From video games to traditional sports, there was no shortage of career shuffling this week.

A visionary of the video game industry is moving on to a new challenge in the Premier league. Peter Moore, formerly the chief competition officer at Electronic Arts, is going from digital games to the real deal, as the 61-year-old was appointed as chief executive officer of Liverpool.

“Passion is essential for all of us at Electronic Arts. It’s what gets us up in the morning and drives us to do extraordinary things. And if you’ve ever met Peter Moore, you know that he quite literally wears his passion for Liverpool FC on his sleeve. So it’s with great excitement that we congratulate Peter on following his dream to become the next CEO of his beloved Liverpool Football Club,” wrote EA CEO Andrew Wilson. “Peter has been with us here at EA for nearly 10 years, and I consider myself privileged to have had the opportunity to work alongside him for that entire journey. If you’ve seen him on stage, or follow him on Twitter, or have ever read an interview with him, you will have a sense of Peter’s wit and charisma.”

Moore joined EA in 2007 to head up the company’s sports division. He has previously held senior roles with Microsoft, SEGA and Reebok.


Four fellows from Telltale Games veterans are joining Ubisoft’s San Francisco studio. Dennis Lenart, Nick HermanPierre Shorette and Adam Sarasohn have all been hired by the studio to expand its storytelling efforts for such titles as The Walking Dead, Tales from the Borderlands and Minecraft: Story Mode.

“We are excited to welcome these strong industry veterans to our skilled team at Ubisoft San Francisco,” says, François Pelland, executive producer at Ubisoft San Francisco. “As we continue to expand our portfolio of games, we look to hire the best talent in the industry and infuse team members with a shared passion for development.”


Another former EA executive has landed a new job, too. Farshid Almassizadeh, formerly the vice president and COO of EA Interactive, will join SPYR, a holding company with wholly owned subsidiaries in both the mobile game and app development and publishing industry, as its chief strategic advisor.

James R. Thompson, SPYR’s CEO and president, stated: “Everyone at SPYR is very excited to be working with Farshid.  His many years of experience and connections in the gaming industry are going to be invaluable to the company and we believe that he will help us cultivate all of the seeds we have planted over the last year to grow our games business and revenue.”


Former UFC chief content officer Marshall Zelaznik is joining Major League Gaming as its new global head of business development. At MLG.tv, Zelaznik will reportedly oversee maximizing the revenue opportunities around the distribution of MLG and Activision Blizzard’s eSports content, building and executing on the growth strategy for MLG’s proprietary content distribution platforms.


Pandora has appointed Naveen Chopra as chief financial officer. Chopra will be responsible for Pandora’s finance, corporate development and strategy, investor relations, facilities and CIO functions.

“Pandora fundamentally changed the way we listen to music and continues to lead the way in reshaping the future of music for listeners, music makers and advertisers,” said Chopra. “It’s an exciting time to join the team and a unique opportunity to combine my passion for world-class consumer services and strategic and operational experience to help guide Pandora’s growth and deliver shareholder value. I look forward to working closely with Tim, Mike and the entire Pandora team.”


Veteran media executive Mary Ann Turcke has been named president, digital media and NFL Network, per NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

“We are delighted to have an individual of Mary Ann’s talent and expertise joining the NFL to lead the NFL Network, NFL Films and our digital and technology groups across the organization,” said Goodell. “Mary Ann has distinguished herself throughout her career, not only managing the complicated broadcast operations of Bell Media, but also growing their media sales and leading their telecommunications and IT services. I am confident that our teams in Los Angeles, New Jersey and New York will greatly benefit from the breadth of her experience and her vision for the future.”

“I am thrilled to be joining the NFL, one of the greatest and most exciting brands in the world,” Turcke said. “I feel fortunate to be given the opportunity to lead this team and work closely with Brian to focus and grow the NFL Network, NFL Films, NFL.com and our digital and technology assets.”


Turner Sports has promoted Matt Hong to the newly created position of chief operating officer to oversee all aspects of Turner’s involvement in setting the strategic direction and leading day-to-day operations of NBA TV, NBA App, NBA League Pass and NBA.com.


Vevo has named Will Jackson as their new senior vice president of strategy and operations. Jackson formerly was the vice president of corporate strategy and international development at Pandora.


Amani Duncan has been named senior vice president of music for MTV.


Toyota announced a series of executive leadership appointments in North America, namely in marketing. The 14 new appointments can be seen here.


Paul Rittenberg, who led all TV and digital ad sales efforts for Fox News, is stepping down from his position of executive vice president of advertising sales.

In making the announcement, co-presidents Jack Abernethy and Bill Shine jointly said, “Throughout his 20 plus years at FOX News, Paul has developed powerful relationships with clients and built one of the most respected and successful teams in the industry. Coming off our most profitable year yet, we are tremendously grateful to him for his many contributions in making both FOX News Channel and FOX Business Network the most coveted marketing platforms in cable.”