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Erika Ayers
Nardini in 2018
Born (1975-11-06) November 6, 1975 (age 48)
EducationColby College
Occupation(s)Sports executive, public speaker and podcast host
Known forCEO of Barstool Sports, host of Token CEO
Children2
Websitewww.barstoolsports.com

Erika Ayers (formerly Nardini; born November 6, 1975) is an American businesswoman and CEO of the digital media company Barstool Sports.[1]

Early life and education

Ayers spent much of her childhood in New Hampshire and Vermont.[2] She received a bachelor's degree in sociology from Colby College in Maine.[3]

Career

1998–2015: Early career, marketing

Ayers began her career working at the legal department of Fidelity Investments, before switching to marketing.[4] She was the senior vice president of sales and marketing at Demand Media.[5] Prior to that, she held executive marketing positions at Yahoo! and Microsoft.[6] From 2013 to 2015, she was the chief marketing officer of AOL.[7]

2016–present: CEO of Barstool Sports

In 2016, Ayers was named the CEO of Barstool Sports.[8] Ayers oversaw the company's expansion into multimedia, merchandising, streaming and pay-per-view programming.[9] The company's expansion into pay-per-view included the acquisition of amateur boxing league Rough N' Rowdy in 2017.[10]

The valuation of Barstool Sports doubled from $15 million[11] to $30 million during her first year as CEO. It grew to $100 million in 2018.[12] In 2018, Fast Company named Ayers as one of its "Most Creative People in Business", citing Barstool Sports' expansion into multimedia and merchandising during her tenure.[12] That same year, Forbes ranked her 25th on its "Most Powerful Women In U.S. Sports".[13]

In 2019, she was ranked as #19 on The Big Lead's list of "The 75 Most Powerful People in the Sports Media Business."[14] That year, she was included on Crain's New York's "Notable Women in the Business of Sports".[15] Adweek named Ayers as one of its "Most Powerful Women in Sports" in 2017 and 2020.[16]

In 2020, Ayers was elected to the WWE's board of directors and resigned from that position in September 2022.[17] Erika was also on the board of directors at Torchy's Tacos.[18]

In an interview with Digiday, Ayers discussed Barstool Sports' growth during her tenure, from a valuation of $15 million in 2016 to $450 million in 2020.[11] In September 2021, Ayers stated that the company's revenue was expected to exceed $200 million in revenue, doubling the company's $100 million revenue in 2020.[19]

In 2022, under Erika’s leadership, Barstool Sports progressed more into live sports and streaming [20] by hosting and broadcasting its first College Basketball Invitational [21] and the first Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl.[22]

In 2022, Barstool Sports also launched its NIL marketplace platform, TwoYay,[23] which connects college athletes directly to advertisers.[24]

In March 2022, Erika joined the board of directors for the Premier Lacrosse League.[25]

Ayers has been named Forbes' Most Powerful Women in Sports,[26] recipient of Crain’s Notable Women in Sports,[27] AdWeek’s Most Powerful Women in Sports,[28] Cynopsis’ Top Women in Media,[29] and a top player in the U.S. Betting Space and Podcasting by Business Insider.[30]

Podcast host and public speaking

Ayers hosts Token CEO, a podcast about business and sports news.[31] She was an early supporter of the Premier Hockey Federation (then National Women's Hockey League), and interviewed NWHL players Kelly Babstock and Rebecca Russo on her podcast.[32]

She is a frequent public speaker, and has given talks at the Milken Institute, CAA World Congress, the MIT Sloan Sports Conference, the SALT Conference,[33] and G2E Las Vegas.[34] In 2020, she spoke at Barrett Sports Media's annual summit.[35]

