BROOKLYN, NY: Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, which oversees programming, marketing, sales, and operations for Barclays Center and NYCB Live, has promoted Mandy Gutmann to head of comms.
Gutmann has succeeded EVP and chief communications officer Barry Baum, who departed the company in January, as its top comms executive. Her title, however, is senior director of communications. Gutmann previously reported to Baum, but now reports to COO Fred Mangione.
Gutmann declined to comment on why Baum departed. Baum was not immediately available for comment.
The Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment umbrella group was created in May 2016. It manages and controls the NBA's Brooklyn Nets and its Development League team, the Long Island Nets, as well as the business operations of the NHL's New York Islanders.
"We handle everything from generating publicity for all of our brands to executing multiple events, and being the conduit between the event and the media covering it," said Gutmann.
Gutmann added she is focused on NYCB Live, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Presented by NYCB, which is scheduled to reopen on April 5 after extensive renovations with a concert by Billy Joel.
The venue will offer 13,000 seats for hockey, 13,500 for basketball, and 14,500 for standard concert configurations, with the "ability to flex up," she explained. Its bowl will have a theater seating option for 4,000 guests.
Gutmann joined the company in 2012 as communications manager and was promoted to communications director in 2014. Gutmann and Baum worked on the opening of Barclays Center, the launch of the Brooklyn Nets brand after the team’s move from New Jersey, and the reinvention of Nassau Coliseum, the company said in a statement.
