Chase Griffin, Paige Bueckers, Ashlyn Watkins and Jay Williams Join Sports & Entertainment Summit

Variety and Sportico have announced additional programming for the second annual co-branded Sports & Entertainment Summit presented by City National Bank on July 12 in Los Angeles. Newly added speakers include UCLA QB and two-time NIL athlete of the year Chase Griffin, 2024 Paralympic track and field athlete Ezra Frech, UConn women’s basketball player Paige Bueckers, NCAA women’s champion Ashlyn Watkins and Jay Williams, chairman and co-founder of Improbable Media and ESPN analyst.  

Bueckers will participate in a conversation with Lindsay Kagawa Colas, EVP of talent at The Collective, regarding how they collaborate in growing Bueckers’ career on and off the court.  

Williams will speak about his vision for Improbable Media, the company he co-founded with NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo, with moderator Todd Burach, SVP, team leader and head of sports and family office banking, City National Bank.   

Griffin and Frech join “The Athlete and Fan” panel which will look at the fierce bonds between athletes and their fans that help jump start new businesses, spanning lifestyle brands, entertainment/media projects, philanthropies, investment opportunities and more. 

Watkins joins the panel exploring the rise in women’s sports viewership, fan bases and in turn, opportunities for women athletes.  

David Eilenberg, head of content at Roku Media, will join the “Future of Watching Live Sports” panel alongside previously announced panelists Craig Barry, EVP and chief content officer, Turner Sports; Charlie Neiman, head of sports partnerships, Prime Video; Burke Magnus, president, content, ESPN; Lori Conkling, global head of TV, film and sports partnerships, YouTube; and Shannon Willett, CMO, Peacock. 

The day-long summit will feature keynote conversations and panel discussions highlighting trends across programming and storytelling, multiplatform game coverage, athlete branding and representation, NIL dealmaking and more. 

Delta Air Lines is an official partner of the summit. Roku is a supporting partner of the summit. Tickets to the event are limited, head to the following link to see the full agenda and register: variety.com/sportssummit.