Ben Gerst Named SVP, Platform Development for Fox Sports Digital

FOX Sports announced that veteran technology leader Ben Gerst has been named Senior Vice President of Platform Development at FOX Sports Digital, a newly created position. Gerst will play a pivotal role in the redesign and relaunch of FOXSports.com, which will be the digital hub for FOX Sports 1, America’s new sports network launching August 17.

Gerst joins FOX Sports from the New York Times, where he served as Executive Director of Platform Technologies.  He will report to Pete Vlastelica, who was named head of FOX Sports Digital earlier this year.

“Ben’s experience as a technology leader will be a tremendous asset as he leads our efforts to develop a world class digital platform that resonates with users, developers, and the advertising community,” said Vlastelica.  “Ben has demonstrated a commitment to innovation and an emphasis on quality, which will help create the right culture as FOX Sports focuses on the future of our technology platforms.”

At The New York Times, Gerst led the Platform Technologies group, where he was responsible for core functionality including blogs, commenting, social media integration, search, email products, registration, personalization, ad systems, information development, and content APIs.

Gerst joined The New York Times in 2005 in the early development of their digital strategy.  During his time with the company, he worked with editorial, design, and product development to implement key strategic projects, technology roadmaps, and solution designs. He also led developer outreach and retention initiatives, such as TimesOpen, beta620, the Times Developer Network, and hack days.