The AFL has appointed Nine’s Rebecca Haagsma as executive general manager of customer and commercial.
Haagsma is currently the chief product and technology officer at Nine and will kick off at the AFL in February 2025, after relocating from Sydney to Melbourne.
As a member of the AFL Executive and in her role as EGM of customer and commercial, Haagsma will oversee the AFL’s commercial partnerships, events, consumer products, fan engagement and growth, AFL digital and the management of the AFL’s broadcast relationship across Fox, Seven, News Corp and radio partners.
She brings more than 20 years of experience leading teams in the media and telecommunications industries.
Most recently at Nine, Haagsma led the digital transformation of their media assets and, most recently, led the 2024 Paris Olympics team effort across all of Nine’s digital offering.
In a previous stint at Nine she headed up 9Now and was the product lead and ninemsn.
Prior to working at Nine, Haagsma worked at Telstra for seven years in a number of senior executive roles, leading global strategic partnerships, the devices portfolio, and the telco’s Media interests across sports and entertainment rights and streaming products, including the creation and operation of the AFL Live app. Haagsma has also been a Women Leading Tech regular.
“We are extremely fortunate to have Bec join our team in this role. She brings deep expertise across commercial, media, digital and product development and this unique skillset will play an important role in shaping our future direction and engagement with fans.” AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said.
Haagsma said the AFL role was an opportunity 20 years in the making.
“The game of footy has always been a part of my life, and the opportunity to work with the AFL, its clubs, corporate partners and wider stakeholders, and the fans above all, is a dream role for me,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to bringing years of commercial and relationship experience and leadership along with a deep expertise in transformation and being able to match it with my love for Australia’s game.
