Full Name
Kelly Cheeseman
Job Title
COO
Company
AEG Sports & LA Kings
Speaker Bio
Kelly Cheeseman serves as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Kings, and he represents the Kings as an Alternate Governor. In addition, Cheeseman serves as COO for AEG Sports which oversees multiple sports teams and events including the LA Galaxy (five-time MLS Champions), Ontario Reign (American Hockey League) and Eisbären Berlin of Deutsche Eishockey Liga, where he plays an integral executive role and is a member of that hockey franchise’s Board of Directors.
In his 24th year with the organization, Cheeseman’s day-to-day role as COO for the Kings includes overseeing the Kings various business departments with the goal of maximizing club revenues and growing the team’s charitable endeavors. His areas of oversight include Ticket Sales and Service, CRM and Analytics, Marketing, Digital, Game Presentation, Communications and Broadcasting, Hockey Development, Community Relations and Human Resources along with working with AEG Global Partnerships to oversee all sponsorship opportunities for the club.
As part of the senior executive leadership team within the Kings, Cheeseman has played a key role in achieving record organizational success and setting several franchise records in Ticket Sales, Sponsorship and On-line Digital Metrics. Additionally, the team enjoyed a club record sellout streak of 297 consecutive home games including 262 straight regular season contests. In March of 2014, he was named to Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 list, and in 2015 the Kings were named the Sports Team of the Year at the Sports Business Journal’s Sports Business Awards event.
During his tenure at AEG, Cheeseman has been an integral part of the success of numerous high profile championship teams and events in Los Angeles including championship boxing, tennis, lacrosse, soccer, cycling, track and field, three MLS Cups, two Stanley Cup Championships, two NHL All-Star Games, NHL Entry Draft, 50th Anniversary Celebration, NHL Premiere in Europe and three Outdoor NHL Games. In recent years the Kings made more history playing the first NHL games in China and Australia.
Cheeseman was also a driving force behind Keck Medicine of USC and Meyer Institute of Sport calling the Toyota Sports Performance Center home along with the LA Kings Off-Ice Training Center at the El Segundo facility.
In the community, Cheeseman has been an active board member with both the Kings Care and LA Galaxy Foundations. He helped lead the Kings Care Foundation’s five-year pledge to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) that includes a $1,000,000 commitment to the LA Kings Bloodmobile; the Foundation’s five-year, $500,000 commitment to CHLA’s Blood Donor Center; and a $1,000,000 commitment to the YMCA Metro Los Angeles to implement Ball Hockey in all 26 locations. Additionally, Cheeseman played a leading role in the Kings’ $1,000,000 donation to Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times to fund the construction of the Dining Hall and Activity Center in Mountain Center.
In conjunction with the Kings, Cheeseman serves on the following boards: Discovery Cube Los Angeles, Los Angeles Metro YMCA Board, Redondo Beach Police Foundation and the LA Sports and Entertainment Committee. Among the many highlights include the Kings Care Foundation’s partnership with Discovery Cube Los Angeles in 2015 which introduced a permanent Science of Hockey exhibit, a highly interactive, educational and science-based $2.5-million, 3,000-plus square foot wing of the museum based in the Hansen Dam Recreational Area.
Before joining the Kings and AEG, Cheeseman worked for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (California League) as Marketing Manager with a focus on Marketing and Ticket Sales.
A graduate of Northwood University in West Palm Beach, Florida, Cheeseman earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing Management in 2000. At Northwood he minored in Advertising and MIS. In 1996, he attended Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. In school, Cheeseman served as Senior Class President; was a Member of the Men's Varsity Baseball Team at both universities; was the 2000 Student Athlete of the Year (Northwood University) and was a member of Who's Who in College Students in North America in 2000.
Kelly and his wife Andrea reside in Redondo Beach with their daughters Emma and Maisie.
In his 24th year with the organization, Cheeseman’s day-to-day role as COO for the Kings includes overseeing the Kings various business departments with the goal of maximizing club revenues and growing the team’s charitable endeavors. His areas of oversight include Ticket Sales and Service, CRM and Analytics, Marketing, Digital, Game Presentation, Communications and Broadcasting, Hockey Development, Community Relations and Human Resources along with working with AEG Global Partnerships to oversee all sponsorship opportunities for the club.
As part of the senior executive leadership team within the Kings, Cheeseman has played a key role in achieving record organizational success and setting several franchise records in Ticket Sales, Sponsorship and On-line Digital Metrics. Additionally, the team enjoyed a club record sellout streak of 297 consecutive home games including 262 straight regular season contests. In March of 2014, he was named to Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 list, and in 2015 the Kings were named the Sports Team of the Year at the Sports Business Journal’s Sports Business Awards event.
During his tenure at AEG, Cheeseman has been an integral part of the success of numerous high profile championship teams and events in Los Angeles including championship boxing, tennis, lacrosse, soccer, cycling, track and field, three MLS Cups, two Stanley Cup Championships, two NHL All-Star Games, NHL Entry Draft, 50th Anniversary Celebration, NHL Premiere in Europe and three Outdoor NHL Games. In recent years the Kings made more history playing the first NHL games in China and Australia.
Cheeseman was also a driving force behind Keck Medicine of USC and Meyer Institute of Sport calling the Toyota Sports Performance Center home along with the LA Kings Off-Ice Training Center at the El Segundo facility.
In the community, Cheeseman has been an active board member with both the Kings Care and LA Galaxy Foundations. He helped lead the Kings Care Foundation’s five-year pledge to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) that includes a $1,000,000 commitment to the LA Kings Bloodmobile; the Foundation’s five-year, $500,000 commitment to CHLA’s Blood Donor Center; and a $1,000,000 commitment to the YMCA Metro Los Angeles to implement Ball Hockey in all 26 locations. Additionally, Cheeseman played a leading role in the Kings’ $1,000,000 donation to Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times to fund the construction of the Dining Hall and Activity Center in Mountain Center.
In conjunction with the Kings, Cheeseman serves on the following boards: Discovery Cube Los Angeles, Los Angeles Metro YMCA Board, Redondo Beach Police Foundation and the LA Sports and Entertainment Committee. Among the many highlights include the Kings Care Foundation’s partnership with Discovery Cube Los Angeles in 2015 which introduced a permanent Science of Hockey exhibit, a highly interactive, educational and science-based $2.5-million, 3,000-plus square foot wing of the museum based in the Hansen Dam Recreational Area.
Before joining the Kings and AEG, Cheeseman worked for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (California League) as Marketing Manager with a focus on Marketing and Ticket Sales.
A graduate of Northwood University in West Palm Beach, Florida, Cheeseman earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing Management in 2000. At Northwood he minored in Advertising and MIS. In 1996, he attended Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. In school, Cheeseman served as Senior Class President; was a Member of the Men's Varsity Baseball Team at both universities; was the 2000 Student Athlete of the Year (Northwood University) and was a member of Who's Who in College Students in North America in 2000.
Kelly and his wife Andrea reside in Redondo Beach with their daughters Emma and Maisie.