Volen Leaves PGA Tour To Lead SI Digital

Turner Sports has named Paul Volen as vice president and general manager of SI Digital, overseeing the strategy and day-to-day business and technical management of SI.com, affiliated websites such as FanNation.com, and the SI.com mobile Web site and apps. Volen will all be in charge of creating new revenue and product opportunities for the business and integrating the SI Digital brand with Turner’s portfolio of other television and digital assets.  Volen begins his new role on Feb. 14, and will be based in Atlanta. He will report directly to Matthew Hong, SVP and GM of sports operations for Turner Sports.

In 2010, Turner Broadcasting System and Time Inc. entered into a new digital partnership, aligning Time Warner’s two primary sports assets in Turner Sports and Sports Illustrated. Turner Sports is responsible for business and technical operations, ad sales, product management, and marketing for SI.com and GOLF.com, which were added to Turner’s 19 digital sports and entertainment sites in the Turner-SI Digital portfolio. Time Inc. is responsible for editorial content across the properties, and continues to manage the tablet version of the Sports Illustrated magazine.

“Paul’s combination of strategic vision and operating skills, business acumen and extensive experience in both digital and sports media make him an ideal choice to oversee the next phase of growth of the SI Digital portfolio,” says Hong. “We are pleased to have a dynamic leader like Paul at the helm of this business, which will no doubt grow in new and exciting ways under his management.”

Volen comes to Turner Sports from the PGA Tour, where he served as VP of business development and operations for new media.  He was responsible for the PGA Tour’s global strategy, business development, and partner account management for the PGA Tour’s digital efforts, including the relationship with Turner Sports to operate PGATour.com

Prior to joining the PGA TOUR in 2006, Paul spent three years at Yahoo! as VP and GM of Content Match, Yahoo!’s contextual advertising business. Before Yahoo!, Paul held management positions at AOL, Netscape, and Digital City.