Laura Gentile serves as Executive Vice President, Marketing, ESPN. In this role, she is responsible for leading the marketing for all of ESPN, inclusive of all brands, platforms, shows, and events. Gentile oversees all creative output for ESPN Marketing, overall media strategy, spending and budgeting, and fan engagement.

She is responsible for the health of the ESPN Brand and has crafted campaigns that drive that health inclusive of “There’s No Place Like Sports” and the renowned “This is SportsCenter” campaign. Gentile helps create the marketing, advertising and promotions for critical partners including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and F1, and vital priorities such as the ESPN App, Fantasy Football, and ESPN+, ESPN’s first streaming service. Gentile has been instrumental in fostering a culture that embraces creative excellence and drives new audience growth, engaging youth, women, Hispanic and black audiences throughout the ESPN ecosystem.

Gentile was named to the 2023 Forbes “World’s Most Influential CMOs” list, as well as the Forbes “Most Powerful Women in U.S. Sports” list.

Gentile has previously served as EVP, Commercial Marketing for The Walt Disney Company networks, overseeing Creative Studios, Distribution Marketing and the brand marketing of Disney networks ABC, FX, Disney Channel and NatGeo. She previously held a variety of strategic roles at ESPN, giving her a unique purview. She has served as SVP, Business Operations and Content Strategy, a role that included strategy development and oversight of the business operations of the Content organizations. Simultaneously, she led espnW and Women’s Initiatives at ESPN and was promoted to senior vice president in November 2015.

Gentile was instrumental in launching espnW, ESPN’s first and only dedicated business built to serve women, which debuted in December 2010. espnW is now a multimedia business encompassing digital, social, television, films, global mentorship and events such as The espnW: Women + Sports Summit. espnW is the leading brand of its kind, pioneering a commitment to women in sports and the support of women’s sports across the industry.

Prior to researching and launching espnW, Gentile served as Vice President, Chief of Staff at ESPN. In that role, she worked directly with George Bodenheimer, President, ESPN, Inc. and ABC Sports, on all aspects of the division’s business.

Gentile serves as a member of the V Foundation’s Marketing executive committee. This group helps guide the organization’s marketing strategies to reach wider audiences, remain relevant and raise dollars to fund cancer research. She also serves as a member of the The WICT Network’s Global Board of Directors. She has received the Advertising Women of NY Changing the Game Paradigm Shift Award and WICT’s Signature Accolade for espnW’s Global Sports Mentoring Program. Gentile was a fellow of WICT’s Betsy Magness Leadership Institute Class XVII, and was named to Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 Class and an SBJ Game-Changer. Gentile was appointed to the U.S. Department of State’s Council to Empower Women and Girls Through Sports, developed by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

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 campaign that earned the 2002 GRAND EFFIE for advertising effectiveness, a first in Ogilvy & Mather’s history.

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