Chris Del Conte

University of Texas Vice President & Lois and Richard Folger Athletics Director

Chris Del Conte is a proven, nationally recognized athletics administrator with a long history of leading successful athletic departments. Now in his eighth year at UT and 20th as an athletics director overall, he has deep Texas ties from a dozen years at TCU and Rice before taking over Texas Athletics in 2017. His 31 years as a collegiate administrator also include stops at Arizona, Washington State and Cal Poly.

Texas Athletics has thrived under his leadership, winning 19 national team titles and 89 Conference Championships. In its first two years in the SEC, Texas claimed a league-best 14 SEC titles—twice as many as any other school. Highlights include back-to-back CFP semifinal berths in football, Women’s Basketball Final Four runs, and consecutive Softball WCWS titles. Several programs have won back-to-back national titles during his tenure. Texas has also captured the LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup five times in the past six years, ending Stanford’s 25-year hold on the award in 2020-21.

Del Conte has transformed the fan experience with additions like Bevo Blvd. and Longhorn City Limits, while leading major facility projects including the South End Zone at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, the Moody Center, and the Frank and Wofford Denius Texas Football Training Complex.

Stefano Domenicali

President & CEO of Formula 1

Born in Imola, after studying economics and business at the University of Bologna, he indulged his passion for motorsport and joined Ferrari in Maranello in 1991. He held various positions, including heading up the F1 Sporting Direction from 2004, before becoming Team Principal for the Formula 1 team in 2008, where he won a total of 14 titles in the F1 Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships.

In 2014 he joined Audi AG as Vice President New Business Initiatives and in 2016 he was appointed Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. On June 2, 2023, he was appointed Cavaliere del Lavoro decorated with the ‘Ordine al Merito del Lavoro’ (Order of Merit for Labour) by the President of the Italian Republic. On October 14, 2023, the NIAF (National Italian American Foundation) awarded him the Leonardo da Vinci Award in Sports Management.

Currently he is also Co-Chairman of the F1 Commission and Member of the FIA World Motor Sport Council. Mr. Domenicali is currently a Member of the Board of Directors of Brunello Cucinelli and The Jannik Sinner Foundation.

He combines his passion for racing with basketball, mountain sports and aviation.

Christine Dorfler

Executive Vice Preisdent and Chief Financial Officer, NFL

Christine Dorfler is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the National Football League, leading Finance and League Strategy and overseeing 32 Equity, the NFL’s venture capital arm, as well as digital assets such as NFL+. Reporting to Commissioner Goodell, Christine works with league leadership, clubs, and partners to drive long-term growth.

A 21-year NBCUniversal veteran, Dorfler was most recently CFO of NBC Sports, overseeing major media partnerships and helping modernize the company’s shift to digital and streaming. She previously served as CFO of the NBC and Telemundo Owned Television Stations.

A U.S. Army veteran and Military Intelligence Officer who supported NATO operations in Bosnia and Albania, Dorfler holds a bachelor’s in accounting from Villanova, where she also played Division I lacrosse, and an MBA from Drexel. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and three children.

Elliott Hill

President & CEO of Nike, Inc.

Elliott Hill is President & CEO of NIKE, Inc. He is an inspiring leader who possesses a strong entrepreneurial drive, deep connection to the consumer and Nike culture and a strong passion for the portfolio of Nike Brands. Hill has spent more than 32 years at Nike, holding senior leadership positions across Europe and North America and was responsible for helping to grow the business to more than $39 billion. Before retiring in 2020, he was President – Consumer and Marketplace leading all commercial and marketing operations for Nike and Jordan Brand, including the P&L across the company’s four geographies. 

Hill is a graduate of Texas Christian University with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and Ohio University where he holds a master’s degree in Sports Administration. He started his career as an assistant athletic trainer with The Dallas Cowboys before joining Nike. Hill currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Texas Christian University. He plays an active role in supporting communities across Portland, Bend and Austin. 

