Mike Vest

Last updated
Mike Vest
Born (1978-03-20) March 20, 1978 (age 45)
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater University of Kansas
OccupationSports executive
Known forCo-founder of Lionsbridge FC and former senior executive at Big Ten Network, IMG and Atlantic 10 Conference.

Mike Vest is an American sports executive who co-founded Lionsbridge FC in USL League Two, and previously held senior-level roles at the Atlantic 10 Conference, IMG and Big Ten Network. Vest has been at the forefront of new trends at the intersection of sports, social media and media rights.

Contents

Early life

Vest grew up in Overland Park, Kan and graduated from the University of Kansas. [1]

Career

While still an undergraduate, Vest began his career at the University of Kansas under the tutelage of future CoSIDA Hall of Famers Doug Vance and Dean Buchan. [2]

From 2000-07, Vest worked in the athletic department at Wake Forest University, most closely with the men's soccer, baseball and football programs. [3]

In 2007, Vest relocated to Chicago to help launch the Big Ten Network as one of its original 25 employees. [4] He managed public relations and publicity for network executives and talent. [5] Vest also oversaw social media and developed one of the television industry's first Second Screen experiences with BTN Connect in conjunction with Spredfast. [6]

In 2014, Vest joined the Atlantic 10 Conference as Associate Commissioner for External Affairs. [7] There, Vest managed the league's television and digital media rights, leading negotiations made the Atlantic 10 Conference to become the first NCAA conference to sign a media rights agreement with Facebook. [8]

In 2017, Vest partnered with Virginia business executives Kevin Joyce and Dan Chenoweth to plan the launch of Lionsbridge FC, which began play in 2018. [9] [10] [11]

Personal life

Vest is a lifelong fan of the Kansas City Royals, Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Cubs.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big 12 Conference</span> College athletics conference operating primarily in the west-central United States

The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas. It consists of fourteen full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the higher of two levels of NCAA Division I football competition. Its 14 members, in the states of Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia, include three private universities and 11 public universities. Additionally, the Big 12 has 13 affiliate members — nine for the sport of men's wrestling, one for women's equestrianism, one for women's gymnastics and two for women's rowing. The Big 12 Conference is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Brett Yormark became the new commissioner on August 1, 2022.

ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Communications. The channel is primarily dedicated to coverage of college athletics, and is also used as an additional outlet for general ESPN programming. ESPNU is based alongside its sister networks at ESPN's headquarters in Bristol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox Sports (United States)</span> Sports programming division of the Fox Corporation

Fox Sports, also referred to as Fox Sports Media Group and stylized in all caps as FOX Sports, is the sports programming division of the Fox Corporation that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by the Fox broadcast network, Fox Sports 1 (FS1), Fox Sports 2 (FS2), and the Fox Sports Radio network.

The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional cable and satellite television network, and radio service owned by MSG Entertainment, Inc.—a spin-off of the main Madison Square Garden Company operation.

College football on television includes the broad- and cablecasting of college football games, as well as pre- and post-game reports, analysis, and human-interest stories. Within the United States, the college version of American football annually garners high television ratings.

ESPN Events is an American multinational sporting event promoter owned by ESPN Inc. It is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and shares its operations with SEC Network and formerly with ESPNU. The corporation organizes sporting events for broadcast across the ESPN family of networks, including, most prominently, a group of college football bowl games and in-season college basketball tournaments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Ten Network</span> American collegiate sports network

Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news, analysis programs, and other content focusing on the conference's member schools. It is a joint venture between Fox Sports and the Big Ten, with Fox Corporation as 61% stakeholder and operating partner, and the Big Ten Conference owning a 39% stake. It is headquartered in the former Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalog House building at 600 West Chicago Avenue in Chicago.

<i>College Football on NBC Sports</i> College football coverage on NBC, CNBC, USA Network, and Peacock

College Football on NBC Sports is the de facto title used for broadcasts of NCAA college football games produced by NBC Sports.

In the United States, sports are televised on various broadcast networks, national and specialty sports cable channels, and regional sports networks. U.S. sports rights are estimated to be worth a total of $22.42 billion in 2019, about 44 percent of the total worldwide sports media market. U.S. networks are willing to pay a significant amount of money for television sports contracts because it attracts large amounts of viewership; live sport broadcasts accounted for 44 of the 50 list of most watched television broadcasts in the United States in 2016.

ESPN College Basketball is a blanket title used for presentations of college basketball on ESPN and its family of networks. Its coverage focuses primarily on competition in NCAA Division I, holding broadcast rights to games from each major conference, and a number of mid-major conferences.

