Media Maven

Josh Burack, the New Chief Executive Officer of the Asian Tour, Has Had to Hit the Road Running Since Coming on Board in October 2016.but His Experience in Sponsorship,media Rights and Broadcasting Puts Him in Good Stead to Form Success in This Demanding Position.

- Ju K. Tan

WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND AND HOW DID YOU END UP ON THE ASIAN TOUR?

I’ve been working in the sports marketing industry for about 25 years, starting out as a TV producer and director. During the last 20 years I’ve lived and worked across the Asia Pacific region in Hong Kong, Australia, Thailand and Singapore. In 2000, I moved into marketing and sales for media rights and sponsorships when I came out of the production side of things. In the early part of my career, I was a TV producer with World Sports Group and produced a weekly programme called The Asia Sports Show that was broadcast around the world.

World Sports Group at that time was the commercial agency for the Asian PGA, and I used to include golf highlights of tournaments on the show. I later moved to another company called International Events and Communication (IEC) in Sports and that’s where I made the move into the commercial side of sports marketing. I started IEC’s sports business in Asia and we grew the business over the next 12 years. Then we sold the company to Lagardere Group – who also bought World Sports Group - and was rebranded Lagardere Sports.

At age 40, I took a sabbatical of about a year and a half and got my MBA at the National University of Singapore. After that, I worked as Senior Vice President of Dentsu Sports Asia in Singapore for four years, working on the Olympic Games, FIFA Club World Cup and other interesting projects. I was subsequently contacted by a recruiter and was asked if I would be interested in this Asian Tour role.

It was certainly interesting since golf has been my big passion since taking up the sport. One thing led to another and here I am.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN PLAYING GOLF?