
- Jim Wilburn
President & Chief Executive Officer
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Jim Wilburn founded Winner Communications in 1982 as a syndicator of American Quarter Horse racing telecasts,
and has been the moving force behind Winnercomm's evolution into America's largest independent sports production,
program development, marketing services and sales company. Winner of 13 Emmy Awards, Winnercomm produces over
1,500 hours of programming annually for ESPN and 13 other networks. Wilburn is widely recognized for his ability
to forge long-lasting relationships with premier sports properties and corporate brands, bringing clients and
television entities together in business relationships that create value for all parties.
- Gordon Whitener
Chairman
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In February of 2006, Gordon was appointed to the Board of Directors of Winnercomm, Inc., and chairman of a holding
company that controls the assets of Winnercomm and Skycam. He is currently chairman and CEO of Action Sports Media,
a Knoxville-based company that provides niche collegiate sports marketing services, specializing in athletic venue
media rights. Prior to joining Action Sports Media, he served as president and CEO of HOST Communications, which
provides affinity, multimedia, promotional and event management services to universities, athletic conferences,
associations and corporations.
Whitener founded the United States Cowboy Tours (USCT), a rodeo and sports marketing company considered the premier
rodeo company in the Southeast. USCT events are held in six states and are featured attractions at NASCAR Winston Cup
race locations. He was also president and CEO of Interface Americas, a global leader in commercial interior finishes.
Under his leadership, Interface experienced record sales and profit growth, and in 1998, Whitener was recognized as
one of "Georgia's Top 40 (Executives) Under 40" by Georgia Trend Magazine. He is a 1985 graduate of the University
of Tennessee and worked as an undergraduate in the athletic department at the university. He also served as graduate
assistant football coach and director of athletic recruiting at Oklahoma State University.
- John Baker
Chief Financial Officer
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John Baker is a native Oklahoman, born and raised in Muskogee, and is a graduate of Northeastern State University with
an economics degree. A member of a prominent family of bankers, John served as president of American Bank in Muskogee
until 1981. He then served as president of Commercial Bank & Trust Company in Tulsa from 1981-1993.
Baker served as Chairman of the Board of Winnercomm, Inc., since its inception in 1981; he became CFO in 1993. He oversees
all accounting and financial operations at Winnercomm in support of the varied business units operated by the company.
- Marc S. Kidd
President
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Marc Kidd, 47, was president of The Kidd Group, a sports marketing and strategic planning consultancy based in Dallas.
Prior to being named President of Winnercomm, he provided strategic planning, sales and business development services for a
number of the company's television production properties.
Prior to forming The Kidd Group, Kidd was president and COO of HOST Communications, and handled overall management and
operations for HOST Communicationsâ collegiate business for more
than 20 years. Throughout his tenure with HOST, he held numerous executive positions in the areas of sales, collegiate
sports, marketing, radio and television, client development, new business, and grassroots events and promotions. His vast
experience and core understanding of conceptual selling, packaging and selling corporate partnerships, television, radio,
print, Internet promotions and grassroots events resulted in sales of more than $150 million in corporate marketing and media.
Kidd was part of the initial HOST team that was responsible for creating the first-ever corporate partnership program in
collegiate sports — the influential NCAA Corporate Partner Program — which established an unprecedented avenue
for corporate America to speak to the collegiate marketplace. He also played a key role in the development of NCAA Football
in 1997.
Kidd is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University and The Sports Management Institute. He is based in Winnercomm's Dallas office.
- Jason Kays
Chief Operating Officer
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Jason Kays, 35, joined Winnercomm in 2006 and serves as Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining Winnercomm, Jason served as Chief Executive Officer of Personnel Concepts, a Southern California-based business that provides labor law compliance tools and other human resource products. Serving on behalf of private equity ownership, Kays led Personnel Concepts through rapid business growth and an eventual sale of the business to Brady Corporation, a public company (BRC) headquartered in Milwaukee, WI.
Kays previously served as Vice President of Advertising and Vice President of Circulation for The Dallas Morning News, a subsidiary of Belo Corp (BLC). Prior to taking on these operating roles, Kays served as a Management Consultant for McKinsey & Co, a global strategic consultancy.
Kays is a native of Oklahoma, having been born in Tulsa and raised in Duncan. He received his B.S. in Economics from Oklahoma State University and subsequently earned his Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
- Chris Lincoln
Executive Vice President & Co-Founder
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Chris Lincoln, Winnercomm co-founder and Executive Vice President, is known to millions of television viewers
around the world as the ãvoice of Thoroughbred racingä. The long-time host of ESPN's Racehorse Digest (
now Wire to Wire), Chris also writes and produces ESPN's Thoroughbred Classics and Run For The Roses special programs.
His role as host of ESPN's "Racing Across America" series from 1984 through 1998 has been recognized by
the industry as a primary force in boosting the public's interest in the Sport of Kings. The series
received the sport's top honor -- an Eclipse Award -- and also garnered the John A. Morris Award from
the New York Turf Writers Association. Chris has also been honored by the American Quarter Horse Association
with numerous Sprint Awards for excellence in television production.
