Keynote
12pm

Bill Sutton
Founding Director, USF Sport & Entertainment Management MBA Program
Principal, Bill Sutton and Associates

Dr. William A. Sutton is a distinguished academician and a proven sports marketing practitioner. Sutton’s body of work includes notable academic appointments and extensive industry experience. An expert who educates and engages, Sutton possess a distinct combination of professional experiences that blend his savvy business acumen with his significant university credentials. His academic and industry career experiences are diverse and form a unique prism to observe the sports marketing and sports business landscape. Sutton’s consultation work has spanned the industry, working with professional leagues, teams, organizations, brands, universities, agencies, and facilities. Dr. Sutton currently holds an appointment as Founding Director and Professor at the Sport and Entertainment Business Management Graduate Program in the Management Department at the University of South Florida and is the founder and principal of Bill Sutton & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in strategic marketing, revenue enhancement and organizational chemistry.

Dr. Sutton employs a hybrid approach, influenced heavily by his wide-ranging work experiences; including tenures at sports marketing agencies, professional leagues and nationally acclaimed Sport Management programs. He is the co-creator and architect of the innovative and groundbreaking Sports Sales Combine.  CNBC.com hailed the Sports Sales Combine, a careers concept inspired by the NFL Draft Combine, as potentially “the next great idea in sports marketing”. Sutton also has an extensive track record of placing students in careers in the sports industry.

Dr. Sutton teaches courses at USF in sport marketing and sales and promotional management in sport and serves as the Internship Coordinator for the program. His consulting clients include the AEG, NBA NFL, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, MSG Sports, Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Mets. Prior to assuming his current positions, Sutton served as Vice President, Team Marketing and Business Operations for the National Basketball Association. In this capacity, Dr. Sutton assisted NBA teams with marketing related functions such as sales, promotional activities, market research, advertising, customer service, strategic planning and staffing. Dr. Sutton has held previous academic appointments at Robert Morris University, the Ohio State University, the University of Massachusetts – Amherst, and the University of Central Florida.

Dr. Sutton is a co-author of 2 texts: Sport Marketing ( 4th edition 2014)  and Sport Promotion and Sales Management ( 2nd Ed 2008) published by Human Kinetics, and is a Co-editor of the Handbook of Sport Marketing Research (2012) published by F.I.T. Dr. Sutton has also authored more than 200 articles (refereed and non-refereed), and has made more than 300 national and international presentations. Dr. Sutton a past president of North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) is a founding member and past President of the Sport Marketing Association (SMA) and the Sport Marketing Quarterly – a publication where he has also served as the co-editor. Dr. Sutton is a featured author for Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal (SBJ) where his Sutton Impact column is a monthly feature. Sutton also is a contributor for the basketball strategy and business magazines Basketball Gigante and FIBA Assist published in Italy. Sutton is frequently called upon by members of the media for his insight and commentary on the sports business industry including; USA Today, The New York Times, CNBC.com, The Washington Times, Fox Business, The Orlando Sentinel, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Advertising Age and Brandweek. 

In addition to working at the NBA, Dr. Sutton’s professional experience also includes service as a special events coordinator for the City of Pittsburgh, a YMCA Director, Vice President of Information Services for an international sport-marketing firm, and Commissioner of the Mid-Ohio Conference.

A native of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Dr. Sutton holds three degrees (BA 1972, MS, 1980, and ED.D 1983) from Oklahoma State University, where he was inducted into the College of Education Hall of Fame in 2003. Dr. Sutton is also an inaugural member of the Robert Morris University Sport Management Hall of Fame (2006) and recipient of lifetime achievement award from the Southern Sport Management Association (2012). Dr. Sutton serves on the Board of Directors for the Folds of Honor Foundation and the Tampa Bay Sports Commission. Dr. Sutton and his wife Sharon reside in Tampa and Clearwater Beach, Florida.    

1:30pm

Paul Cacciatore 
Senior Director of Business Operations, Boston Celtics

Paul Cacciatore is entering his 19th year with the Boston Celtics and currently serves as the Senior Director of Business Operations.  Paul got his official start with the team as a ball boy in the late 1980’s and went on to pursue the business of sports at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst where he graduated from their esteemed Sports Management Program in 1996. 

Paul started in the front office of the Celtics as a Community Relations and Public Relations intern and was hired shortly after as a season ticket Customer Service Representative.  Paul went on to also manage ticket operations and was promoted to Senior Director of Business Operations during the fall of 2008.

