FUEL: Customer Engagement From an All-Star Panel of Chicago’s Sports Business Leaders

What will keep your marketing engine humming through the summer? FUEL, the BMA Chicago’s super-charged panel of marketing executives. This year’s event will feature leaders in Chicago’s sports businesses sharing insights for engaging fans, customers and client-partners in an ever-changing, fast-paced and multi-channel marketplace.

About Scott Paddock

With a history of success in sports and brand marketing, Scott Paddock was named President of Chicagoland Speedway and Route 66 Raceway in January of 2011. As President of the Joliet, Ill.-based facilities, Scott is responsible for overseeing all aspects of Illinois’s largest sporting complex. Chicagoland Speedway hosts NASCAR events, including the kickoff event in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, as well as other forms of sports and entertainment offerings. Route 66 Raceway has been a mainstay on the NHRA circuit for over a decade.

Before being named to his current post, Scott was the Director of Sports Marketing for the Gatorade Company, a division of PepsiCo Inc. In this role, Scott was responsible for the management of the brand’s 120MM sports marketing sponsorship portfolio, including all league, team and spokesperson relations and negotiations, while serving as a key member of the Gatorade Leadership Team (GLT).

Scott joined the Gatorade business in 1998 as a Sports Marketing Manager, overseeing the Southeast region of the U.S. In 2001, he was named Senior Manager of Sports Marketing and added day to day oversight of the brand’s NFL and motor sports partnerships to his list of responsibilities. Scott was the architect behind Gatorade’s College Athletic Director Advisory Council as well as the brands partnership with International Speedway Corporation in 2002, the largest in ISC’s history at that time, and the historic creation of “Gatorade Victory Lane.”

About Adam Fox

Fox brings 16 years of sports marketing and sales experience to the Sky. For the past eight years, he has been Executive Vice President of business operations for the Chicago Wolves. He joined the Wolves in ticket sales during the team's first year in 1994. After one season, he was named the team's merchandise director, and promoted to director of operations in 1996.

Prior to joining the Wolves, Fox spent nearly five years working in sales and sports marketing – including a three-year stint with Elite Sports Marketing, which specializes in game-used and signed sports memorabilia.

Fox set up and operated temporary stores selling officially licensed apparel at major sporting events around the country. Fox also spent two years as a district manager for Retail Star, Inc.

About Alison Miller

Alison Miller joined the Chicago Cubs in 2012 as Senior Director of Marketing. At the Cubs, Miller is responsible for branding, marketing, fan research, advertising, broadcasting and game entertainment at Wrigley Field.

Prior to joining the Cubs, Alison spent over a decade in marketing at General Mills where she was tasked with brand management of products including Cheerios, Chex, Pillsbury, and Betty Crocker. Alison earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business in 2000 and her MBA from Harvard Business School in 2005.

She was a starter on the women’s basketball team at Michigan, helping lead the Wolverines to two NCAA appearances in both 1998 and 2000. Alison resides in Lincoln Park.

About Mark Silverman

BTN President Mark Silverman sets the strategic direction and leads the day-to-day operations for the first internationally distributed conference-owned college television network, which is based in Chicago.

The network’s first and only president, Silverman guided BTN to profitability within two years of launch. Today BTN has 60 million subscribers throughout the United States and Canada. Under Silverman’s leadership, BTN’s ratings and advertising revenue have significantly improved annually, with record-setting ratings for football, basketball, studio shows and original programming. He began his media career in the entertainment industry at The Walt Disney Company, where he held a number of executive positions during his 13-year tenure, principally in the television and movie studio divisions.

He served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the ABC Cable Networks Group and Senior Vice President and General Manager of the ABC Family Channel, where he was responsible for channel operations and the development of its business strategy, with emphasis on ad sales, business affairs, business development and finance.

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