STEPHEN ROSS
CO-FOUNDER & OWNER
Stephen M. Ross is the Chairman and co-founder of Relevent, the Chairman and Founder of Related Companies, and a devoted philanthropist. He formed Related in 1972 and today the company includes approximately 3,500 professionals. Related has over $60 billion in real estate assets owned or under development, including mixed-use, residential, retail and office properties in premier high-barrier-to-entry markets. The company is also one of the largest owners and preservationists of affordable housing in the country. Related was recently named one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World by Fast Company Magazine. Ross is an investor in Equinox® Fitness Clubs, Equinox Hotels and SoulCycle.
Additionally, Ross is the owner of the Miami Dolphins, an NFL franchise that has become one of the most fan-friendly in sports under his leadership.
Ross has always sought opportunities to give back in meaningful ways. His philanthropic efforts have broadly focused on the areas of education, the arts, racial equality, healthcare and the creation of more sustainable cities throughout the world. Furthermore, he has used his platform to harness the unifying power of sport to advance race relations across the country through the establishment of the nonprofit Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE). The organization’s efforts have been so impactful that RISE was recognized in 2017 by ESPN’s Humanitarian Awards with the Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award. In 2013, Mr. Ross pledged to give more than half of his estate to philanthropic causes and charitable organizations through the Giving Pledge, a long-term global initiative created by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates that aims to inspire deeper engagement in philanthropy and increase charitable giving globally. Over the years, Ross has received numerous honors for his business, civic, and philanthropic activities. Most recently, he was inducted into the Nation Football Foundation Leadership Hall of Fame and received the Jackie Robinson Foundation ROBIE Lifetime Achievement Award.
DANIEL SILLMAN
CO-FOUNDER & CEO
Daniel Sillman is the CEO of Relevent leading the largest privately-owned football company in North America which owns and operates international football properties and negotiates international broadcast rights for top leagues and governing bodies. Under his leadership, Relevent has experienced exponential growth, achieving a multitude of groundbreaking media and live event opportunities.
Beginning in 2017, Sillman led the strategy to bring El Clásico to the U.S. for the first time, resulting in the highest grossing football match in history. He created new properties, including the Women’s ICC and ICC Futures tournaments and partnered with the Premier League to bring the inaugural Premier League Summer Series to the U.S.
In 2018, Sillman shifted Relevent’s business strategy from solely an events company to global media rights operator, selling premium football rights. He negotiated a landmark, first-of-its-kind 20-year deal, with LALIGA, a 50/50 joint venture to promote LALIGA in North America. This delivered record setting results with the signing of the ESPN international media rights deal for LALIGA; the largest football media rights deal ever in the U.S. and Canada at the time. Relevent also secured UEFA’s club competitions media rights in the U.S. in 2022 which marked the first time UEFA used a new media rights sales partner since the formation of the Champions League over 30 years ago. In early 2024, Sillman negotiated the acquisition for the exclusive rights to distribute English Football League match fixtures throughout North, Central, and South America. Sillman is also a member of the FIFA World Cup 26™ Miami Host Committee Board of Directors.
Prior to joining Relevent, Sillman served as the Director of Business Development at RSE Ventures, responsible for new investments. Sillman started his career founding and operating a multi-family office for professional athletes, Compass Management, which he later sold to FFO in 2015. Sillman was awarded the Leaders in Sports Leaders Under 40 (2022), the Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 (2019), and Forbes Sports’ 30 Under 30 (2018). Sillman serves on the board of directors of RISE, a national non-profit that educates and empowers the sports community to eliminate racial discrimination, champion social justice, and improve race relations.
BORIS GARTNER
PRESIDENT & PARTNER
Boris Gartner is President and Partner of Relevent. He is also the CEO of LALIGA North America, a joint venture between Relevent and LALIGA, Spain’s top-flight soccer competition and professional association. Gartner joined the company in 2018 and built out the operations for LALIGA in the territory, creating a profitable operation across media and sponsorships, and successfully expanding the scope beyond the U.S. to include Mexico and Central America. He was instrumental in the definition, negotiation, and execution of the media rights agreements in the territory, resulting in a $2 billion agreement with ESPN in the United States and Canada, and with Televisa/Sky in Mexico and Central America – the two largest media rights agreements for LALIGA outside of Spain.
Gartner has played a key role in the expansion of Relevent’s media business to include UEFA’s Club Competitions rights in the U.S., and English Football League (EFL) rights across North, Central, and South America. His prior international experience across Europe and Latin America has helped Relevent expand its business outside of the United States.
Previously, Gartner served as Chief Operating Officer for Grupo Televisa’s Content Division – the largest Spanish-language content producer in the world — where he was responsible for corporate strategy, business management, and company operations for the group’s content unit. Prior to joining Televisa, he served in different executive positions at Univision Communications Inc., including as part of the founding team and Chief Operating Officer of Fusion Media, a joint venture between Univision Communications Inc. and the Disney/ABC Television Group, VP and GM of Univision’s in-house digital studio, and VP of Strategy and New Initiatives for Univision Noticias.
Gartner has been recognized by Hispanic Executive as Top Latino in Sports (2023), by Sports Business Journal 40 Under Forty (2022), Leaders in Sports Leaders Under 40 (2020), National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications –NAMIC as NAMIC Luminary (2016), Cynopsis Digital’s IT List (2016), and Variety’s Hollywood’s New Leaders: TV Executives (2013).
He serves on the Board of Washington, D.C.-based Polaris, the leading non-profit in the U.S. fighting to end human trafficking, where he’s also the Chair of the Development Committee. He is also part of the 2019 Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports at Harvard Business School, the 2017 Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, and the 2013 Georgetown Leadership Seminar.
MATT HIGGINS
CO-FOUNDER
Matt Higgins is a noted serial entrepreneur, growth equity investor as Co-founder and CEO of private investment firm, RSE Ventures, Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School, and Wall Street Journal best-selling author of Burn the Boats.
Higgins began his career in public service as a journalist before becoming the youngest mayoral press secretary in New York City at 26, where he managed the global media response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He became one of the first employees – and ultimately Chief Operating Officer – of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the federally funded government agency created to plan the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site. Higgins helped organize the largest international design competition in history culminating in Reflecting Absence, the September 11th National Memorial, and the development of the 1,776-feet-tall One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the northern hemisphere.
After transitioning to the private sector, Higgins spent 15 years in senior leadership positions with National Football League teams. He made his mark with two NFL franchises, overseeing the revenue functions of the New York Jets as Executive Vice President of Business Operations, and after leaving the Jets, serving as Vice Chairman of the Miami Dolphins from 2012 – 2021. Higgins co-founded New York City-based RSE Ventures in 2012, amassing a multi-billion-dollar investment portfolio of leading brands across sports and entertainment, media and marketing, consumer and technology industries – including several of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies.
Higgins has also been a guest shark on Emmy award-winning TV show “Shark Tank”. He received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, joining the ranks of seven former U.S. presidents, Nobel Prize winners and other leaders for work to improve society. He is also a longstanding board member of Autism Speaks.
