Russell Stopford appointed CEO at digital sports agency Stadion
Russell Stopford, former digital lead at Paris Saint-Germain, FC Barcelona and Manchester City, has joined digital sports agency Stadion as chief executive officer.
Stopford will play a key role in leading the strategic growth and development of Stadion which already has a large portfolio of clients across top tier football, rugby union and sports’ governing bodies.
Stadion creates products that power anything from websites to apps and voice interactions. These are built around a central publishing hub which allows the client to deliver the latest content to its audience in a fully customisable, modular and responsive way.
Lee Cook, founder of Stadion, said: “When you have worked in sport for as long as I have, you get to know some amazing people and occasionally an opportunity to work with them. I’ve been lucky enough to work with Russell over the last eleven years since we met while he was at Manchester City. With his experience at some of the top clubs and digital businesses in the world, I knew we had a rare opportunity to bring someone with a wealth of knowledge and expertise into Stadion. I’m delighted he has joined the team and can’t wait to grow the company together.”
Stopford said: “Stadion has an outstanding reputation for creating bespoke high performance digital experiences for some of the most respected brands in sport. The business continues to go from strength to strength and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to evolve the offering and to lead and work alongside a very talented team of innovative and creative individuals.”
He added: “Stadion has developed a suite of purpose-built products which ensure clients achieve maximum engagement with their customers across all aspects of digital and social in an extremely user-friendly way. This is an exciting time for Stadion.”
Most recently, Stopford was chief digital officer at Paris Saint-Germain leading the digital transformation of the club for nearly four years. He was responsible for strategy, execution and commercial for the French giants’ products connecting their global fan-base through consumer digital technologies. Previously he was director of digital for FC Barcelona, which included the largest social media audience of any sports club in the world.
Prior to that he was product development director at Perform Group (including Goal.com) and before that was at Manchester City where he was responsible for all digital channels including City TV.
Stadion was founded in 2014 by Cook. Clients include four of the top ten football clubs in the world as well as several other English Premier League, Scottish Premier League and championship clubs, Team GB, the Union Cycliste International (UCI), Harlequins and Munster from the world of rugby union and the Australian Olympic Committee.