Sports Media Report
Responding to the growing need for the nation’s high schools to have access to a comprehensive marketing and communications solution, VNN Sports today announced it has named former SportsEngine executive, Rick Ehrman, as CEO.
With roughly 20,000 public high schools across the U.S., and eight (8) million students participating in sports, athletic directors are looking for technology solutions to more efficiently manage their day to day responsibilities and effectively communicate, connect and share information with athletes, parents and the community.
“Youth athletics is becoming more and more like collegiate and professional sports, and the people in charge are now expected to be expert communicators, organizers, and facilitators,” said Ehrman. “VNN’s success working with thousands of high schools over the past decade has uniquely positioned us to deliver the core platform through which school administrators maximize their impact in this evolving role. Like an app store for high school sports, VNN brings together the best technology — from scheduling to fundraising, ticketing to video capture — onto a single platform.”
Ehrman will focus on expanding on VNN’s position as the leader in the high school sports market, leveraging a strong track record of growth, both organic and through market consolidation.
“With nearly 20 percent of U.S. high schools using our platform, VNN is uniquely positioned to simplify the high school athletic experience by connecting cutting-edge technology to school systems nationwide,” said Ryan Vaughn, founder and President. “Having helped SportsEngine and NBC Sports consolidate the club sports industry, Rick brings unmatched experience to the CEO role, VNN Sports, and high school athletic departments across the country.”
With a comprehensive platform supplemented by a marketplace of best-in-breed partners offering products that address the entire ecosystem, VNN has become the high school sports industry’s only end-to-end communication solution.
“I couldn’t be more excited about the people we serve and the industry we’re playing in,” continued Ehrman. “As a single father of five athletes, and the son and brother of athletic directors, I am acutely aware of the benefits VNN’s solutions deliver to administrators, coaches, parents, and athletes. Along with a newly identified group of strategic investors, I believe VNN is in the position to start consolidating an extremely fragmented market.”
Prior to joining VNN Sports, Ehrman was the Head of Corporate Development for SportsEngine. During his tenure, Ehrman raised capital by way of institutional funding rounds, assisted with 17 acquisitions, and expanded SportsEngine’s revenue mix by bringing in corporate and media partnerships.
With over 25 years of corporate and business development experience, Ehrman has advised and founded a variety of companies including Univision Communications, BlackTorch Capital, L4 Media Group, PharmaPoint, NBCUniversal, and GE.
