Announcing The AI Playbook Summit Lineup

AI is moving from experimentation to real-world deployment across sport—and the pace of change is accelerating. Teams and leagues at the forefront of the adoption curve now use the powerful tech to reimagine revenue strategies, workflows, governance structures, sales processes, and how they engage fans. 

So, JohnWallStreet is hosting an event – The AI Playbook Summit– to help the remainder move beyond theory and discussion. Attendees will hear directly from the organizations that have deployed AI, including what they built, what is working, what didn’t, and where real ROI is emerging. 

The goal is to surface practical insights, concrete use cases, and of course to enjoy some high-level networking.  

If you’re a senior leader tasked with driving revenue growth or operational efficiency, or responsible for identifying new technology-driven opportunities, and would benefit from some quick wins, this invite-only event in New York City on the morning of Wednesday March 11, 2026, is for you.

We’re going to start the summit talking about the key enabler that all sports organizations require to effectively turn AI tools into outcomes.

Everyone talks about agents and automation. But most rights owners look past the critical foundational work needed to extract value from AI: enablement. NASCAR Chief Marketing Officer Tim Clark and the racing series’ AI Operations Specialist Rich Bowman will join JohnWallStreet columnist and its resident AI authority Shripal Shah for a discussion on how the sport is constructing the governance, policies, training practices, and workflows necessary to achieve repeatable results. They’ll focus on practical lessons and insights from NASCAR’s early efforts to operationalize the technology at scale. 

The loaded program will also feature firesides on the following topics (and more):

Bears’ Build Approach Has Given Club a Competitive Advantage

The Chicago Bears have prioritized a build-versus-buy approach, investing in their own data lake and engineering talent to move faster than vendor timelines, and create proprietary competitive advantages that standardized third-party tools cannot match. That team’s data-centric foundation has resulted in measurable impact. The organization has already saved ~10,000 staff hours and now leverages the tech to support revenue generating efforts (see: ticket sales revenue +10% YoY). Bears SVP of Strategy and Analytics and Chief of Staff Corey Ruff will explain how the club is using machine learning, automation, and predictive models to automate reporting, power real-time operational dashboards, provide rapid game analysis, and improve ticket pricing, sponsorship research, lead management, and asset valuation work.

Islanders Using AI to Determine the 'Next Touch' and Reach Out in Real Time

The New York Islanders adopted a pragmatic approach to AI, starting with high-impact back-office use cases and now progressing toward fully automated end-to-end workflows. The club’s Senior Vice President, Business Operations & Strategy Jared George will explain how it has managed to streamline internal functions, from legal to survey distillation and automated data engineering, augmenting staff productivity. He will then discuss how a foundation of clean, structured data has enabled long island’s hockey team to move beyond efficiency gains and into probabilistic ‘next touch’ planning and agentic systems that determine individualized fan engagement strategies and can reach out in real time. 

Jets Using Gen-AI to Accelerate Research Efforts, Surface New Revenue Opportunities, and Streamline Workflows

Traditional AI, Generative AI, and Agentic AI are delivering practical value in select NFL club front offices. The New York Jets are using the tech across their communications, sponsorship and premium sales, and football operations departments. Club President Hymie Elhai and its Chief Data & Analytics Officer (the first in the NFL) Iwao Fusillo will talk through several real-world use cases, lessons learned from being an early adopter, and the benefits of unifying football and business analytics.

Gotham Leading Next Wave of Commercial Innovation

Gotham FC is using AI’s emergence as an opportunity to revamp the organization’s commercial playbook. The club’s Chief Business Officer Ryan Dillon will discuss how the NWSL club is re-imagining its entire ticketing and sponsorship sales lifecycle.

Converting Sports Fandom into a Lucrative Retail Media Network

Sports rights owners are sitting on the same foundational assets that powered the rise of retail media networks: first-party data, owned inventory, and deeply trusted consumer relationships (i.e. fandom). As live sports become the crown jewel of CTV and fan engagement continues to extend far beyond the venue, teams and leagues have an opportunity to evolve from sponsorship sellers into always-on content platforms. 

Yieldmo SVP, Global Head of Sports & Emerging Products Eric Herd, Converge by Deloitte for Sports Principal and General Manager Li-Shen Lee, and Pacers Sports & Entertainment Chief Commercial Officer Joey Graziano will explain how sports properties can deploy AI, contextual intelligence, and real-time fan signals –the RMN playbook– to unlock new revenue streams, extend sponsorships tie-ups into digital environments, and deliverer measurable performance for brands in the process. 

Many of the industry’s key stakeholders will be in attendance. If you'd like to join them, please express interest here.

As always, all the conversation will be off record so guests can speak candidly. 

If you would like to partner with us on this unique event, reach out to Jacie Brandes at [email protected].

We hope to see you next month.