BBC appoints Alex Kay-Jelski as new Director of Sport

Charlotte Moore, BBC's Chief Content Officer, announced Alex Kay-Jelski as the Director of BBC Sport. Kay-Jelski will report directly to Charlotte Moore and lead the world-class BBC Sport teams and will start in the role in June. The BBC is the most-used sports broadcaster in the UK and provides audiences with unparalleled cross-platform coverage and an unmatched portfolio of free-to-air sports rights.

Alex Kay-Jelski joins to further strengthen the BBC's position and, as Director, will set the editorial and creative strategy for BBC Sport. He will lead the world-class teams across commissioning, production, digital, and journalism and work closely with talent and partners to help drive the sport's growth across the BBC's digital services. Alex Kay-Jelski will represent the BBC with external bodies and rights holders, and be responsible for rights acquisition deals across TV, Audio and Online - as well as champion the reach and public value of sport across the UK.

Charlotte Moore said: "Alex is a dynamic and creative editorial leader who has a clear vision about how to take BBC Sport into the future. He joins us from the highly respected digital sports subscription service The Athletic, where he has been responsible for developing and growing the brand from scratch in the UK to become a leading force in the industry and overseeing phenomenal growth. Alex has always embraced innovation. His editorial judgment and expert knowledge are impressive, and he brings with him a wealth of experience in telling stories and delivering sports content to audiences in a digital world. Barbara Slater leaves BBC Sport in rude health with an incredible summer of sport ahead, and I'm looking forward to Alex leading us for the next generation of unrivaled sports broadcasting."

Alex Kay-Jelski added: "I am so excited to be joining BBC Sport in the summer and to have the chance to work with so many incredible people. Like most people, so many of my sporting memories have been lived with the BBC there to guide me through, and having the chance to shape what that should look like in the coming years is a brilliant challenge. I am emotional leaving The Athletic and all the wonderful people there. It means so much to me, and I'm incredibly proud of all of them."

Alex joins the BBC from The Athletic, where he is Editor in Chief. He set up the international arm in 2019, created the ethos of the product, and helped the company gain a million subscribers just over a year later, as well as respect for the football and journalism industry. The growth of the football market has been credited for it being bought by the New York Times in 2022. Before that, he was the Sports Editor at The Times from 2015 to 1019 and Sports Editor at Daily Mail.