Emilio Collins joins Excel Sports Management as First Chief Business Officer

Source: Excel Sports Manager

NEW YORK, Feb. 13 - Excel Sports Management has hired Emilio Collins as the agency’s first Chief Business Officer. Collins, who spent the last 15 years at the National Basketball Association, will oversee business development, corporate consulting, events and hospitality, and sales and marketing strategies. He will focus on expanding Excel’s corporate representation portfolio, leading strategic acquisitions and providing leadership for client branding initiatives.

“Representing clients at the highest level will always be core to who we are. However, there is a great opportunity to expand into corporate sales and marketing while making a bigger push on the consulting front,” said Jeff Schwartz, President and Founder, Excel Sports Management. “Emilio has a great reputation in the industry and brings an immeasurable amount of experience that I know will prove successful for Excel’s continued growth as a company.”

Collins, currently the Executive Vice President, Global Partnerships at the NBA, brings a strong track record of over 20 years of building corporate partnerships and developing new revenue streams. Under Collins's leadership at the NBA his department doubled global sponsorship revenues and secured a record number of league marketing partnerships, including recent new relationships with PepsiCo and Tissot — the first-ever leaguewide partnership. Prior to the NBA, Collins worked at SFX Sports Group where he led business development for the company's events business, including hospitality, golf, consulting and tennis.

"I've always admired what Jeff and his partners have built at Excel,” said Collins. “They have one of the best reputations in the business, along with some of the top talent in their respective fields, and their expansion over the last few years has been quite impressive. I'm thrilled to be joining the team, and to have the opportunity to build on the great foundation they've established." 

About Excel Sports Management

Excel Sports Management was founded as a basketball management agency and has grown to include baseball, golf, talent marketing and corporate consulting capabilities. The agency has twice won Sports Business Journal Best In Talent Representation and Management (2014, 2015) and most recently was named second most valuable sports agency in the world by Forbes. Established in 2002, Excel is led by a partnership group consisting of President and Founder Jeff Schwartz, Casey Close, Mark Steinberg and Alan Zucker. 

Collins will begin with Excel Sports Management in April.