Former NBA executive, and the first Overtime Elite President and Commissioner, Aaron Ryan, launched Belden Avenue Advisors in late October. The new strategic advisory firm — which has Stagwell, Youthquake Nation Sports and Entertainment (YQN), and NorthRock Partners as initial clients — is looking to redefine the future of sports by expanding the industry’s cultural influence, empowering athletes, and promoting strategic innovation.

Ryan formed Belden Avenue out of a desire to help athletes and sports leaders navigate a changing industry. Sports in 2024 look vastly different than they did 30 years ago. NIL, AI, a shifting political landscape, and ballooning media deals have all made the sports industry more profitable, more influential, and harder to navigate than just a few decades ago. With the sports industry hurtling forward at unprecedented speed, Belden is stepping in to help athletes and industry leaders prepare for and embrace new possibilities.

The new strategic advisory firm plans to work directly with sports executives and help facilitate their lives. Ryan says leaders in today’s sports industry are faced with two major challenges “the speed of decision-making and the speed of competition,” adding, “There’s a lot more on the desk of a sports leader today.”

Ryan is also eager to help athletes emerge as leaders in a vastly evolving sports economy. With that in mind, his new venture aims to prepare athletes to go “to, through, and beyond their sport.” In other words, Belden is prepared to support young athletes reach professional status, support them through their careers, and help them navigate their way to success after their sporting career of choice has ended.

Ryan is uniquely suited to help advise sports professionals. He fell in love with sports as a child in Chicago, before relocating to Minneapolis and translating his passion into a professional career. Along the way, he redeveloped the NBA’s league operations and fan engagement strategies, before pioneering new pathways for elite high school athletes as Commissioner of Overtime Elite. He led the expansion of the International Champions Cup (a summer soccer tournament in the U.S.) as COO of Relevent Sport and worked as the Sports and Entertainment Head at NorthRock. He still credits his interest in sports to his formative years in Chicago and drew the name “Belden Avenue Advisors” directly from the street he grew up on in the Windy City, noting that’s “where his dreams of working in sports were formed.”

Belden Avenue Advisors will leverage Ryan’s years of expertise in operations, internationalization, and business and athlete development to create new opportunities for industry members and sustainable pathways for young athletes.

Beth Sidhu, Chief Brand and Communications Officer at Stagwell, backs Ryan’s new advisory firm. She says “Aaron has a proven track record of bringing together leaders at the intersection of sports and culture for important conversations that drive business growth.”

Ryan is keen to make clear that his firm is unlike the dozens of already existing ones. He hopes to blend his deep insights and “operational excellence,” to anticipate pains that leaders will face and help them overcome them. With experience in everything from start-ups to prominent international leagues, he is certain his expertise will prove beneficial.

One of Belden Avenue’s first projects is to help transform Stagwell’s annual Sport Beach event into the “Davos of Sport.” This year’s event was held in Cannes, and backed by major brands like Chase Bank, DirecTV, Meta, and the NFL. It boasted the presence of sporting icons Eric Cantona, Travis Kelce, and Draymond Green, amongst others. But Belden is looking to make the event an unmissable annual space where visionaries can come together to discuss innovation, future projects, and the direction of the industry.

Ryan did not give specifics on how his firm will help elevate the event, but what is clear is that it will focus on the increasing intersection of sports with business and social change. Conversations about the influx of institutional capital and sovereign wealth, as well as the sports industry’s role in social causes, will be front of mind.

Belden Avenue Advisors is positioning itself at the intersection of sports, business, and culture. It is supporting YQN’s talent development initiative on the African continent, which is sees as the perfect way to prepare future leaders in the industry and unlock emerging opportunities. This initiative can be traced back to Ryan’s time at the NBA where he shared time with YQN CEO George Land.

Ryan notes that Land has “35 years of extensive basketball experience,” and says he played an integral role in setting up between seven and nine basketball academies on the continent. Now the two will work together, through their institutions, to drive education through basketball on the continent. They hope to professionalize youth basketball and develop a new pipeline of talent that could reach the NBA and WNBA.

During his time at the NBA, Ryan saw firsthand how sports can serve as a catalyst for education, economic empowerment, and social change even in the most underserved communities. Sports fans need to look no further than the uplifting nature of South Africa’s Rugby World Cup Victories, or Senegal’s 2021 victory in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) to see the social importance of sporting achievements on the continent.

George Land, Founder and CEO of Youthquake, said about the partnership, “Together, we are committed to creating sustainable pathways for young athletes on the continent and beyond, ensuring success both on and off the court.”

For Aaron Ryan, it is all about elevating sports industry members and helping the industry as a whole become the strongest, most influential version of itself possible. With the industry’s complexity growing every day, he is hoping that athletes, leagues, and brands will lean on him for advice as they work to redefine the sports landscape.