Singapore – International sports media company MP & Silva has appointed Rene Valencia for the newly created role of Vice President, Business Development and Sponsorship with effect from February 4.

Valencia will be responsible for overseeing the growth and development of the Olympic Council of Asia marketing programme, in addition to developing and implementing growth opportunities for MP & Silva’s Asia business. Valencia will be based at MP and Silva’s Asia-Pacific office in Singapore, and report directly to Peter Hutton, Joint-CEO of MP & Silva, and Mark Gorski, Senior Vice President, International Corporate Development and Head of Partnerships.

Rene Valencia

Valencia’s appointment bolsters MP & Silva’s focus on further growth in Asia in exploring new commercial and sponsorship opportunities. MP & Silva has built a strong reputation as a leading sports media rights agency with an extensive portfolio of major properties, and have recently expanded its business to production, sponsorship and new projects such as media advisory partnerships in co-operation with the Olympic Council of Asia, Formula E and most recently the Chinese Professional Baseball League.

Said Hutton: “We are extremely pleased to have someone with Rene’s solid experience, and look forward to leveraging on many of his proven skill-sets and relationships to continue our success across the region.

“He has a thorough understanding of the Olympic Council of Asia event portfolio and marketing programme, and we are confident that his addition to the team will be invaluable in securing long-term marketing partnerships for the OCA, in addition to new business and sponsorship opportunities.”

Valencia has more than a decade of experience in international sports marketing and rights management, and joins MP & Silva from the National Basketball Association (NBA) where he worked as a Director of International Development in the New York headquarters after spending time at NBA Asia in Hong Kong, growing the NBA’s business throughout Asia. During his time with the NBA, Valencia played a major role in a number of key initiatives including the first ever Emirates Airlines deal with the NBA in China for the NBA China Games in 2012. Valencia also played an instrumental role in securing a host city agreement for the first ever NBA pre-season game to be held in Olympic host city Rio de Janeiro.

Valencia was previously the Head of Sponsorship for the Doha Asian Games 2006 Organising Committee where he lead a team that secured key marketing partnerships with Samsung, Qatar Airways, Nestle, Technogym, GE, and Swiss Timing. Following his tenure in Doha, Valencia continued his association with the OCA, working directly with the OCA marketing agent on the management of marketing activities for the Guangzhou Asian Games, Bali Asian Beach Games, and Asian Winter Games held in Almaty and Astana, Kazakhstan.

MP & Silva is an international media company that owns, manages and distributes television and media rights to some of the most prestigious sports events around the world. Headquartered in London and Singapore, MP & Silva operates worldwide through regional offices in Beijing, Budapest, Dubai, Dublin, Jakarta, Hanoi, Madrid, Miami, Monaco, Munich, New York, Paris, Tokyo and Warsaw.