Laura Gentile

 
Vice President, espnW 

Laura Gentile

Laura Gentile is vice president of espnW, ESPN’s first dedicated content and digital business designed to serve, inform and inspire female athletes and fans.  espnW initially launched in Dec. 2010 as a blog and has evolved as of April 2011 to an enhanced web site that will feature more in-depth content, an enriched user interface, increased social interaction and cleaner navigation. 

As ESPN has focused in on expanding its content to high school athletes and fans, Gentile was asked to provide day-to-day oversight in managing ESPN RISE Digital Media and Publishing in the fall of 2010.  

Prior to researching and launching espnW, Gentile had previously served as vice president, assistant to the president.  In that role, Gentile worked directly with George Bodenheimer, President, ESPN, Inc. and ABC Sports, on all aspects of the company’s businesses.  She played an instrumental role in the development and branding of “ESPN on ABC,” which brought the ESPN brand to the ABC television platform. 

Before working in the office of the president, Gentile was the senior director of brand management within ESPN Consumer Marketing.  In that role she was responsible for driving the strategic marketing direction for properties such as the NFL, SportsCenter, the NHL, ESPN The Weekend, The ESPY Awards, and ESPNEWS.  Gentile joined ESPN in January 2003 as director, advertising and marketing where her first assignment was the positioning, marketing and promotion of ESPN25, ESPN’s year-long 25th anniversary campaign that celebrated sports fans and created ESPN’s first online fan community. 

Gentile honed her marketing and advertising skills as a senior partner, management supervisor at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide.  Her team led the development of IBM’s e-business infrastructure campaign that earned the 2002 GRAND EFFIE for advertising effectiveness, a first in Ogilvy’s history. 

A graduate from Duke University in 1994 with a double major in English and Political Science, she earned an MBA in Marketing and Organizational Behavior from Boston College’s Carroll Graduate School of Management in 1996.  While an undergraduate, Gentile garnered All-America and All-ACC honors in field hockey and was a two-time team captain.  She led Duke to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament and was named to the ACC’s 50th Anniversary field hockey team. 

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