Experience

John Kosner is an internet pioneer and four-decade veteran of sports media. Today, he is an investor and advisor in sports tech startups and president of Kosner Media, a digital media and sports consultancy.

In 2018, John and the late NBA Commissioner Emeritus David Stern created Micromanagement Ventures, a portfolio of sports technology start-ups focused on media, betting, and player health. John continues to serve as an advisor to and an investor in nine of the original Micromanagement Ventures portfolio companies which include WHOOP, WSC Sports, and Overtime.

In addition, John is an advisor to the 890 Fifth Avenue Partners, Inc. SPAC which took BuzzFeed public on Dec. 6, 2021, as well as to Apple News, the NCAA, the Big East, the PRCA, Sportradar, Opendorse, SponsorUnited, Videocites, Tixologi, Underdog and Eccker Sports among others. He was a board member at 8th Wall which was acquired by Niantic on March 11, 2022. John and his former NBA colleague Ed Desser negotiate sports media agreements for rightsholders and they write periodic columns for the Sports Business Journal and Sportico. In addition, John writes articles about sports and video games with his colleague J Moses, a board member at Take-Two Interactive. John also does expert witness work, currently for Latham & Watkins LLP, Proskauer Rose LL, and Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP.

Previously, John led digital media at ESPN from 2003-to 2017, after stints at Sports Illustrated, the NBA, where he was in charge of U.S. broadcasting during the Dream Team era, CBS Sports and NBC Sports. In his 21 years at the company, Kosner built ESPN into the world’s leading digital sports destination – a powerhouse in short- and long-form editorial content, streaming, social media, podcasting, fantasy sports, and direct-to-consumer – increasing traffic ten-fold and turning an unprofitable business into ESPN’s fastest-growing. At ESPN, John was part of a small, senior group that managed the program acquisition, scheduling, and linear and digital distribution of all ESPN professional and collegiate sports properties.

Personal

Kosner is the Chairman of the Alumni Association and former Trustee of his alma mater, the Collegiate School in New York City. He graduated with distinction from Stanford University in 1982 with a bachelor of arts degree in American History.  A native of New York City, Kosner lives in Manhattan with his wife, Diane Burstein, and their son, Luke. He has two older children, Walter, a musician with The Walters, and Grace, a UI specialist for Disney Streaming.

Awards

During Kosner’s tenure at ESPN, SportsBusiness Journal awarded ESPN its annual award for Best in Digital Sports Media five times in 10 years and named Kosner the “Most Influential” in Online Media in 2008. In addition, ESPN.com also won eight Sports Emmys and two Online Journalism Awards, including the prestigious Award for General Excellence and ESPN The Magazine was awarded the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2017.  John has also appeared on lists of powerful and influential figures in sports media in BusinessWeek, Daily Variety, among others.