<i>Fox College Football</i> Television series

Fox College Football is the branding used for broadcasts of NCAA Division I FBS college football games produced by Fox Sports, and broadcast primarily by Fox, FS1, and FS2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pac-12 Network</span> College sports television network

The Pac-12 Network (P12N), sometimes referred to as Pac-12 Networks, is an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network owned by the Pac-12 Conference. The network's studio and production facilities are headquartered in the South of Market district of San Francisco, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Women's Soccer League</span> Professional soccer league, highest level of womens soccer in the United States

The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. Headquartered in New York City, it is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Sports Network</span> Network and syndicated package of college sports originated by Sinclair Broadcast Group

American Sports Network (ASN) was a sports brand owned by the U.S. television station owner Sinclair Broadcast Group through its Sinclair Networks subsidiary. Formed in July 2014, the multicast network component of ASN produced broadcasts of sporting events that were aired primarily across stations owned by Sinclair, and syndicated to non-Sinclair stations and regional sports networks.

ESPN+ is an American over-the-top subscription video streaming service available in the United States, owned by the ESPN division of the Walt Disney Company, in partnership with ESPN Inc., which is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Communications. It is one of Disney's three flagship subscription streaming brands in the United States, alongside Disney+ and Hulu, and operates using technology of Disney subsidiary BAMTech, now known as Disney Streaming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team</span>

The 2017 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team represents Wake Forest University during the 2017 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It is the 71st season of the university fielding a program. It the program's third season with Bobby Muuss as head coach. The Demon Deacons play their home matches at Spry Stadium.

ACC Network (ACCN) is an American multinational subscription-television channel owned and operated by ESPN Inc. Dedicated to coverage of the Atlantic Coast Conference, it was announced in July 2016 and launched on August 22, 2019. The channel operates from ESPN's headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut, though some programming and staff is in Charlotte, North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lionsbridge FC</span> Soccer club

Lionsbridge Football Club, or Lionsbridge FC, is an American soccer club based on the Virginia Peninsula, which comprises the cities of Newport News, Hampton, Poquoson, and York and James City counties. The club was founded in 2017, and play in USL League Two. The club's colors are blue, black and white, and the club is named for the Lions Bridge, the iconic Peninsula landmark that has stood along the James River and in the Mariners' Museum Park since 1923. The team plays its home games at TowneBank Stadium on the campus of Christopher Newport University.

The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league owned by the teams, and under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federation. At the top of the United States league system, it represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The NWSL was established in 2012 as a successor to Women's Professional Soccer (2007–2012), which was itself the successor to Women's United Soccer Association (2001–2003). The league began play in 2013 with eight teams, four of which were former members of Women's Professional Soccer.

The 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is the 108th edition of the U.S. Open Cup, the knockout domestic cup competition of American soccer. Orlando City SC were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the Round of 32 by Charlotte FC. The 2023 field features 99 teams, including a modern-era record 71 professional sides.

References

  1. "Player Bio: Mike Vest :: Genrel". www.wakeforestsports.com. Retrieved 2017-10-08.
  2. "Wake boys are from KU". KUsports.com. Retrieved 2017-10-08.
  3. "Player Bio: Mike Vest :: Genrel". www.wakeforestsports.com. Retrieved 2017-10-08.
  4. Wharton, David (2007-08-21). "Big Ten Network finds starting up is a challenge". Los Angeles Times. ISSN   0458-3035 . Retrieved 2017-10-08.
  5. amertz2@madison.com, Adam Mertz | 608-252-6474 |. "A major production: Nine hours inside a Big Ten Network broadcast". madison.com. Retrieved 2017-10-08.
  6. Director, Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial. "BTN CONNECT ties Twitter, Stats, to Broadcast". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 2017-10-08.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. "Mike Vest Named Atlantic 10 Conference Associate Commissioner for External Affairs". Atlantic10.com. Retrieved 2017-10-08.
  8. Digital, Troy Dreier, Contributor, Streaming &. "Atlantic 10 Looks to Facebook Live To Share Basketball With More Fans". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 2017-10-08.{{cite news}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. Yanchulis, Kate. "Semipro soccer coming to Newport News in form of Lionsbridge FC". dailypress.com. Retrieved 2017-10-08.
  10. "Peninsula Pride: Mike Vest of Lionsbridge FC". American Pyramid. Retrieved 2017-10-08.
  11. TEGNA. "Professional soccer team coming to Newport News". WVEC. Retrieved 2017-10-08.