As Executive Vice President of Global Events for the NBA, Kelly Flatow leads a global team of business leaders, creators and operators responsible for developing and executing events and experiences across the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and USA Basketball. Flatow oversees all aspects of the league's tentpole events – including NBA All-Star, NBA Finals, NBA Global Games, NBA Draft and NBA Summer League – as well as a portfolio of fan-first lifestyle and grassroots experiential businesses, such as NBA Experiences. After play was suspended following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Flatow and her team spearheaded the strategy and execution of the 2019-20 NBA Restart when the league resumed its season at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort.
Prior to her current role, Flatow served as the interim Head of Marketing and before that as Senior Vice President of Global Marketing Partnerships, where she led the development and activation of marketing assets, driving growth across the U.S., Europe, Latin America, China and Asia.
Before rejoining the NBA in 2010, Flatow served as Senior Vice President of Partnership Marketing at Live Nation, the world's leading ticketing company and largest promoter of live concerts. Hired prior to the merger with Ticketmaster to build out the enterprise's Affiliate and Strategic Partnership programs, Flatow developed and launched Live Nation's social media platform. In her first stint with the NBA from 2006-2008, Flatow served as Vice President of Strategic Marketing, where she created marketing solutions for prospective marketing partners.
From 2005-2006, Flatow served as a key conduit to the entertainment community for The Coca-Cola Company, where she led relationships with The Oscars, American Idol, and Jay-Z. From 2000-2005, she was a founding member of the corporate marketing department at CAA, building entertainment marketing programs and relationships for brands such as Coca-Cola, Motorola, and Delta Air Lines. Prior to her time at CAA, Flatow worked at ProServ/SFX Sports managing a portfolio of product and service marketers, including Hershey and Staples. She helped build the strategies for negotiating and activating the naming rights for STAPLES Center (now Crypto.com Arena), a milestone naming rights deal in 1998.
A graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., with a B.A. in Communications, Flatow is a member of the National Sports Marketing Network, WISE, and an active mentor in the sports marketing industry.
5/2022