Alex Kaplan Named EVP, Commercial for Eurosport Digital

Discovery Communications has appointed Alex Kaplan as Executive Vice President, Commercial for Eurosport Digital. Kaplan joins Discovery from senior leadership positions at the National Basketball Association and DIRECTV/AT&T.

In this new role, Alex will be responsible for all customer acquisition and retention for Eurosport Digital, including overseeing digital pricing and packaging, digital content strategy, marketing, media buying and planning, events/sponsorship and partnership management. He will report to Paul Guyardo, Discovery’s Chief Commercial Officer.

“I had the pleasure of working with Alex for 10 years at DIRECTV so I know first-hand that there’s nobody better to accelerate the revenue and subscriber growth of Eurosport Digital,” said Guyardo.

Kaplan will work in partnership with Ralph Rivera, EVP and Managing Director of Eurosport Digital, who also reports to Guyardo, along with the broader Eurosport team.

Most recently, Kaplan served as Senior Vice President, Global Media Distribution for the NBA. In this capacity he was responsible for global direct-to-consumer strategy and business operations, including the NBA’s League Pass OTT platform.

Prior to the NBA, Kaplan spent 10 years at DIRECTV/AT&T, where he led the organization responsible for DIRECTV Sports and oversaw Revenue and Entertainment products and services, driving more than $4.5B in annual revenue. Kaplan was responsible for the NFL SUNDAY TICKET business, including achieving record subscriber and revenue growth, negotiating the long-term renewal of the package in 2014, and extending the package’s reach by launching SundayTicket.TV, the digital content distribution platform that allows fans to watch NFL games on mobile devices, tablets, gaming consoles and PCs without a Pay-TV subscription. In addition to his sports responsibilities, Kaplan also managed DIRECTV’s PPV and Paid Premiums P&Ls, which saw 20% revenue growth during his tenure. Earlier in his career, Kaplan served in partner management roles at American Express and Octagon.

In 2013, Kaplan was honored for his accomplishments by Sports Business Journal in its annual “Forty Under 40” list. He was also chosen as one of Multichannel News’ “Forty Under 40” cable television executives.

“I am honored to join the world-class Discovery and Eurosport team and to work with Paul again.  Eurosport Digital has enormous potential and I can’t wait to get started,” said Kaplan.

Kaplan holds a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from Tufts University and a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from New York University. He will be initially based in Discovery’s New York office traveling frequently to Eurosport’s European offices.