Chris Russo is the Founder and CEO of Fifth Generation Sports (FGS), a boutique advisory firm focused on M&A and strategic transactions across the sports ecosystem. Through FGS, he advises CEOs, founders, private equity firms, and strategic buyers, leveraging more than 25 years of experience and deep industry relationships.

Recent transactions include the sale of SportsRecruits to IMG Academy, Playmaker HQ to Better Collective, the PHF women’s hockey league to Mark Walter/PWHL, and Brand Brigade to Bruin Capital/TGI. Prior to founding FGS, Mr. Russo led Houlihan Lokey’s sports M&A practice, where he completed several landmark transactions, including the sale of Sports Illustrated to Authentic Brands Group and SI Play to Comcast NBCUniversal.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Russo served as Senior Vice President of the NFL’s digital media business. In that role, he oversaw all aspects of operations—including content, advertising, marketing, and business development—and led pioneering partnerships with companies such as Sprint, Yahoo, CBS Sports, AOL, and SiriusXM. He also launched the NFL’s first fantasy football games on NFL.com and its first online memorabilia platform (NFL Auction) in partnership with eBay and the NFLPA.

As an entrepreneur, Mr. Russo founded and led Big Lead Sports (aka Fantasy Sports Ventures), building it into the largest independent digital sports network in the U.S., reaching over 20 million monthly users before its sale to USA TODAY. He began his career in media with senior roles at NBC and New Line Cinema.

Mr. Russo is a faculty member at Northwestern University, where he teaches “Digital Media in Sports” in the School of Professional Studies. He holds a BA from Northwestern University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.