Discovery & Eurosport Ramps Up For Olympics

Discovery Communications has made a number of appointments at Eurosport and new roles have been created to support the company’s Olympic Games strategy.

Discovery and Eurosport was awarded all TV and multiplatform broadcast rights to the Olympic Games across Europe between 2018 and 2024. 

The company’s Olympic Games leadership organisation team will consist of five key areas; commercialisation, led by Jean-Thierry Augustin; operations and planning, led by David Schafer; Olympic relations and coordination headed by Géraldine Filiol, and engineering/technology and production, for which a lead is yet to be appointed.

In addition to these roles, Eurosport has appointed three new leaders, with Sameer Pabari heading business development, Antonio Ruiz leading marketing and Fiona McLachlan controlling communications.

“Discovery is committed to elevating the excitement and engagement in the Olympic Games through our world-class storytelling, local market expertise, and Eurosport’s heritage of connecting fans with key Olympic sports all year long,” said JB Perrette, president, Discovery Networks International. “Since announcing the ground-breaking deal this summer, we already have selected three of five Olympic leadership roles, aligning our structure to ensure we have the best in class talent – both on the screen and within our organisation.”

Jean-Thierry Augustin has been appointed as president, sports development and Olympic commercialisation, having played a key role in securing the Games. Augustin will drive all Olympic sales and commercial opportunities and adds the Olympic Games to his current remit and new position.

David Schafer is named as senior vice president of Olympic operations and planning, reporting to Eurosport CEO Peter Hutton. He will be responsible for the planning and successful operations of Olympic Games coverage, lead the relationship with Olympic Broadcasting Services and oversee smooth execution on all linear and digital platforms across Europe. Schafer’s experience in sports production includes working on seven Olympic Games and winning three Emmy Awards for coverage in Beijing, London and Sochi.

Vice president Olympic relations and project coordination, Geraldine Filiol, will be responsible for the Olympic project coordination and managing external stakeholder relationships with sub-licensees, the International Olympic Committee and the international federations. Filiol’s existing role as Eurosport’s head of marketing, communications and external relations has been split into two roles.

Antonio Ruiz moves over from the Southern European arm of the business to become Eurosport’s vice president of marketing and franchise management. In the newly created role, he will be responsible for developing the overall brand and marketing strategy.

Fiona McLachlan joins Eurosport as vice president communications and will be heading the full complement of corporate, consumer communications and event functions for the brand. Prior to her consulting career, McLachlan led a sports practice at Weber Shandwick.

Sameer Pabari joins as vice president business development in a newly created role. Pabari will be responsible for international business and commercial digital development across the Eurosport business. Before joining Discovery, Pabari was managing director for MP & Silva, overseeing the launch of the beiN SPORTS channels across Asia and developed host broadcasting strategy for Formula E and the Asian Games.

“These talented leaders will support our ambition for Eurosport to be the preferred destination for sports fans. As we continue to invest in the programming, promotion and production values for Eurosport across all platforms, this team will deliver on our new brand promise to ‘Fuel Your Passion’ and immerse fans in the greatest sports moments,” said Peter Hutton, CEO, Eurosport.