Doug Perlman

Douglas Perlman is a business executive, lawyer and the founder and CEO of Sports Media Advisors.^[1] Prior to founding SMA, Perlman held senior positions at the National Hockey League (NHL), where he was instrumental in establishing the league’s digital media presence, and at the sports media management agency, IMG, where he served as president of IMG Media, N.A.

Douglas Perlman
Born	Douglas Perlman (1968-10-08)October 8, 1968 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Alma mater	Duke University (BA) University of Virginia School of Law (J.D.)
Occupation(s)	sports media advisor, lawyer
Known for	Founder and CEO, Sports Media Advisors

Business career

Perlman began his professional career as an attorney at Proskauer Rose, a global law firm widely regarded as having the nation’s top sports practice.^[2] While at Proskauer, he worked on numerous matters in sports and entertainment, including legal issues for the NHL.^[3]

NHL

In 1995, while still at Proskauer Rose, Perlman was approached to join the legal department at the NHL, which had been a client. He soon transitioned into a business strategy role, helping to establish the NHL's digital operations.^[4] This included managing the partnership between the NHL and IBM to build out the league’s digital media presence. As NHL executive vice-president media, Perlman was in charge of the NHL’s media business. He led the creation of the NHL Network, while overseeing national and local media rights deals. He played a lead role in helping the NHL emerge from the 2004-05 lockout, helping the league secure media rights deals with OLN (then owned by Comcast) and NBC.^[5] During his time at the NHL, he became a member of commissioner Gary Bettman’s senior leadership team and gained recognition for his skills as a negotiator.^[3] At 32, the Sports Business Journal wrote that Perlman found “himself with more responsibility than anyone else his age at a major league sport and perhaps in the entire sports world.”^[4]

IMG

Following the NHL, Perlman was recruited by then-CEO Ted Forstmann to join IMG as the president of IMG Media, North America where he again oversaw all television and digital media businesses, reporting to Forstmann as a member of IMG's six-member global leadership team.^[6]

Sports Media Advisors

Perlman founded Sports Media Advisors in 2009. SMA helps sports properties develop and execute content distribution strategies. This includes negotiating primary media rights deals.^[7]

Perlman and SMA have negotiated tens of billions of dollars in television and digital media rights fees for major sports properties, including the NFL, NASCAR,^[8] the USTA, Breeders’ Cup,^[9] U.S. Soccer, MLB, Ryder Cup,^[9] Little League Baseball and Division I collegiate athletic departments.^[7]

Other activities

Perlman also assists private equity and other investors considering media, technology, and/or sports-related opportunities, performing due diligence and strategic deal support. He serves as a strategic advisor to the Goal Acquisition SPAC, led by sports agent and investor David Falk and sports business executive Harvey Schiller.^[10]

Recognition

Perlman was named to the Sports Business Journal’s prestigious Forty Under 40 list three times and is a member of the Forty under 40 “Hall of Fame.”^[11] He was also named one of the 100 Most Powerful People in Sports by Sporting News.^[12][13]

Early life and education

Doug Perlman was born in Baltimore, Maryland and attended Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut. He is a graduate of Duke University where he received a B.A., cum laude in Political Science in 1990, and of the University of Virginia School of Law where he received his J.D. in 1993.