Amy Howe

Former CEO, FanDuel

Amy Howe is the former CEO of FanDuel, where she led the company through a period of transformational growth, establishing FanDuel as the leading U.S. sports betting and gaming company and one of the most recognized brands in sports. She oversaw FanDuel’s Sportsbook, Casino, Racing, and Daily Fantasy businesses, driving significant growth, innovation, and market leadership. 

Prior to FanDuel, Amy served as Global COO of Ticketmaster at Live Nation Entertainment, where she helped lead the digital transformation of the world’s largest ticketing platform. Earlier in her career, she was a Partner at McKinsey & Company, advising Fortune 500 companies across media, retail, and consumer sectors on growth and transformation. 

Amy is widely recognized as one of the most influential leaders in sports and gaming, with honors including CNBC’s 2026 Changemakers Award, 2025 WISE Woman of the Year, Forbes’ 2025 Most Powerful Women in Sports, and 2024 C-Suite Executive of the Year. 

Amy holds an MBA from the Wharton School and a B.S. from Cornell University.

Rich Kleiman

Co-Founder & CEO of Boardroom

Rich Kleiman is co-founder and CEO of Boardroom, a sports and entertainment company that includes the flagship media network, Boardroom. Founded in 2019 by Kleiman and Kevin Durant, Boardroom covers the business of sports and entertainment, with a special focus on the ways that athletes, executives, musicians, and creators are moving the business world forward. Kleiman has been Kevin Durant’s manager since 2013, as well as co-founder in 35V, which houses over 100 early stage investments across sports, technology, finance, media, and more.

Jolie Sharpe

Sports Presenter and Digital Creator

Jolie Sharpe is a London-based sports presenter and digital creator, and one of the most exciting emerging voices in global sports media. She first rose to prominence in 2024 following a viral interview during England’s Euro semi-final, which generated over 80 million views and showcased her natural ability to capture major sporting moments and connect with audiences at scale. 

She is currently a social reporter for DAZN, covering boxing events around the world, where she brings fans closer to the action with engaging, behind-the-scenes content and ringside access. Alongside this, Jolie is co-host of the Formula 1 podcast Up to Speed, where she shares race insights, breaking news and behind-the-scenes stories from across the paddock. In addition to these roles, Jolie works across a wide range of global sports including football, Formula 1, tennis, NFL and rugby, collaborating with leading broadcasters, brands and athletes. Known for her energy, professionalism and fan-first approach, she continues to build a strong presence across both live sport and digital media.

McCombs Speakers

Matt Bowers

Professor of Instruction & Managing Director of the Business of Sports Institute

Matt Bowers is a Professor of Instruction and Managing Director of the Business of Sports Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. His research focuses on how sport generates positive experiences and outcomes, particularly through youth development. His work has been featured in Sports Illustrated, Wired, The Atlantic, Time, and The Wall Street Journal. He has advised SXSW, Nike’s Project Move, and the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, in addition to serving an appointed term on the Science Board for the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.

Ethan Burris

Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, McCombs School of Business

Ethan Burris is the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.  He is also the King Ranch Chair for Business Leadership and has served as a Visiting Scholar at Google and Microsoft. He teaches and consults on topics relating to leadership, people analytics, talent insights, managing power and politics, and building engagement in groups and teams.

Bradley R. Staats

Dean of the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin

Bradley R. Staats is the dean of the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin, where he is also a professor in the Department of Information, Risk, and Operations Management. A UT alumnus, Staats returned to Austin after 17 years at the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, most recently as senior associate dean for strategy and academics. He began as McCombs dean on July 1, 2026. 

Staats is a scholar of operations management and organizational learning, studying how individuals, teams, and organizations perform at their best. His research bridges operations, analytics, and behavioral science, with applications across healthcare, technology, and service industries. He is the author of the award-winning book “Never Stop Learning: Stay Relevant, Reinvent Yourself, and Thrive.” 

Before academia, he worked at Goldman Sachs and a venture capital firm. Staats earned a B.S. in electrical engineering and a B.A. in Plan II and Spanish from UT, and holds an MBA and doctorate in technology and operations management from Harvard Business School.