Vonderlieth successfully worked on the launch of the brand's first global campaign developing innovative tactics per market.

As a director, Vonderlieth spent the next three years driving strategic and creative development for Beats by Dre at R/GA and Anomaly. Notably, she helped launch Beats by Dre into the 2015 Rugby World Cup, with a fully integrated campaign into a new sport and new market for the brand. In 2016, Vonderlieth worked on the "Got No Strings" launch of the Beats X product to the market and developed fully-integrated partnership campaigns for global partners, Best Buy, T-Mobile and FNAC. In 2017, she led a "Be Heard" sports anthem campaign which led to No. 1 market share for wireless headphones.

Prior to joining the Rams, Vonderlieth worked as a Global Director at Media Arts Lab leading all Apple Services. Her duties included global marketing and strategy for Apple Music, Apple Pay, Homepod and focused the last year on the launch of Apple TV+, working on the Apple TV+ announce and continuing to develop the strategy and launch plan for Apple TV+ streaming brand and show campaigns.

Vonderlieth was recognized two consecutive years by the Business Insiders: 30 most creative women in advertising, in 2016 and 2017.

Vonderlieth received her bachelor's degree in communications from Pepperdine University. She went on to earn her master of business administration, marketing from Loyola Marymount University.

Vonderlieth, her husband Paulo and their two young boys, Dylan and Lukas, reside in Los Angeles.

As the leader of the award-winning Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF), Nichol Whiteman serves as the Chief Executive Officer where she guides LADF in tackling the most pressing problems facing Los Angeles. With a mission to improve education, health care, homelessness, and social justice for communities across Los Angeles and beyond, LADF celebrates 10 years reimagined and has raised over $90 million since 2013. With Nichol at the helm during this decade of reimagination, LADF has invested $53 million in programs and grants to local organizations. These efforts have impacted more than 9.8 million youth and 250 unique nonprofit organizations.

Nichol also led LADF in rebranding its signature initiative now known as Dodgers Dreamteam, a program that soared from 2,700 participants in 2014 to 11,000 as of 2023. Prior to joining LADF, the Spelman alumna served as the Vice President, Western Region Officer for the Jackie Robinson Foundation and continues to nurture a relationship between the two iconic brands.

A product of Nichol’s vision, the Dodgers are the proud owner of an ESPY—having been named the 2020 ESPN Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year. She led LADF in receiving the 2020 Beyond Sport Award for Reducing Racial Inequalities and has been featured in Forbes Magazine, the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, and the L.A. Times to name a few. Appointed to the State of California’s Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, Nichol extends her impact statewide as she advocates for the opportunities that all communities deserve. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband, Timothy, and two sons, Timothy Jr. and Nicholas.

Meet Justin, recognized as JChains in the crypto world, a seasoned professional with a rich background in the blockchain industry since 2017. As a blockchain advocate, community builder, and content creator, Justin has dedicated his career to fostering collaboration, promoting positivity, and nurturing vibrant communities within the crypto and Web3 space.

With a passion for connecting people and ideas, Justin founded the Web3 Breakfast Club—a platform dedicated to bringing together thought leaders, fostering collaboration, and sharing knowledge. Throughout his journey, he has come to believe that community, collaboration, and a positive outlook are the cornerstones of driving meaningful change in the blockchain industry.

Justin's extensive experience and commitment to these principles make him a sought-after voice in the crypto community. His ability to simplify complex concepts and inspire others has earned him a reputation as a true advocate for the transformative potential of blockchain technology. Join Justin as he continues to shape the future of decentralized systems and empowers individuals to make a positive impact in the crypto space.

A 20-yr marketing veteran, Lisa Franklin has developed a reputation as a seasoned executive, builder and innovator who leads teams in building marketing strategies that amplify brands in ways that inspire as well as create experiences that drive growth and transformation.  As the Chief Marketing Officer for Major League Soccer’s DC United, Lisa is responsible for creating and accelerating the organizations marketing strategy as well as brand recognition.  Her primary focus is to amplify the club and stadium’s differentiated fan experience by increasing brand recognition, fan growth and engagement through content, digital media, community engagement, and merchandise sales.

