Former FA commercial chief joins Kentaro

The former group commercial director of the Football Association, Jonathan Hill is to join sports rights agency Kentaro.

Hill has been appointed as chief operating officer for the Kentaro Group, which deals in the acquisition and distribution of football television and sponsorship rights, and will start in the new year.

Philipp Grothe, joint chief executive of Kentaro, says Hill’s appointment is a “real coup” for the firm, adding his experience of developing commercial programmes at the FA and Wembley Stadium will benefit the business.

Hill, who previously worked with Kentaro to arrange England’s first match at the revamped Wembley against Brazil and the recent fixture between the two in Qatar, left the FA in September.

His departure came a month after the FA integrated its sponsorship and marketing departments with those of its Wembley Stadium business as part of a wider restructure which saw the creation of the FA Group.

Kentaro works with a number of football associations around the world including the Argentinean, Brazilian, Irish and Swedish governing bodies.