References

  1. ^ "Barstool Sports Names New CEO and It's Not Who You'd Expect". Fortune. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  2. ^ Bryant, Adam (July 14, 2017). "Erika Ayers on the Value of Leading '10 Percent' Players". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  3. ^ "Erika Nardini". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ GmbH, finanzen net. "The CEO of Barstool Sports made an early career move that was 'the worst decision' and knocked her salary down $34,000 — here's why it was actually brilliant". markets.businessinsider.com. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  5. ^ Chen, Angela (November 25, 2014). "AOL Marketing Chief Erica Nardini to Step Down". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  6. ^ Swisher, Kara (November 24, 2014). "AOL Loses Ad CMO Erika Ayers". Vox. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  7. ^ "AOL Advertising CMO Erika Ayers Steps Down". Ad Age. November 24, 2014. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  8. ^ Shontell, Anna Mazarakis, Alyson. "How the CEO of Barstool Sports beat out 74 men to land her dream job". Business Insider. Retrieved February 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Kang, Jay Caspian (November 14, 2017). "Spurned by ESPN, Barstool Sports Is Staying on Offense". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  10. ^ "Barstool Sports expands into pay-per-view amateur boxing". Digiday. November 9, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  11. ^ a b "'We're an anomaly': Barstool Sports CEO Erika Ayers on building a 'lifestyle brand'". Digiday. January 30, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  12. ^ a b "100 Most Creative People in Business 2018". Fast Company. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  13. ^ "25. Erika Ayers". Forbes. Retrieved January 16, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ "The 75 Most Powerful People in the Sports Media Business". The Big Lead. January 7, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  15. ^ "Notable Women in Sports - Erika Ayers". Crain's New York Business. November 11, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  16. ^ "Adweek's Most Powerful Women in Sports 2020". Retrieved December 16, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ Weprin, Alex (October 5, 2020). "WWE Adds Barstool Sports CEO Erika Ayers to Board of Directors". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  18. ^ "Erika Nardini Resigns From WWE Board, Citing Barstool Acquisition". sports.yahoo.com. September 16, 2022.
  19. ^ "Barstool Set To Top $200 Million In Revenue, Enter New Categories | Barrett Media". September 23, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  20. ^ "Live video: Barstool Sports CEO on the future of live sports, betting and NIL deals". Ad Age. January 12, 2023.
  21. ^ Christovich, Amanda (September 22, 2022). "Barstool Will Host Its First Men's College Basketball Tournament".
  22. ^ Greenberg, Doug (January 4, 2023). "Barstool Sports Feels It 'Delivered' on Arizona Bowl".
  23. ^ "TwoYay: Influencer Marketplace & Creator Partnership Platform". TwoYay.
  24. ^ Caron, Emily (September 14, 2022). "Barstool Joins NIL Marketplace Race With Massive Athlete Network".
  25. ^ Caron, Emily (March 8, 2022). "Barstool CEO Nardini Joins Premier Lacrosse League Board of Directors".
  26. ^ Belzer, Jason. "The Most Powerful Women In U.S. Sports 2018". Forbes.
  27. ^ "Notable Women in Sports - Erika Nardini". Crain's New York Business. November 11, 2019.
  28. ^ "Adweek Releases Its Second Annual List Of Most Powerful Women In Sports". www.sportsbusinessjournal.com. June 27, 2017. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  29. ^ "Cynopsis Top Women in Media Awards - Nominate before May 5th". Cynopsis Media.
  30. ^ Rodriguez, Ashley. "Meet the 22 power players leading the explosion of the US sports betting space". Business Insider.
  31. ^ "Token CEO | Blogs, Podcasts and Videos | Barstool Sports". www.barstoolsports.com. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  32. ^ "NWHL criticizes Barstool Sports CEO for video". ESPN.com. January 26, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  33. ^ "SALT — Erika Nardini". SALT. March 30, 2021.
  34. ^ "G2E Las Vegas: The Nardini effect – Barstool Sports". www.gamblinginsider.com.
  35. ^ "Barstool Sports CEO Erika Nardini to Speak at the 2020 BSM Summit". February 10, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
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