International media and events organization Sports Betting Community (SBC) announced Tuesday that it has retained global sports marketing and sponsorship expert Jaap Kalma to help promote the company’s Betting on Sports America event at the Meadowlands Racing and Entertainment in New Jersey April 23-25.
Kalma was previously Chief Commercial Officer at the AC Milan football club, where he headed marketing, commercial revenue, and global development departments for the legendary Italian team. Prior to joining AC Milan, he was Global Brand Director at Ferrari. He holds an MBA from Stanford University.
Kalma will take up the role of Interim Business Development Director to oversee the SBC Sponsorship Forum ahead of the Betting on Football conference at Stamford Bridge as well as influencing the sports marketing and sponsorship content at the following month’s Betting on Sports America conference, which is being held at Meadowlands Exposition Center in New Jersey.
Along with Betting on Sports America, Kalma will be working with SBC on its Betting on Football event at London’s Stamford Bridge in March.
“It’s a massive coup for us to get someone of Jaap Kalma’s stature to strengthen our competencies on the sports side and help with our visibility among the sports sector,” SBC CEO Rasmus Sojmark said in a statement. “We’ve previously worked with Jaap (to create) the Sponsorship Forum events together, so we know what qualities he brings to this project.”
Betting on Sports America is the largest dedicated sports betting conference and exhibition in the US. The conference covers topics including operations, regulation, sponsorship, marketing, products, affiliation, integrity, lotteries, and tribal gaming, as well as sports.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with the SBC team over the last year,” Kalma said. “The opportunity to work more closely with them on was an exciting prospect. From my time at AC Milan, I know (the benefits that) sports betting offers to sports leagues and teams… my aim is to educate the sector on the possibilities.”
