A 30-year veteran sports and event marketer, Jim Delaney has spent his entire career working with pro sports franchises, top-tier entertainment venues, breakthrough brands, and technology innovators. In recent years, he has also become a leading AI advocate, empowering sports and entertainment executives to harness the transformative potential of artificial intelligence through education, actionable insights, and innovative tools.

In addition to founding Activate almost 20 years ago, Delaney’s extensive industry experience includes a decade overseeing Marketing and PR at Boston’s TD Garden, New England’s premier arena and home to the NHL’s Boston Bruins and NBA’s Boston Celtics.  During his time there, the arena consistently ranked among the world’s top three highest-grossing venues of its size. His career also entailed seven seasons with the NBA’s Washington Bullets/Wizards, as well as roles with the NFL’s New England Patriots and NBA’s Seattle Sonics.

Delaney has been inducted into the Event & Arena Marketing Hall of Fame, and was a recipient of the GIGI Award of Excellence, given annually to an industry executive for their leadership and contributions to the field of live entertainment.  He is a member of PR News’ Social Media Hall of Fame, a winner of PR Week’s ‘Arts, Entertainment & Media Campaign of the Year’ Award, Clio Sports Marketing Award finalist, and a three-time winner of Venues Today’s ‘Hall of Headlines’ Marketing Campaign of the Year Award.

Delaney earned an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University, a master’s degree from NYU’s Tisch Institute for Global Sport, and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s ‘Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports’ program.