Prior to DC United, Lisa has held leadership roles in global marketing and communications strategies for some of the nation’s most well-known brands such as Microsoft, Xbox, Marriott, Verizon/AOL, Facebook, Google, Deloitte and Marriott International. Her efforts have led to the launch and market penetration of products such as Xbox, Skype, Office 365, Windows Live, Facebook, CNBC.com, MSN Sports and Google Marketing Platform.  Known as a force multiplier, she has spent most of her career focused on leading efforts that have consistently resulted new market domination, global business growth and visibility for new and emerging products.

Lisa is a champion for building great leaders as well as advocating for diversity and inclusivity at every level of an organization.  Consequently, she serves as a frequent speaker and trainer on Building High-Performing teams, Unleashing The Power of Diversity, Allyship and Empathetic Leadership.  

In the community, Lisa is an active volunteer with Be The Match, the American Cancer Society and member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Jack & Jill of America and the Links, Inc. 

She holds both a BBA and MBA in Marketing from Howard University and resides in Maryland with her husband, who is a collegiate basketball coach and three children..

Sam Lack is entering his third year with the Los Angeles Rams and serves as a Senior Producer. During his time with the Rams, Lack has led documentary projects such as Behind the Grind and overseen video content related to Crucial Catch, Inspire Change, and My Cause My Cleats.

Lack is from Atlanta, GA and attended the University of Georgia (UGA) where he majored in Digital & Broadcast Journalism. During his time at UGA, Lack discovered his passion for documentary storytelling in sports and worked for UGA athletics for two years while in school. Following graduation, Lack moved to Buffalo, NY where he worked as a Producer for the Buffalo Bills. Prior to his current position with the Rams, Lack also worked for Stanford Athletics as the Executive Producer, Creative Video. 

Yusuf Rowser is a Video Producer with the Los Angeles Rams Studios team, entering his fourth year as a producer and fifth year with the organization. 

Rowser graduated from the University of Cincinnati (UC) with a focus in film production. During his time at UC, he did video production for their football team, which helped him land a role with the Rams. On game days, Rowser does just about everything there is to do, from shooting game action to cinematically capturing the atmosphere and energy in SoFi Stadium. On a day-to-day basis, Rowser edits a variety of content that focuses on long-form storytelling. Rowser has aspirations to direct and write his own films in the near future.

Jay Hiremath is a Global Technology Executive with over 24 years of experience in the Media, Entertainment, Information, Technology, and Telecom industries. He is currently leading the Cloud Customer Experience and Google Cloud Consulting for one of the largest Media & Entertainment relationships. In this role, he is responsible for leading and delivering innovation and business transformation across audience engagement, B2C streaming platforms, broadcast, cable networks, content production, IT, security, ad sales, and distribution segments leveraging Google Cloud, Google AI, and Gen AI capabilities and partner ecosystems.

Prior to this, Mr. Hiremath was the Senior Executive, Partner and Technology, Media and Entertainment Industry leader at IBM where he spent over 22 years leading the establishment of the Media & Entertainment Global practice, Media Solution Labs, Industry Solutions, Video/AI for Media Platforms as a Service, and the company's recognition as the top management consulting firm in M&E by Forbes. At IBM, he led the industry as the 2nd fastest growing industry practice with double-digit growth across sales, revenue, win rate, people growth, and 3X margin growth.

Mr. Hiremath has extensive experience in cloud computing, artificial intelligence for media, innovation and growth strategies, interactive experience, audience/customer insights and engagement, back office transformation, cloud native 5G, digital content supply chain, mobile platforms, AI-based video platforms, rights and royalty, advertising, broadcast/cable media networks, cable/satellite/telecom operators, news media, digital cinema, digital signage, OTT/streaming, publishing, theme parks/venues, and sports.

