General Sports Worldwide Names VP, Executive Search
February 16, 2024 – General Sports Worldwide has expanded with the addition of Cuyler Holmquist as vice president, executive search, strategic consulting & analytics. He will be working from the company’s New York City and London offices. “We are excited to add yet another experienced and talented member to our growing team,” said Lou DePaoli, president of General Sports Worldwide. “Cuyler has an outstanding reputation in the sports industry as an experienced and international-facing executive recruiter as well as for his innovative proprietary analytical consulting work. We look forward to having him expand our footprint and services globally.”
In his new position, Mr. Holmquist will be responsible for providing strategic consulting, executive recruitment and evaluative analytics services for a variety of sports entities to improve their operations. He will also work closely with the firm’s mergers & acquisitions team in evaluating and brokering the purchase and sale of sporting assets.
Mr. Holmquist has experience in global sports recruiting, strategic consulting, measurement and evaluative analytics work, most recently as an independent advisor to numerous sports organizations in North America and Europe. He previously served as executive director, sports/media/entertainment for Sucherman Group, head of U.S. sports practice for Odgers Berndtson, while also consulting for multiple sports properties and spending his first few professional years with solutions technology company Citrix. Mr. Holmquist is fluent in three languages and has lived and worked in numerous countries including the U.S., U.K., Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
“I am thrilled to be joining Andy Appleby, Lou DePaoli and the rest of the General Sports Worldwide team and look forward to contributing to our rapidly growing global business,” said Mr. Holmquist. “In a short period of time, General Sports Worldwide has built an amazing and ambitious organization with a wonderful ethos and superb reputation, which I am excited to be a part of.”
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General Sports Worldwide was launched in 2020 by veteran sports industry entrepreneur Andy Appleby, and is focused in four key areas of sports: Athlete representation in the U.S., U.K. and Europe; executive search and team consulting; sports team sales, mergers and acquisitions; and sponsorship brokering.
Sports Industry Veterans
Mr. Appleby has more than 34 years of sports management experience. Since founding General Sports in 1998, he has led the effort to develop all of its operational divisions, subsidiaries and affiliated entities, as well as having created the General Sports Foundation. Prior to founding General Sports, Mr. Appleby served as senior vice president of Palace Sports and Entertainment, where he oversaw an executive sales staff responsible for promoting and operating the Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit Pistons, Detroit Vipers Hockey Club, Detroit Shock of the WNBA, Meadow Brook Music Festival, and Pine Knob Music Theatre.
Mr. DePaoli has over 25 years of senior level sports industry level experience with the NBA, Atlanta Hawks, Pittsburgh Pirates, and New York Mets. He has led multiple business operations’ teams of 150-200+ full-time employees and thousands of part-time seasonal employees. Mr. DePaoli has a proven track record of significantly increasing franchise values across multiple sports leagues, markets, and venues. He has hired, trained, mentored and developed some of the top talent in the sports industry.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor; Lily Fauver, Senior Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media