Sessions
Awakening the Blue Tiger
Sunil Chhetri, Gaurav Gala, Kunaal Majgaonkar, Neel Shah with Shantanu Ray Chaudhari
Bio
Neel Shah is an experienced sports management professional and educator. He has worked for over two decades on the development and commercialisation of football in North America, Asia, and Europe. In his current position with India On Track, Shah is responsible for running the Global Institute of Sports Business as well as securing new business for the group.
Prior to joining India On Track, Shah was the Chief Executive Officer of DSK Shivajians FC and the Liverpool FC International Academy – DSK. Within this role, Neel oversaw all business operations for the Pune-based professional football club. Before stepping into professional club management, Shah served as the Business Director for Libero Sports. At Libero, he was responsible for guiding and advising Indian football stakeholders with their investments and facilitating strategic partnerships to further the industry. In addition, he created commercially viable avenues for international football entities to enter the Indian
market and has successfully supported football giants Manchester United, FC Barcelona, Liverpool FC, and FC Bayern Munich build their brands and business in India.
Prior to moving to India, Neel spent seven years with New York based Major League Soccer serving as the league’s Director of Fan Development. In that role, he was responsible for overseeing the league’s national grassroots programming, working with MLS clubs to build their local market relevance, and liaising with club supporter groups.
He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Economics w/emphasis in Sports Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He then received his MBA in Sports Management from Seton Hall University, located in South Orange, New Jersey.
Shah is also a certified Life Coach and a regular TEDx speaker.