Illinois Sports Business Conference

MEGAN GODFREY - ACCOUNT SUPERVISOR, KEMPERLESNIK

Megan Godfrey is an account supervisor for KemperLesnik, a Chicago-based PR, activation and events agency. She has served as a key member of KemperLesnik’s sports PR team for more than five years.

In her current role, Godfrey is responsible for managing client relationships and providing strategic public relations services for sports-related clients including the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship and luxury golf destinations such as Streamsong Resort in Florida and Primland Resort in Virginia.

Prior to joining KemperLesnik, Godfrey held strategic communications roles for CDW, an IT services and consulting firm, and Moji, an athletic start-up company, which sold health and recovery products.

Godfrey has a strong golf background and previously spent three years pursuing a professional golf career, competing on a variety of tours including the LPGA Symetra Tour, CN Canadian Women’s Tour and the Cactus Tour.

Godfrey holds a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she was a member of the women’s golf team.

REX CARTER - DIRECTOR OF RISK MANAGEMENT, ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

Rex Carter earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.  He earned a Master's Degree in Business Administration from St. Louis University in.  He is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Missouri.

He has been Director of Risk Management for the 11-time World Champion St. Louis Cardinals Major League Baseball Team since January 2016.  In that capacity he administer club’s insurance program, sourced both within and outside of MLB, in order to minimize risks to Club assets, whether physical property, intellectual property or human capital and provide a level of financial protection in order to replace any assets should they sustain damage or destruction.  Manage relationships with external brokers, adjusters, loss prevention specialists, other MLB consultants and MLB office personnel to ensure timely, accurate and impactful delivery of services.  Monitor multiple information sources to stay abreast of risk developments inside and outside the organization and respond to minimize the potential for loss.  Manage open claims – work comp, general liability, auto etc. – to ensure costs are minimized, payments are made timely, reserves are properly stated and claims are closed as quickly as possible.  

He oversees club’s player insurance program to ensure player contracts are properly insured, players are properly insured for injuries and that the club is protected from any type of catastrophic lost related to players. Rex originally joined the Cardinals in 2000 as Manager, Analysis. After performing financial and operational analysis, which resulted in improved internal controls, he was promoted to Payroll Manager in 2001. While in that position, he was responsible for managing and improving the organization's payroll process. He was promoted to Director, Finance & Payroll in October 2004.

DEREK THRONEBURG - VICE PRESIDENT OF BRAND AND MARKETING STRATEGY, INDIANAPOLIS PACERS 

Derek Throneburg is the Vice President of Brand and Marketing Strategy for Pacers Sports & Entertainment in Indianapolis, Indiana. In his role, Throneburg oversees all strategic marketing and advertising initiatives for the Indiana Pacers. Throneburg’s teams manage traditional and digital marketing, social media, research and analytics, ticket pricing, secondary ticket market strategy, and client retention and engagement.

After Throneburg joined the Pacers in 2012, a comprehensive long-term ticket sales strategy was developed and implemented, including the introduction of dynamic pricing, consistent management of ticket brokers, and constant analysis of data to help strengthen the Pacers brand and business initiatives. This strategy has led to significant increases in virtually every ticket sales category, enhanced operational efficiency and maximized expenses for entertainment and engagement opportunities.

Prior to joining the Indiana Pacers in 2012, Throneburg spent 10 years in various ticket sales and management roles with the St. Louis Cardinals. During Throneburg’s career, he and his sales teams have sold over 34,000,000 tickets offering fans the opportunity to experience world-class sporting events. Throneburg has also held key roles in the planning of numerous special events, including MLB World Series, MLB All-Star events, WNBA Finals, back-to-back NBA Eastern Conference Finals, outdoor stadium concerts, and arena concerts among others. Throneburg graduated from the University of Illinois and is a proud alum of the Fighting Illini baseball team.

Derek resides in Indianapolis with his wife Lynn and their one-year old son Paxton.  

EMILY BARRETA- BUSINESS ADVISORY CONSULTANT, EY

Emily Barretta is a Performance Improvement consultant at Ernst & Young in Chicago. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2016. During her time at Illinois, Emily was a student-athlete on the tennis team and founded the Illinois Sports Business Conference. She currently resides in Winnetka, IL.