He is a frequent speaker at industry events, panels, forums, and publishes thought leadership articles. He is passionate about the role of news media/journalism in building resilient democracies. He is based in Los Angeles with his family.

Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally-recognized authority on leadership.

Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he regularly elicits insights from America's top CEOs, founders, athletes, celebrities, and political and military leaders. He has interviewed more than 500 of America’s most successful leaders and has written extensively on business and leadership, having authored more than 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc., and HuffPost. Adam co-founded The Veloz Group, where he helped build three different businesses in three different industries. Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA, serves on the board of UCLA’s Master of Applied Statistics & Data Science program, is an emeritus member of USC’s Board of Governors, and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.

Debbie Spander is founder and CEO of Insight Sports Advisors, a boutique agency focused on coaches, executives and media. Insight’s clients include NBA and NCAA coaches, front-office executives, sports media personalities and influencers, and NIL athletes. Debbie’s experience and deep connections throughout the sports world provide an unparalleled platform to help clients build their personal brands and maximize their careers. Debbie also consults with athletic departments on NIL and provides seminars and workshops to college athletes on NIL-related topics, including marketing and business.

Prior to founding Insight Sports Advisors, Debbie was an agent at Wasserman Media Group, where she rose to Senior Vice President of its Broadcasting and Coaching Division. Debbie also served as a founding member of Wasserman’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council.

Debbie began her media career at Fox Sports Networks, where she was the lead negotiator and lawyer for all national telecast licenses, including the ground-breaking $1.2B NASCAR telecast rights agreement. She also helped create Pac-10 Properties and re-launch the Pac-10 (now Pac-12) basketball tournament, and structured and negotiated tens of millions of dollars in sponsorship and marketing agreements for Fox Cable Integrated Sales and Marketing. 

Debbie is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California where, together with her husband Marc Isenberg, she teaches the ground-breaking class “The NIL Experience.” Debbie serves as a Board of Director of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. She also serves on the Board of Westcoast Sports, a charity that funds after-school sports for underserved youth, and West Coast Sports Medicine Foundation, a charity that funds healthcare for high school athletes. Debbie is on the advisory board of the Arizona State University Bud Selig Sports Law and Business Program and is a frequent speaker at sports business conferences. She was on the BOD of Sports Lawyers Association for 20 years.  She has been named a Game Changer, and in 2020, she was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Debbie received her undergraduate degree from Stanford University and her Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law. She lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband and their daughter.

Julie Uhrman is the President and Co-Founder of Angel City Football Club (ACFC), Los Angeles' professional women's soccer team that debuted in 2022 in the National Women's Soccer League.  ACFC is one of the world's only majority female-founded and run professional sports teams. Uhrman founded ACFC with Academy Award-winning actress and activist Natalie Portman, technology venture capitalist Kara Nortman. She was most recently named a member of the 2023 Sports Business Journal (SBJ) Game Changer class. She was listed as one of the Ten Influencers of 2023 by SportsPro Media, one of the Most Influential People in Sports Business 2022 by the SBJ, a member of Adweek's 2021 and 2020 Most Powerful Women In Sports, one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company, and was named to the Creative 50 list by Ad Age. In May of 2023, Angel City Football Club was named Sports Team of the Year by SBJ and was the first women's team ever to win the category.

Julie is active in the Los Angeles sports and technology communities. She is a board member of the LA Sports and Entertainment Council, The Rose Bowl Institute, and the LA Sports Council, and an active executive in the LA Chapter of WISE (Women in Sports and Events), where she was recognized as a 2022 Women of Inspiration Honoree. She is also part of the DraftKings' All-Star Network as an Advisor to Drive by DraftKings. 

Before ACFC, Uhrman served as the EVP and General Manager of OTT Ventures at Lionsgate, Head of Platform Business Development at Jaunt, a virtual reality content startup, and founder of  OUYA, a pioneering Android-based game console.

