Jaap Kalma previously held senior executive roles at Ferrari and seven times European Champions AC Milan and will be working with SBC on its Betting on Sports America and Betting on Football (19-22 March) events early next year.

Betting on Sports America is the largest dedicated sports betting conference and exhibition in the US and covers an extensive range of topics including operations, regulation, sponsorship, marketing, products, affiliation, integrity, lotteries, tribal gaming and of course sports.

SBC CEO Rasmus Sojmark commented: “It’s a massive coup for us to get someone of Jaap Kalma’s stature to strengthen our competencies on the sports side and help with our visibility among the sports sector. We’ve worked with Jaap before, creating the Sponsorship Forum events together, so we know what qualities he is bringing to the team working on this project.”

Jaap Kalma added: “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with the SBC team over the last year, so the opportunity to work even more closely with them on their Betting on Sports America  event was an exciting prospect. From my time at AC Milan, I know that sports betting offers so many opportunities to sports leagues and teams and my aim is to educate the sector on the possibilities.”

Previously Kalma was Chief Commercial Officer at AC Milan, the second most successful club in European Club history (behind only Spanish giants Real Madrid), where he carried responsibility for marketing, commercial revenues, and global development for the Italian soccer team. Before that he was Global Brand Director at luxury sports car manufacturer and Formula One team Ferrari.

In addition to Kalma’s global experience in the sports industry, he also spent six years at college and graduate school in the USA coming away with an MBA from Stanford University.

Kalma will take up the role of Interim Business Development Director to oversee the SBC Sponsorship Forum ahead of the Betting on Football conference at Stamford Bridge as well as influencing the sports marketing and sponsorship content at the following month’s Betting on Sports America conference, which is being held at Meadowlands Exposition Center in New Jersey.