Jaap Kalma to bring blue chip experience to SBC commercial team

SBC (Sports Betting Community) has confirmed the permanent appointment of Jaap Kalma as its new Group Chief Commercial Officer.

Kalma has been working with SBC for the past four months in an interim role as Business Development Director overseeing the growth into the sports sponsorship industry, having already partnered with SBC to launch the SBC Sponsorship Forum at last year’s Betting on Football event at Stamford Bridge.

He was previously the Chief Commercial Officer at AC Milan, the second most successful club in European Club history, where he was responsible for marketing, commercial revenues and global development.

Prior to that, Kalma was Global Brand Director at luxury sports car manufacturer and Formula 1 team, Ferrari, while he also spent over a decade at consumer goods multinational Unilever. He attended college and graduate school in the USA, coming away with an MBA from Stanford University.

Kalma will now undertake the CCO role for the Sport Global Group, overseeing the sales and marketing teams for all businesses within the group including SBC News, SBC Events, Esports Insider, Affiliate Insider and the social prediction gaming platform Oddslife.

Rasmus Sojmark, CEO and Founder of SBC, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Jaap into SBC. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge, skills and capabilities that will help the company grow for years to come. This is a very exciting time for SBC as we continue to grow all the companies within the group on a global scale.”

Kalma added: “Having worked with Rasmus and the team for a while now, it is extremely exciting to be joining SBC in a permanent role. SBC has grown rapidly and continuously with the expansion of its news sites and the success of its conference and exhibition events in the UK and the recent Betting on Sports America in the US last month. I look forward to helping the company continue on its successful path in the future.”