Mr. Cacciatore is currently responsible for the service and retention of over 4,000 season ticket accounts as well as ticket inventory management, printing and financials for the department.  He has been heavily involved in ticket innovation initiatives at both the team and league level and currently serves on both a Ticketing and Retention Task force with the NBA which works closely with Ticketmaster to develop cutting edge processes for each team’s specific needs.

In the fall of 2011, Paul began his lecturer career in the Sports Management Department at Nichols College, Dudley, MA. He has also served as a Director on the Downtown North Association since 2013 and is currently on the Board of Directors of the Northborough Baseball and Softball Association. Paul currently resides in Northboro, MA with his wife Jennifer and sons Owen and Christopher.  

2:30pm

Koby Altman 
Director of Pro Scouting, Cleveland Cavaliers

Koby Altman was promoted to director of pro player personnel for the Cavaliers in September 2013. He originally joined the Cavs as pro personnel manager in August 2012. In his role as director of pro player personnel, Altman will coordinate the team’s domestic professional scouting efforts and will assit General Manager David Griffin with other player personnel related matters.

Prior to joining the Cavaliers, Altman served as an assistant coach at Columbia University for  two seasons, where he also led Columbia’s developmental basketball program.

In addition to his duties at Columbia over the past two seasons, Altman has extensive experience with the USA Basketball program. In the summer of 2010, he served as the Team Manager for USA Basketball’s Under-17 team at the inaugural FIBA Under-17 World Championship in Hamburg, Germany. That 17-and-under squad won the first gold medal to ever be awarded for that age group and featured three players selected among the top 10 in the 2012 NBA Draft. In 2009, he assisted Team USA’s 19-and-under team in the FIBA Under-19 World Championship in Auckland, New Zealand. That squad also won the gold, its first in that age group since 1991.

Prior to joining Columbia, Altman spent the 2009-10 season at Southern Illinois as a graduate assistant after earning his master’s degree in sport management at UMASS. While earning his degree at UMASS, he also coached at nearby Amherst College for two seasons and helped guide the team to a 48-11 record. He played collegiately at Middlebury College, where he was a three-year starter at point guard.

3:30pm

Brian Billelo
President, New England Revolution

Brian Bilello is in his third season as President of the New England Revolution. After serving six seasons as the club’s Chief Operating Officer, he was promoted to his current position in November 2011.

As President, Bilello oversees all aspects of the club’s operations, including both the team’s business activities and soccer operations. In addition to establishing the club’s strategic vision and plan, and fostering its implementation across the organization, he reports directly to the Kraft Family and represents the club on the MLS Board of Governors.

A former Revolution season ticket holder himself, Bilello has a unique perspective on the team’s fan experience. To ensure the club continues to prioritize its supporters, he works directly with fans to maximize their experiences at Gillette Stadium and through every touch point they have with the club.

As Chief Operating Officer from 2006 to 2011, Bilello expanded all of the Revolution’s business departments, oversaw the integration of the team’s jersey sponsor – UnitedHealthcare – and launched a dedicated ticket sales service group that won the MLS Presidents Award in 2011 and 2013 for season-ticket holder renewal rates.

Prior to accepting the COO role with the Revolution, Bilello served the Revolution, New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium in a variety of operational and strategic roles. He joined the Kraft Sports Group in 2003 as Director of Quality and Operational Control, where he worked to improve the fan experience across all areas of Gillette Stadium. He has also overseen the stadium’s concessions and retail operations, and provided strategic advice to the Kraft Family on a number of issues related to their sports ventures, in particular, soccer, MLS and the Revolution.

Before working with The Kraft Sports Group, Bilello was a management consultant at Bain & Company in the company’s San Francisco and Boston offices where he worked with clients in the sports, retail, consumer products and entertainment industries. Through his work at Bain & Company, he got his start in sports by helping a client with a team’s analytics project, a subject matter he continues to work on and integrate into the day-to-day operations at the Revolution.

An avid soccer player, Bilello played varsity soccer at MIT, where he studied engineering and economics. Before joining the organization’s staff, Bilello was a Revolution season ticket holder.

Bilello lives in southern Massachusetts with his wife, Vanessa, and two young daughters, Samantha (9) and Madison (7), and continues to play organized soccer in his free time. He is a member of the Board of Directors for AmericaSCORES Boston, and was named to Boston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” in September 2012.