Neil McKeown joins a new head of comms and director of team services for the organisation
The British Basketball League has hired an exec producer, head of communications, and director of team services.
Neil McKeown joins the organisation as exec producer after almost seven years with DAZN, where he oversaw the editorial of every live game at the UEFA Women’s Champions League last season. He has also worked at ITV and Perform - where he was part of its joint venture with FIBA before it became part of DAZN. In total, McKeown has over 20 years’ experience in the industry.
McKeown said: “I’ve seen the plans for the growth of the League and how the live coverage is going to play such an important part in that, and I’m delighted to be joining at an incredibly exciting time. Returning to work in live basketball was an easy decision to make and I can’t wait to get started.”
Broadcast Sport revealed earlier this year that the BBL was hiring an in-house production team, with the exec producer expected to “lead the production team for live TV telecasts of all BBL games.” Last season, Buzz 16 produced the games shown by Sky Sports, while Brandvox produced all others.
In addition, the BBL has brought in Anna Jones as its new head of communications. She has 12 years’ experience working with the sport industry, most recently launching her own PR agency, Hero Communications, for the last three years. Jones has worked on campaigns for clients such as Gatorade and Adidas for the 2014 FIFA World Cup at São Paulo-based advertising agency Lew\Lara TBWA.
Following on from this, she went onto help launch the first ever women & girls football campaign for UEFA whilst at Mongoose Sport & Entertainment, before leading significant PR projects at international marketing firm SHIFT Active Media, including Continental’s cycling division, Bosch eBikes, and Super League Triathlon.
Finally, Natasha Riall has joined the BBL as director of team services. She has experience as a creative project manager from her work with large international sporting events, corporate mass participation challenges, the charity sector, and national governing organisations - including on a freelance basis for the 2017 and 2022 Eurobasket competitions. Riall also supported the operations for over two years on the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games where she managed the client services for the 72 competing nations and territories during their pre-games planning and game-time experience.
BBL CEO Aaron Radin said: “We’re delighted to continue to grow our team at the League and these three new hires across our departments highlight our commitment to growing British basketball. Anna, Natasha and Neil are all experts in their fields and we’re pleased to have them onboard ahead of another important year for the League.”
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