Emeka Ofodile is vice president of sports marketing at ESPN. In this role, he steers global brand strategies for ESPN’s entire portfolio of sports properties, including NFL, NBA, MLB, and College Sports, as well as Soccer, UFC, Boxing, ESPN Deportes, and the College Networks business.
Over his more than 18 years with ESPN, Ofodile has developed brands over numerous sports categories, verticals, and properties. His hallmark achievement was building the College Football Playoff on ESPN brand from the ground up. This included its inaugural year, in what became one of ESPN’s most successful marketing campaigns, and the first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship halftime show that brought together music, event and sponsorship initiatives for Kendrick Lamar’s performance and new trailer premiere for “Black Panther.”
Ofodile has collaborated with top brands such as Marvel and Lego to extend and elevate the ESPN brand to new audiences. He also spearheaded the first-ever exclusive label deal with Interscope Records to promote College Football on ESPN.
In 2015, he was nominated and selected for the NAMIC Executive Leadership Development Program, a 9-month intensive offering from the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications and the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. Ofodile, a passionate philanthropist, has also organized and hosted fundraisers benefiting causes such as UNICEF’s earthquake relief efforts in Haiti, Save Darfur, and AIDS in Africa.
A native of New Jersey, Ofodile attended Columbia University where he was a Division-1A Varsity soccer player. He was a Dean’s List student and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics.