Audacy has announced it is revamping its Sports Sales business with Lee Davis taking over the group as Senior VP.
Davis has been with Audacy since 2018 as SVP/GM of their Traffic, Weather, Information, News products and Ad Operations. He began his career at Sports 660 WFAN New York in 1990 and spent fifteen years at the station eventually rising to General Manager of the station. He then served as General Manager of Cox Media Group’s cluster in Bridgeport/New Haven CT from 2005-2009 before returning to New York as GM of News 1010 WINS from 2009-11. Davis would then serve as Executive Vice President of Univision Radio from 2011-16 and MediaCrossing Inc. before joining Audacy.
Davis’ appointment fills the opening at Audacy Sports following the departure of Mike Dee as President/CEO of the division in April. He will report to President of Audacy Networks and Multi-market Sales Bob Phillips.
Audacy, the unrivaled leader in sports Audio – reaching two times more people than its leading competitor – announces a new sales and enablement team dedicated to accelerating growth within the Company’s sports vertical by deepening Audacy partnerships and creating scalable opportunities for advertisers.
The team, led by Audacy veteran Lee Davis, is charged with developing high-value, high-return programs leveraging the power of Audacy’s sports platform across its broadcast, streaming, podcasting, and wagertainment properties. Under Davis’ leadership, the team will be responsible for sales and execution, managing the entire client lifecycle.
“No medium delivers more value for sports than Audio. People are spending more time than ever with broadcast Radio, streaming and podcasts, and the demand for compelling sports content across these channels is growing exponentially,” said Brian Benedik, Chief Revenue Officer, Audacy. “Through our best-in-class sports audio portfolio, powered by over 150 flagship team partnerships, iconic local broadcast brands, award-winning podcasts and sports betting content, Audacy is uniquely positioned to capitalize on a new sales strategy in this arena.”
Reporting to Bob Philips, President of Audacy Networks and Multi-market Sales, Davis will serve as Audacy’s Senior Vice President for the team. A deeply tenured media leader, Davis re-joined Audacy in 2018 to lead the reboot of TWIN’s on-air content and Ad Operations teams. From 1990 to 2005, Davis was key in building WFAN into America’s No. 1 sports radio station, overseeing local and national sales, programming and marketing, helping shape it into the highest-grossing station in the country.
Audacy is assembling a team under Davis and he will partner closely with the company’s local market sports leaders across the portfolio.
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com