Daniel Cohen Named Executive Vice President, Global Media Rights Consulting

May 18, 2022

William Mao Elevated to Senior Vice President

Octagon today announced the elevation of Daniel Cohen to Executive Vice President, Global Media Rights Consulting, and William Mao to Senior Vice President. Cohen will continue to oversee Octagon’s industry-leading Media Rights Consulting division, which in 2022 surpassed more than $14 Billion in media rights under advisory.

Cohen, who previously served as Senior Vice President, will report to Lou Kovacs, President of Octagon Marketing North America. Mao will report to Cohen.

“Daniel is a talented executive, who has been a driving force in the rapid and successful growth of Octagon’s media rights consulting division,” said Kovacs. “His ability to see around the corner in this evolving media landscape, design a strategic vision for sports properties and investors, leverage his trusted relationships with sports media executives, and creatively negotiate future forward media agreements has helped increase the value and reach for his clients worldwide.”

Since joining Octagon in 2017, Cohen has led the agency’s media rights consulting practice, growing it by more than 20X, while creating a succession of new and monumental opportunities for clients.

During his tenure, Cohen has established a portfolio of clients across five continents, featuring a comprehensive collection of more than 50 of the world’s largest leagues, teams, and organizations in sports and media, including the NFL, MLB, MiLB, NWSL, NASCAR, WWE, DRL, Big Ten Conference, Atlantic 10, Conference USA, Oklahoma University, Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 18 international soccer leagues, Australian Open, Laver Cup, Cricket Australia, major broadcast & cable networks, emerging digital platforms, and private capital investors.

In 2020 and 2021, Cohen helped guide some of the industry’s largest properties through one of the most active and challenging sports rights acquisition periods in history. Additionally, over the past five years, Cohen has constantly propelled the sports industry forward through a series of landmark deals that have positively disrupted traditional structures and shifted the landscape of both professional and college sports.

Mao, who previously served as Vice President, Octagon Media Rights Consulting, will continue to play a leading role in providing strategic consultation and insights to Octagon clients.

In 2015, Mao was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in Sports list and is a Cynopsis Rising Star award recipient.

Cohen is a two-time honoree of Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 list, and also serves as a Board Member of Just Women’s Sports and NYVC Sports.