EPIC Global Solutions adds industry newcomer to support US expansion
Dr Meg Popovic links up with gambling harm minimization consultancy after a long career working with a number of US sports governing bodies
EPIC Global Solutions has appointed Dr Meg Popovic as its new senior professional sports manager as the consultancy looks to expand its reach in the US.
In her new role with the company, Dr Popovic will manage and grow EPIC’s relationships with leading professional sports leagues, organizations, and franchises.
She has been working with the consultancy firm for almost a year as part of the company’s pro-sport advisory board. She is also currently a performance adviser for the London-based networking firm Leaders in Sport.
Before her time as an adviser at EPIC, Dr Popovic was a co-founder and chief learning officer at NextPlayU from September 2022 to December 2023. NextPlayU is a talent development and recruitment agency that connects former collegiate and professional athletes with firms across the US. During her time at NextPlayU, she worked with athletic and academic All-Americans, Olympic champions, and NCAA team captains.
Before co-founding NextPlayU, Dr Popovic spent five years at the Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Partnership between October 2016 and June 2021. Her original role with the firm was as a personal and professional development coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Marlies. She then became director of athlete wellbeing and performance at the Toronto Maple Leafs.
She also held roles at the New Leaf Foundation and Modo Yoga International.
On the appointment of Dr Popovic, Ben McGregor, director of sports programs at EPIC, said: “To bring in someone who has been invited to share knowledge on athlete welfare best practice with the likes of the NHL, MLB, NBA, and top world cycling teams will clearly be a major asset to EPIC and all the clients we serve within professional sports.
“There is no doubt that her knowledge and connections within the industry will bring mutual benefits to all involved, as we seek to spread the important message of how to negate some of gambling’s more harmful effects at a time when sport in North America is becoming increasingly connected with the rapidly-expanding legalized sports wagering market in the US.”
Speaking exclusively to EGR, Dr Popovic detailed what she hopes to achieve in her new role and how operators, educational and sporting organizations should work together to protect athletes better. “There are two parts. First, I want to expose athletes to facilitators like EPIC, who talk about gambling experiences.
“What I want to do is gather all the partners that EPIC has with the major leagues and get the athletes the exposure to this conversation, to add it to their lives, and get them contemplating who they want to be as athletes in a very humanized way.”
She continued: “My second goal is to help build out EPIC’s consultancy model. I think that it’s one thing to share lived experiences with the athletes and that athletes are their own individual people to take responsibility for their own lives.
“At the same time, however, the organizations often do not know how best to handle situations that arise or what preventative measures can be put in place in the busy hecticness of the high-performance sporting calendar.”
EPIC Global Solutions rebranded from EPIC Risk Management in December with a view to further home in on potential US gains.
Arnold Ash is EGR’s Executive Recruitment Partner. They support ambitious organisations to identify and attract industry leading executive talent. Find out more here.