Full Name
Emeka Ofodile
Job Title
Vice President, Sports Marketing
Company
ESPN
Speaker Bio
Emeka Ofodile is vice president of sports marketing at ESPN. In this role, he oversees global brand strategies for ESPN’s entire portfolio of sports properties, including NFL, NBA, College Football, UFC, MLB, NHL, Formula One, Golf, Soccer, College Sports and Networks, Boxing, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+.
Ofodile joined ESPN in 2002 and, over the past two decades, has developed innovative marketing strategies – such as ESPN’s 365 marketing strategy – to maximize the impact of ESPN’s largest sports properties (NFL, NBA, and College Football Playoff), and established the brand as the home for sports storytelling. The “Ready for Football” campaign in 2021 promoted the most-watched Monday Night Football season in more than a decade, while the award-winning “It’s NBA on ESPN Time” brand platform repositioned the season as a single journey to the NBA Finals. Ofodile also built the College Football Playoff on ESPN brand from the ground up, beginning with its inaugural year which produced one of ESPN’s most successful marketing campaigns.
A pioneer working at the intersection of sports, music, and culture, Ofodile has extended the ESPN brand to new audiences, generated significant media value, and deepened ESPN’s roots in the music space. Hallmark collaborations include the first-ever exclusive label deal with Interscope Records to promote College Football and ESPN’s successful music curation role with artists like Diplo, DJ Khaled, and Drake for Monday Night Football. He also led efforts for the first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship halftime show that brought together music, event and sponsorship initiatives for Kendrick Lamar’s performance and new trailer premiere for “Black Panther.”
Ofodile has been recognized with multiple industry awards, including OnCon Top 100 Marketers (2022), AdWeek 50 (2021), Top 100 Diverse Leaders in Sports (2020), and CMO Club Rising Star (2019). He was also nominated and selected for the NAMIC Executive Leadership Development Program, a 9-month intensive offering from the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications and the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
Ofodile has made significant contributions to ESPN’s efforts around social and racial justice, focusing on advancing goals through collective impact. By building partnerships across sports, media, academia, and more, he has guided efforts to champion Black businesses and identify other opportunities such as creating the Social Justice Sports Workshop that brought together professional league partners, and drove meaningful change and collective impact.
Born in Nigeria, Ofodile moved to New Jersey at an early age and attended Columbia University where he was a Division-1A Varsity soccer player and a Dean’s List student.
Ofodile joined ESPN in 2002 and, over the past two decades, has developed innovative marketing strategies – such as ESPN’s 365 marketing strategy – to maximize the impact of ESPN’s largest sports properties (NFL, NBA, and College Football Playoff), and established the brand as the home for sports storytelling. The “Ready for Football” campaign in 2021 promoted the most-watched Monday Night Football season in more than a decade, while the award-winning “It’s NBA on ESPN Time” brand platform repositioned the season as a single journey to the NBA Finals. Ofodile also built the College Football Playoff on ESPN brand from the ground up, beginning with its inaugural year which produced one of ESPN’s most successful marketing campaigns.
A pioneer working at the intersection of sports, music, and culture, Ofodile has extended the ESPN brand to new audiences, generated significant media value, and deepened ESPN’s roots in the music space. Hallmark collaborations include the first-ever exclusive label deal with Interscope Records to promote College Football and ESPN’s successful music curation role with artists like Diplo, DJ Khaled, and Drake for Monday Night Football. He also led efforts for the first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship halftime show that brought together music, event and sponsorship initiatives for Kendrick Lamar’s performance and new trailer premiere for “Black Panther.”
Ofodile has been recognized with multiple industry awards, including OnCon Top 100 Marketers (2022), AdWeek 50 (2021), Top 100 Diverse Leaders in Sports (2020), and CMO Club Rising Star (2019). He was also nominated and selected for the NAMIC Executive Leadership Development Program, a 9-month intensive offering from the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications and the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
Ofodile has made significant contributions to ESPN’s efforts around social and racial justice, focusing on advancing goals through collective impact. By building partnerships across sports, media, academia, and more, he has guided efforts to champion Black businesses and identify other opportunities such as creating the Social Justice Sports Workshop that brought together professional league partners, and drove meaningful change and collective impact.
Born in Nigeria, Ofodile moved to New Jersey at an early age and attended Columbia University where he was a Division-1A Varsity soccer player and a Dean’s List student.
Speaking At
