November 13, 2025

ESPN EDGE INNOVATION CONFERENCE

2025 AGENDA
Join us on social using #ESPNEDGE
Thursday, November 13
4:00pm ET
Check-in and ESPN Edge Innovation Center is Open
5:00pm ET
Welcome
Arda Öcal / Host of SportsCenter, NHL Content, and ESPN Edge Innovation Conference
5:05pm ET
Opening Remarks
Rosalyn Durant / Executive Vice President, Programming & Acquisitions, ESPN
Kevin Lopes / Vice President, Sports Business Development, ESPN
with Monica McNutt / Basketball Analyst, Reporter, and Host, ESPN
5:20pm ET
ESPN Edge: Pushing the Limits of Cutting-Edge Technology with World-Class Partners Accenture, Microsoft, Meta, and WSC Sports
John Chleborad / Managing Director, Head of Global Brand, Accenture
Simon Crownshaw / Worldwide Strategy Director, Media & Entertainment, Microsoft
Ryan Dornbusch / Head of Sports, Reality Labs, Meta
Aviv Arnon / Co-Founder and Chief Business Development Officer, WSC Sports
with Kevin Lopes / Vice President, Sports Business Development, ESPN
5:45pm ET
Animated Telecasts Demo with Q&A: ESPN, Pixar, Beyond Sports, and the NFL
Jay Ward / Creative Director of Franchise, Pixar Animation Studios
Thommy Bouman / Business Development Lead, Beyond Sports
Josh Helmrich / Senior Director, Media Strategy, Business Development and Next Gen Stats, NFL
with Michael Szykowny / Vice President, Edit, Animation, Graphics Innovation & Creative Production, ESPN Creative Studio
6:20pm ET
BREAK
6:35pm ET
ESPN DTC: All Of ESPN. All In One Place.
Jo Fox / Senior Vice President, Marketing, ESPN
John Lasker / Senior Vice President, ESPN DTC
Brian Marshall / Vice President, Sports Products & Strategy, Disney Entertainment and ESPN
with Kimberley A. Martin / NFL Reporter, ESPN
7:00pm ET
XR: Immersive Sports Storytelling
Sonia Doshi / Vice President, Strategic Operations, Design, and Production for the Office of Technology Enablement, The Walt Disney Company
Tim Alexander / Visual Design Director, Industrial Light & Magic
Bob Morgan / Vice President, Reality Labs Entertainment, Meta
with Arda Öcal / Host of SportsCenter, NHL Content, and ESPN Edge Innovation Conference
7:25pm ET
Closing Remarks
Arda Öcal / Host of SportsCenter, NHL Content, and ESPN Edge Innovation Conference
7:30pm ET
Conference Close
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THANK  YOU TO OUR INNOVATION PARTNERS

Accenture is an Innovation and Founding Consulting Partner with ESPN Edge since 2021, combining top design and leading-edge vision with technology and industry expertise to create game-changing experiences. The collaboration has centered on initiatives that enhance live sports broadcasting, create high-end consumer facing products, and develop the future of sports fan engagement.
In its endeavor to redefine fan experiences, ESPN Edge partnered with Microsoft to leverage cutting-edge technologies. Microsoft's Azure became the cornerstone of this innovative initiative, driving an increase in personalization, accessibility, and efficiency. Azure's instrumental role in drastically reducing transcription costs and introducing real-time closed captioning has set a new standard in sports media. Through this collaboration, ESPN Edge and Microsoft continue to push boundaries, using cloud technology to amplify the richness of ESPN's offerings and provide fans with a unique, immersive viewing experience.
In collaboration with ESPN Edge, Meta is focused on bringing an ESPN-branded virtual reality (VR) sports experience to Meta Quest. Immersive VR sports highlights are available in the free Xtadium app on Meta Quest.
As an official ESPN Edge Innovation Partner, WSC Sports powers personalized video experiences across ESPN’s platforms, including the enhanced ESPN App. Its technology automatically scales highlights from live games, press conferences, interviews, and studio programming. These moments fuel personalized feeds such as Verts and SportsCenter For You, ensuring fans receive timely, relevant content wherever they engage, helping ESPN deliver a richer, more personalized fan experience every day.