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The Assembly 2026 >
AGENDA
Monday – August 17 – Arrive in Austin
3:00 PM - Host Committee Meeting
6:00 PM - Optional – Welcome BBQ presented by Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, and Texas Rangers
7:30 PM - Host Committee & Governing Board Meeting
9:00 PM - Hospitality Suite Opens
– DELIVERING GOOD IN TENSIONS –
Tuesday - August 18
Five years in, The Assembly opens its anniversary edition with the question every owner, investor, and operator is asking: what is AI actually worth, and what does it cost? We start with the leaders deploying it at the highest levels of sport, then move into a hands-on workshop with the technologists building what comes next. Over lunch, a candid fireside on leading teams through tension sets the tone for the retreat ahead. The afternoon is yours to choose across four breakout sessions, before the evening turns celebratory: a reception with the industry’s best, and the Medal of Leadership Celebration honoring the leaders who set the standard.
8:00 AM - Breakfast & Registration
9:00 AM - Welcome and Introductions
– LEADING IN THE AGE OF AI, WITH HI –
9:15 AM - Session I: Make the Tech Work
Artificial intelligence is no longer a pilot program in professional sports -- it is reshaping officiating, fan experience, ticketing, scouting, and the back office all at once. The leaders charged with deploying it know the harder truth: every gain carries a cost in dollars, talent, trust, and organizational change. This opening session brings together technology chiefs of the industry to examine where AI is delivering real value, where the hype outruns the math, and what it takes to lead an organization where human intelligence remains the differentiator.
Featuring:
• Gary Brantley, Chief Information Officer, National Football League
10:45 AM - Workshop: Leading in the Age of AI, with HI
Insight becomes advantage only when it is applied with wisdom. In this working session, leaders with expertise in building AI for sport guide small-group rotations through live use cases -- from on-field calls to data infrastructure, fan intelligence, and venue operations -- designed to help you leave with a sharper view of where AI belongs in your organization’s game plan, and where it does not.
12:00 PM - Lunch
12:30 PM - Session II: Leading Teams Through Tension
Ambiguity, competing interests, and constant change now define the operating environment of professional sports. This fireside chat explores what it actually takes to lead people through tension: how to hold steady without going rigid, surface hard conversations instead of smoothing them over, and turn discomfort into progress rather than friction. A candid look at scaling your leadership when the path forward isn’t clear. We will explore a framework for transcending and transforming our lives and work to be anchored, aligned, and accountable.
Featuring:
3:00 PM - Breakout Sessions (3 options)
6:00 PM - Celebration Reception presented by OVG Arena Alliance
The 2026 Medal of Leadership honorees will be celebrated for advancing the professional sports industry, both inside their organizations and beyond, by elevating the standards of leadership excellence. The celebration elevates PRO members who are building strong, healthy, and fair organizations and communities -- inspired by two leaders who epitomize what it means to be a PRO and lifted inclusive leadership to new heights: Jason Jenkins and Cynt Marshall. In this fifth-anniversary edition of The Assembly, we will also celebrate important milestones experienced along the way. This inspirational program, highlighted by a second edition of "Late Night Cynterviews" will challenge you to consider your position of influence and how it benefits the greater good.
Meet The 2026 Honorees
 Erika Swilley
Executive Director, National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) Foundation
 Taylor Olson
Director of Brand Marketing, Detroit Tigers
 Angie Swint
Senior Vice President, Broadcasting, Texas Rangers
 Sola Winley
Executive Vice President, Chief Engagement Officer, Major League Soccer
9:00 PM - Hospitality Suite
Wednesday - August 19
Day two takes on the two forces redrawing the economics of sport. The morning belongs to labor: two of the most consequential negotiators in the history of professional sports pull back the curtain on collective bargaining -- what is really math, and what is really leadership. The afternoon turns to the fastest-growing and most scrutinized revenue line in the industry: sports betting, examined honestly from opportunity to obligation. The day closes with the VP Circle Capstone Competition and recognition. If your organization touches a CBA, a sportsbook partnership, or a balance sheet -- and they all do -- this is the day you cannot afford to miss.
8:00 AM - Breakfast & Registration Open
– LABOR RELATIONS: IS IT REALLY JUST MATH? –
9:00 AM - Welcome and Reflection on Day 1
9:15 AM - Session III: Make the Math Work -- From Health, Wealth and War
As labor relations and collective bargaining agreements evolve across professional sports, owners, league executives, team leaders, and players are redefining how “delivering good” shapes the future of the industry -- including the impact made on the full workforce. Rooted in recency and relevance, this featured conversation offers rare insight from top negotiators to help inform how PRO leaders think through tensions in stakeholder dynamics, trends in compensation, empowerment, workplace standards, and long-term partnership strategies. To align interests for better outcomes, PRO leaders are invited to discuss and discover the labor-related nuances driving valuations, real revenues, and the factors influencing long-term strategic plans.
Featuring:
• Michele Roberts, Former Executive Director, National Basketball Players Association
10:45 AM - Workshop: Is It Really Just Math?
Building on the morning conversation, this working session puts the negotiation in your hands. Working through the live tensions shaping today’s bargaining tables -- compensation models, health and safety standards, revenue definitions, and the leverage points on every side -- leaders will pressure-test how the math and the relationships actually come together, and leave with sharper instincts for every negotiation they own.
12:15 PM - Lunch Break
– PLACE YOUR BETS! –
1:00 PM - Session IV: Sports Betting: The Opportunity and the Obligation
Few topics generate more growth -- and more scrutiny -- than sports betting. In this featured conversation, we move past the headlines to the core questions: how leagues, teams, and partners balance commercial upside against integrity, fan trust, and player wellbeing. A thoughtful conversation about where the real tensions sit, and what responsible growth looks like from here.
Featuring:
• Brett Abarbanel, Executive Director, International Gaming Institute, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• Lori Kalani, Chief Responsible Gaming Officer, DraftKings
2:00 PM - Workshop: Navigating the Betting Portfolio
Legalized sports betting handed every organization a new line of business -- and a new set of stakeholders whose interests do not automatically align. Integrity, revenue, labor, and partnership considerations all converge on this one portfolio. In this workshop, leaders work through how to navigate those competing demands inside their own organizations, so that betting is good for the business and good for professional sports.
2:30 PM - VP Circle Capstone Competition
Place your bets! Which team from Cohort 2 of the VP Circle is ready to tackle real-world leadership challenges? They’ve addressed key issues -- from leadership transitions and cultural shifts to new stadium developments -- across four fictitious professional sports leagues: football, basketball, soccer, and hockey. You be the judge! Each executive team will present strategies to boost morale, energy, and engagement across their respective franchises, followed by an interactive Q&A with judges and the audience. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to see creativity and collaboration in action, as you learn which teams excel in leadership!
4:00 PM - Recognition & Wrap Up
5:30 PM - Optional Salon Dinners
Thank You, Sponsors!
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