A native of Fredericton, New Brunswick and proud alumnus of the University of New Brunswick, Mark holds an MBA and MA in Sports Administration as well as a Diploma in University Teaching from UNB. Most recently, Mark has been named a Woodard Family Foundation Fellow and Senior Sports Business Instructor at the University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business and Warsaw Sports Business Center, having started his new role in September 2023.

Prior to joining Oregon, he served as Director & Assistant Professor of Sports Business programs at Concordia University Irvine, where he developed and launched an innovative new MBA program in Sports Business and served as the school’s Faculty Athletics Representative to the NCAA. Mark also authored a course in Game Day Marketing & Management for the MBA program in Hockey Business at the Business of Hockey Institute in Edmonton from 2016-2021.

In addition to his role at Oregon, Mark maintains his role as a Consultant and Senior Sports Business Lecturer at UCLA Anderson’s Center for Media, Entertainment and Sports, a role he has held since 2011. Mark has volunteered extensively with UCLA Athletics, as an academic recruiter for UCLA Football and Women’s Basketball programs, and he served as Head Coach of the UCLA Bruins ACHA Men’s hockey program for several years, winning the 2017 PAC 8 Championship along with multiple Crosstown Cup Championships over USC.

In addition to his academic work, Mark boasts a wealth of consulting experience with a focus on fan engagement technologies, large scale event management and sports ethics. He currently serves on the advisory boards for IMPACT Learning Institute, the US Performance Academy, and the Sports Management program at California Lutheran University.

Eric Johnson is the CEO and Founder of WON WORLDWIDE, a venture revenue advisory firm that builds revenue strategies and executions for sports media and entertainment buisnesses.  Most notably, WON has just help to launch the ALLIANCE OF AMERICAN FOOTBALL new professional Spring football league on CBS Sports, Turner Sports and NFL Network.

Prior to that, Eric worked at ESPN for 18 years as the executive vice president of Global Advertising Revenue & Sales Operations. In this role, Johnson leads the U.S. and international multimedia ad sales team efforts.  He is responsible for all sales activity across all of ESPN’s businesses, including the ESPN television networks, ESPN Print and Digital Media, X Games, ESPN Syndication Events, ESPN Audio, ESPN Deportes, and espnW.  Outside of the U.S., he works directly with ESPN’s sales offices in Buenos Aires, San Paulo, London, Singapore, Sydney and Miami, Fla., to drive revenue for ESPN’s international properties.

In 2008, he was named #25 on the Mediaweek 50, a list of “the most indispensable executives shaping the future of media,” and was CABLE-FAX’s 2010 VP & Above Sales Person of the Year (Honorable Mention).  Additionally, under his leadership, ESPN’s multimedia sales teams have been honored by a 2012 Jack Myers survey that ranked ESPN’s #1 among TV sales organizations (tied with ABC).  This follows a recognition in 2008 from min (Media Industry Newsletter), which named Johnson’s team the “Multiplatform Sales Team of the Year.”

Currently, Johnson sits on the Board of Directors for IAB and MPA. He is also on the Advisory Board for VIDEONOMICS. Johnson’s tenure at ESPN began in 1999, where he served as an account executive for West Coast account television sales. In 2003, as a vice president of national ad sales, he took over management of the West Coast television sales team and served as senior vice president of multimedia sales, overseeing offices in Burbank and San Francisco, Calif. from 2006-2007.

Prior to joining ESPN, Johnson worked at TIME magazine in Los Angeles, following a term of service on the advertising agency side of the business.  From 1992-1999, Johnson worked as a media planning/strategist executive at Deustch LA, Grey Advertising, and Foote, Cone & Belding. Johnson graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1991 and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics.

Megan Julian is the Director of Social Media + Content Performance for the Los Angeles Chargers. With nearly a decade of experience in the sports content space Megan specializes in creating, growing and monetizing an online voice and brand personality. Her work has been recognized by the Webby Awards, SBJ, ESPN and Complex Sports.