Prior to his involvement in Thoroughbred racing, Chris did college football and basketball play-by-play
for both ABC Sports and ESPN. He began his broadcast career at KFRU radio while at the University of
Missouri and in 1974 came to KTUL-TV, the ABC affiliate in Tulsa, as the station's award-winning
sports anchor.
- Tom Dooley
Senior Vice President-Production
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Two-time Emmy Award-winner Tom Dooley has over 25 years of television production experience and currently
serves as production executive for one of the largest production facilities in the U.S. at Winnercomm's
Tulsa headquarters.
A 15-year Winnercomm veteran, Tom spearheaded the company's entry into the commercial marketplace and has
produced and developed a broad array of projects, including ESPN SportsCentury, for which he won two Emmys.
He serves as executive producer for eight nationally televised outdoors series and more than a dozen high-profile
original documentary, lifestyle and history/education programs annually.
- Sam Youngwirth
Senior Vice President-Sales
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Sam Youngwirth manages Winnercomm's national sales operation for programming, production and Internet assets.
He joined Winnercomm in 2000 from BASS, bringing that organization's television properties to Winnercomm and
eventually helping broker the acquisition deal with ESPN. Sam is a nationally recognized niche sports marketing
specialist having developed and executed programs for numerous Fortune 500 companies including Wal-Mart, Coke,
Energizer, General Motors, General Mills, Michelin, Timex and VF Apparel.
- Ben Cambra
VP-NTRA Productions
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Ben Cambra oversees the daily sales and sponsorship operations for horse racing programming on ESPN television
and ESPN.com; clients include Churchill Downs, New York Racing Association, Florida Thoroughbred Breeders,
California Thoroughbred Breeders and Daily Racing Form. Prior to joining Winnercomm in 1999, Ben served as VP-Marketing
for Emerald Downs (Auburn, WA) and was director of marketing for Remington Park in Oklahoma City from 1987-94. He has
held various marketing and management positions at other major horse racing venues, including Santa Anita, Del Mar,
Louisiana Downs and Canterbury Downs.
- Frank Campisi
VP-Research
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Frank Campisi is a senior national television broadcast research executive with a comprehensive background in
developing research insight for program scheduling strategies and research to support the planning, buying and
selling of network, cable and national syndication television. Frank spent twenty years at ABC-TV in New York
in research and sales, and was VP-Director of Research for Media Planning Group, one of the largest media specialist
companies in the U.S. with billings of more than $1 billion. His clients included Intel, Office Depot, Isuzu and
MCI WorldCom.
- Mary Martin
VP-Finance
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As the vice president of finance, Mary Martin oversees the accounting operations of Winnercomm, Inc. Her responsibilities
include projections, audits, internal control reviews, all accounting procedures and oversight of the business units.
She leads a team of four trained accountants who are responsible for timely and accurate financial reports. Mary is the
recipient of the Dave Miller award, given annually to the Winnercomm employee who best exemplifies the company's core
values of respect, trust and integrity. Prior to joining Winnercomm in 1989, Mary spent 18 years in accounting at KTUL-TV,
the ABC affiliate in Tulsa.
- Roy Patton
VP & Chief Engineer-Winnercomm/GM-Skycam, LLC
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Roy Patton has extensive experience in the technical management of television production and the design and production
of mobile TV units for private production companies. Roy joined Winnercomm in 1992 and in 2004 became the general manager
of Winnercomm's innovative Skycam division. Skycam is a leading designer, manufacturer and operator of mobile aerial
camera systems, used extensively in NFL and other sports programming for ESPN, ABC, NBC, CMA, TNT, BBC, BSkyB London,
MAT-Film and Channel Nine Australia.
- Chris White
VP-Executive Creative Director
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For over 17 years, Chrisâ creativity has been exhibited in a multitude of forms for clients that have included Microsoft,
Universal Records, NFL Networks, CITGO, OneOK, LPGA, ESPN, ABC Sports, Comcast, HBO, Time Warner, Williams and Conoco-Phillips.
Whether it's producing live shows for ESPN, broadcast design for major television networks like ABC, NBC and CBS, or being the
visionary for Winnercomm Interactive, Chrisâ boundless source for creative output never ceases to amaze. With a skill set that
includes everything from writing and producing to fine art and space design, his ample list of accomplishments have established
Chris as a premier designer who consistently delivers a creative, convincing cross-media solution for Winnercomm clients.
- Lou Kusserow
Executive Producer Remote Programming & Production
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Joined Winnercomm in 2007 after spending 10 years with ESPN as a producer/director.
Kusserow is responsible for supervising a team of remote coordinating producers and managing all aspects of remote production for a variety of programming properties, including horse racing (NTRA), professional rodeo (PRCA Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Wrangler ProRodeo Winter and Summer Tours, Dodge Xtreme Bulls), soccer (MLS, U.S. Soccer), bowling (Dennyâs PBA Tour), lacrosse (MLL), softball (ASA/USA World Cup of Softball), cheerleading and dance (Varsity Brands), golf (LPGA, Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational, Wendy's Three Tour, People vs. The Pros) and snowmobile and ATV racing (PowerSports Entertainment).