From June 7th-11th, UCFB and GIS will be hosting the Virtual Toronto Global Sports Summit and giving students, alumni and staff the chance to hear from some of the leading names in Canadian sport.
From ice hockey to soccer to basketball, Toronto is home to North American sporting instititions such as NBA’s Raptors, MLS’ Toronto FC and NHL’s Maple Leafs. Keep on reading to find out who’ll be talking and what to expect from day five of the summit...
Sports Betting
Yash Tukrel, Strategist, Global Partnerships
Yash is currently a Strategist on MLSE’s Global Partnerships team, where he’s responsible for creating and recommending strategic, consumer-focused solutions that leverage data, industry research and outside-the-box thinking to deliver meaningful results that drive our partners’ businesses forward.
Yash has been at MLSE for 3 years, having attended the Ivey Business School at Western University where he received his Honors in Business Administration (HBA) before starting at MLSE full-time In his spare time, Yash enjoys hanging with friends, playing Monopoly deal and attending open houses (he loves real estate).
Connor King, Manager, Strategy & Innovation
Connor leads the strategic project management team at MLSE and is tasked with managing cross-functional initiatives to drive revenue growth and streamline operations. As part of the MLSE Digital Labs team, he works to develop and execute the organization’s innovation strategy which includes management of the Future of Sport Lab incubator. Connor is a former management consultant, who holds an MBA from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor’s degree from Ivey Business School at Western University.
Player Development Stream
Matt Black, Player Relations Advisor/Strength & Conditioning Coordinator, Toronto Argonauts
Black was born and raised in Toronto, spending his ten-year CFL career with the Toronto Argonauts. Appearing in 127 games after being drafted in the sixth round of the 2008 CFL Draft, the defensive back reached the pinnacle of the sport twice during his career, winning The Historical 100th Grey Cup in 2012 and 105th Grey Cup in 2017.
Announcing his retirement from the CFL in April 2018, he accepted a position in the team’s front office. Matt’s official title is Player Relations Advisor, however his role sees him touch many areas of the organization including Player Development, Alumni Relations, Football Operations/Administration, Strength & Conditioning along with Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
Vincent
Vincent Magri, Director of Canadian Scouting, Toronto Argonauts
Now in his 9th season with the Argos, Magri has a variety player personnel duties, beginning primarily with the coordination of the Draft process and College Scouting. Magri also coordinates pro scouting side by compiling weekly scouting reports on opposing teams, keeping track of daily transactions in the CFL, NFL, and other leagues, and monitoring free agents. Magri is actively involved in all areas of scouting, including visiting NFL training camps, US All-Star games and NCAA Pro Days.
A Toronto native, Magri was a 4 year starter on the Offensive Line at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario where he graduated with a degree in Geography. He immediately turned to assistant coaching and recruiting at the University of Toronto in 2011, and then back at McMaster in 2012 before joining the Argonauts at the end of 2012. Magri initially joined the Club as Video Coordinator while providing input on the 2013 CFL Draft, and was promoted immediately following his first season. Magri currently lives in Vaughan, Ontario.
Patrick Bakker, Director, Business Operations, TFC & Argos
Patrick is a 15-year sports and entertainment professional spending his entire career to date with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment one of the preeminent Sports and Entertainment companies in the world. Patrick began his career as an original member of the business team to launch Toronto FC as an expansion side within Major League Soccer in 2007. In 2008, Patrick moved into MLSE’s Global Partnerships group where he managed partnerships across all of the companies major brands including the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC and eventually the Toronto Argonauts. With a primary focus on Toronto FC, Patrick helped drive the business forward to become the #2 overall partnerships business in Major League Soccer to date.
In 2019, Patrick began to shift his focus back into the front office where he joined Toronto FC and the Toronto Argonauts Business Operations teams as the Director of Business Operations overseeing many aspects of the business from Brand Marketing, Revenue Generation and Community and Grassroots programming.
