Laura Gentile, Former Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of ESPN, Named as Fifth McCormack Scholar

The Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management is proud to announce Laura Gentile, former executive vice president and chief marketing officer at ESPN, as its fifth McCormack Scholar. Gentile will visit UMass Amherst on April 14 to meet with students and faculty and participate in a fireside chat that will chronicle her career and perspective on sports industry leadership.

The founder and creator of espnW, Gentile spent 20 years at ESPN, leading all marketing efforts and serving as a champion for new audiences across platforms. Gentile was key in helping create extraordinary growth in viewership across youth, women, Hispanic, and black audiences. She also led the development of ESPN’s award-winning marketing campaigns, such as “There’s No Place Like Sports” and “This is SportsCenter,” while working with key league partners to help drive the business of the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, WNBA, and F1.

"I am honored to be a McCormack Scholar, a mark of distinction and focal point of an inspiring program,” said Gentile. “I look forward to meeting the talented students of UMass Amherst and participating in a dynamic day of thinking and innovation."

The McCormack Scholars initiative is led by Professor of Practice Jeffrey Pollack, along with Graduate Program Director and Professor Will Norton, “We’re thrilled to begin the third year of the McCormack Scholars program,” Pollack said. “Laura Gentile has been a force for growth, change, and impact in the sports industry, and we know her stories and insights will inspire a new generation of leadership.”

Prior to launching espnW, Gentile served as vice president and chief of staff at ESPN. In that role, she worked directly with George Bodenheimer, then president of ESPN and ABC Sports, on all aspects of the division’s business from priority-setting and long-range financial planning to employee engagement.

Before ESPN, Gentile honed her marketing and advertising skills as a senior partner and management supervisor at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. The many accolades Gentile has received include Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 and the SBJ Game-Changer Award. She was appointed to the U.S. Department of State’s Council to Empower Women and Girls Through Sports.

Today, Gentile serves on the Global Board of Directors for PeacePlayers International, on the NHL/NHLPA Women’s Hockey Advancement Board, and as an advisor to the new Professional Women’s Baseball League, which is slated to launch in 2026. She founded her own marketing consultancy, Laura Gentile Studio, this past year.

Gentile is a graduate of Duke University and holds an MBA in Marketing and Organizational Behavior from Boston College’s Carroll Graduate School of Management. A two-time varsity field hockey captain at Duke, Gentile earned All-American and All-ACC honors as undergraduate. She is married with three boys.

Gentile is the fifth McCormack Scholar and the first of 2026. The previous scholars are:

• Stacy Sonnenberg, Head of Global Sport Finance for Goldman Sachs (Fall 2025)
• Li Li Leung, President and CEO, USA Gymnastics (Fall 2025)
• Kim Davis, Senior Executive Vice President, National Hockey League (Fall 2024) 
• Jennifer Todd, Senior Vice President, Boston Celtics, and Co-Founder of The Basketball Tournament (Fall 2024)

Launched in 2024, the McCormack Scholars program was established to honor and engage accomplished sports industry leaders and innovators. Each year, McCormack Scholars are invited to campus for a structured day of impact. Participants share their professional story for the McCormack Archive, meet with faculty to spotlight and discuss research relevant to the scholars’ interests, and give a keynote lecture to students and faculty on leadership, or any other topic for which the scholar feels a passion.

Industry leaders invited to participate in the McCormack Scholars program must have a proven track record of accomplishment, including but not limited to at least 10 years of impactful senior leadership, demonstrated innovation and creativity in their work, game-changing entrepreneurial achievement, and passion for advancing the sports industry. Scholars must also demonstrate a commitment to equity, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability. 

The McCormack Scholars program was conceived by Pollack and Norton, along with Nicole Melton, PhD, associate dean of undergraduate programs and former McCormack department chair. It is administered by Norton and Pollack as part of their popular graduate course “ProSem,” which is a dynamic professional development seminar conducted for McCormack master’s degree students and dual-degree MBA students. Learn more about the program and past Scholars here.