Former Turner president David Levy has found a new home in a surprising place: The NBA. Levy was named CEO of the Brooklyn Nets and the Barclays Center, the team’s home arena, on Tuesday.
Levy will also serve as the president of J Tsai Sports, the sports investment and holding vehicle controlled by the franchise’s new owner Joe Tsai, the co-founder of Chinese conglomerate Alibaba. Additionally, Levy will join Tsai’s family office as a venture partner, with coverage of sports, media and entertainment investments globally.
Earlier this year, Levy left Turner where he had served as president since 2013 (and had been with the company since 1986). His exit was part of a larger shakeup at WarnerMedia under its new owner AT&T, which also saw the departure of longtime HBO CEO Richard Plepler.
Also Read: David Levy Steps Down From Turner: Read His Internal Memo Here
“I am excited and honored to join the Nets organization and look forward to working alongside Joe and the talented forward-thinking executives and team members across the entire organization,” Levy said. “Sean Marks and Kenny Atkinson have done a terrific job instilling a winning culture and I am looking forward to supporting them as we build a sustainable foundation of success on and off the court. I am excited for our fans and can’t wait to get started.”
The new gig shouldn’t be that foreign to Levy. He was instrumental in negotiating key media rights deals for Turner, most notably with the NBA (for TNT) and MLB (for TBS). Levy also helped orchestrate Turner’s partnership with CBS Sports to broadcast the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, which began in 2010. This included TBS becoming the first cable network to air the Men’s Basketball Final Four and National Championship Game, which it did starting in 2016, and again in 2018. That arrangement with CBS and the NCAA extends through 2032.
“David brings a unique combination of sports and media know-how, strategic thinking and operating skills to our sports and entertainment business. He is an entrepreneur at heart with the experience of managing and scaling organizations, and I really look forward to working with him,” Tsai said.
