Vizrt adds Sam Leadsom to strengthen sport offering

Vizrt has appointed Sam Leadsom as its commercial director of global sports.

Leadsom, who only joined his last role, at virtual production company Pixotope as VP for global business development in sports, last year, has experience at the likes of IMG Media, Fox Sports and Sail GP working on productions such as the Premier League, Sail GP, Bundesliga, US Masters, and Moto GP. 

He has also worked in Asia, overseeing FOX Sports’ production on multiple platforms in the region and as a member of the senior team that led the 2014 rebrand of its four sports channels, in addition to Sky, BBC, ITV, the European Tour, UEFA, and HBS as a producer and director.

He moves to real-time 3D graphics specialist Vizrt as it looks to expand into sports through 2022.

Leadsom said: “The sports market continues to lead the way for transformation in storytelling, and Vizrt supports that with its impressive and innovative range of products. I am delighted to be joining Vizrt at this exciting time for our industry and am looking forward to helping the Vizrt Group bolster its position as the market leader in broadcast technology and continue to support our customers and partners’ aspirations to deliver highly creative sports content.”

Vizrt president Danel Nergard added: “We are constantly innovating and want to continue to strengthen our market position in sports. We are doing this through several investments, with the appointment of Sam Leadsom being an initiative that I am particularly excited about. Sam has extensive experience in live sports production. He intuitively thinks like a sports storyteller and will be a vital component in our strategy to develop our sports output in close collaboration with our customers.”