Jon Franklin has today been appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Glory Sports International, parent company of the GLORY kickboxing organization.
From today he will oversee the company’s global operation, which includes live events in major international cities and television broadcasts in more than 170 territories around the world.
With a background in sports and entertainment marketing - since 2002 he has been president of The Sports and Entertainment Company (Sports-Ent Co.) - Franklin has been previously been responsible for much of the production, programming, sponsorship, and logistics involved in GLORY’s American events.
“I look forward to working with Jon in this new capacity. He has been a big part of our incredible success thus far and is uniquely suited to lead GLORY into the next phase of development,” said Pierre Andurand, GLORY Chairman and Co-Founder.
“With Jon at the helm, we are confident that 2015 will be a banner year in the evolution of our brand as a leading combat sports league in the United States and abroad”.
Franklin is no stranger to combat sports. His career includes being company president of Golden Gloves Boxing LLC and AP-X, a subdivision of ‘America Presents Boxing’, promoter of boxers such as Wayne McCullough and Hector Camacho Jr.
“I’m honored to have been a part of GLORY’s growth into one of the top fight promotions worldwide, but the work is not done,” Franklin remarked today.
“I truly believe that we have the best athletes in the world, with production for both live audiences and home viewers that is second to none. As we move into the new year, I can’t wait to share GLORY’s global vision for kickboxing with our fans.”
Franklin takes over as CEO from Andrew Whitaker, a former vice-president with the WWE. Whitaker moves to an advisory role as a consultant for business development.
GLORY is also pleased to announce that the broadcast deal with SPIKE TV has been extended to cover 2015. Dates for this year’s remaining events will be announced in the next few weeks.