MP & Silva Appoint Former NBA Executive Rene Valencia as VP of Business Development & Sponsorship

MP & Silva, a leading international sports media company, announced today the appointment of Rene Valencia for the newly created role as Vice President, Business Development and Sponsorship with effect from 4 February 2014. 

Rene will be responsible for overseeing the growth and development of the Olympic Council of Asia marketing programme, in addition to developing and implementing growth opportunities for MP & Silva’s Asia business. Rene will be based at MP and Silva’s Asia Pacific office in Singapore, and report directly to Peter Hutton, Joint-CEO of MP & Silva, and Mark Gorski, Senior Vice President, International Corporate Development and Head of Partnerships.

Rene’s appointment bolsters MP & Silva’s focus on further growth in Asia in exploring new commercial and sponsorship opportunities. MP & Silva has built a strong reputation as a leading sports media rights agency with an extensive portfolio of major properties, and have recently expanded its business to production, sponsorship and new projects such as media advisory partnerships in co-operation with the Olympic Council of Asia, Formula E and most recently the Chinese Professional Baseball League.

Hutton said: “We are extremely pleased to have someone with Rene’s solid experience, and look forward to leveraging on many of his proven skill-sets and relationships to continue our success across the region.

“He has a thorough understanding of the Olympic Council of Asia event portfolio and marketing program, and we are confident that his addition to the team will be invaluable in securing long-term marketing partnerships for the OCA, in addition to new business and sponsorship opportunities.”

Rene has more than a decade of experience in international sports marketing and rights management, and joins MP & Silva from the National Basketball Association (NBA) where he worked as a Director of International Development in the New York headquarters after spending time at NBA Asia in Hong Kong, growing the NBA’s business throughout Asia.

During his time with the NBA, Rene played a major role in a number of key initiatives including the first ever Emirates Airlines deal with the NBA in China for the NBA China Games in 2012. Rene also played an instrumental role in securing a host city agreement for the first ever NBA pre-season game to be held in Olympic host city – Rio de Janeiro.

Rene was previously the Head of Sponsorship for the Doha Asian Games 2006 Organizing Committee where he lead a team that secured key marketing partnerships with Samsung, Qatar Airways, Nestle, Technogym, GE, and Swiss Timing.