Anton Rukaj, Co-Founder & CEO of FansView, has a passion for all things sports and business. As a former NCAA Football player, being connected to something bigger through sports has always been a driving force in his career from leading teams to growing businesses.
In 2020, as Rukaj was quarantining like the rest of the world, his entrepreneurial brain was in overdrive when he realized aside from post-game press conferences and the one in a million chance your favorite athlete sees your comment on social media - there was no real way to connect. Then one night while walking along the West Side Highway in Rukaj’s hometown of New York City, the idea came to life as he listened to athletes Zoom into postgame interviews during COVID protocols. Now he is on a mission with FansView co-founder, Agim Lolovic to create a community where athletes can connect directly to their fans and fans can build real relationships with their sports heroes.
With a deep background in business development, Rukaj has more than a decade of experience in strategic business and growth strategies, relationship building, and team leadership. Prior to founding FansView, Rukaj was the Director of Business Development at Affinity Answers. Additional roles included, Senior Account Executive at e-Core, Director of New Business Development at The Real Deal and Director at the Professional Sports Publications.
Agim Lolovic, Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) & Chief Operating Officer (COO) of FansView, has more than 20 years of experience in the tech sector, leading teams, building data-driven investment strategies, as well as software development, infrastructure and cyber security. As a CTO, tech investor and startup advisor, FansViews is the fifth company he’s helped to co-found, all of which he supported in scaling seven-figure revenue goals. Lolovic has helped fundraise over $350 million over his career.
Well-known in the Hedge Fund community for his ability to lead and execute on overall business strategy, Lolovic has worked with several prominent Hedge Funds and PE firms. These include: Axiom Investment Advisors; Llolla Capital, where he was a founder and majority shareholder; Apollo Global Management; and Monarch Alternative Capital, where he most recently served as CTO.
Prior to his experience in financial services, Lolovic launched a successful startup called Votech Computer Systems, where he led multiple teams to execute a $40 million contract for a joint venture with the Board of Education and IBM, called Project Connect. Lolovic takes a lot of pride in having had the opportunity to return to his middle school and high school to completely redesign their data centers so early in his career.
Lolovic is a frequent speaker at tech conferences and has taught lessons at the Greenwich Boys and Girls Club. Most recently, he was featured in Forbes sharing insights on how CIOs and CTOs can help their companies grow.
Fred Harner, Advisor of FansView, is a consultant and advisor across sports, news and entertainment with more than 25 years experience helping media companies, platforms and leagues develop and execute winning content strategies, inclusive of compelling live, unscripted, entertainment content direct to consumers.
Charged with building and growing fan bases and audiences of every generation, Harner has won multiple N.Y. Sports Emmy and Telly Awards, and was a 2020 Sports Business “Best In Social” nominee. He has appeared on several panels including the SXSW Technology Conference and BlogWorld & New Media Expo.
Prior to starting his own consultancy, Fred was the SVP of Content & Media at the XFL where he led the league’s content strategy and all digital and social media initiatives. Under his leadership, the XFL drove fan base growth of 37 million fans and over 4 million fans in the league’s digital ecosystem. Harner worked closely with the XFL’s broadcast partners – ESPN and FOX Sports – to drive tune-in, fan engagement and the development of new programming initiatives that reached 42 million viewers and 2 million average viewers per game.
From 2007-2019, Fred was the Vice President & General Manager of Digital Media at SportsNet New York (SNY). As head of SNY’s digital business he oversaw business development, sales/sponsorship, live streaming, multi-platform content creation, social media, VOD, partner relations, analytics and products. Fred managed SNY’s partnerships with Facebook, Twitter, Google, NBCU sports properties, MLB Advanced Media, and Yahoo Sports.
While at SNY, he led the growth of SNY.tv traffic and revenue to all-time highs, introduced live-streaming of MLB Mets games and UConn Basketball, created highly engaging cross-platform programs, while overseeing a 25-person cross functional team.
Prior to SNY, Fred spent six years as the Digital Media Director at the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network (YES Network), helping to launch the most-watched RSN in the U.S. and quickly establishing the network's web site as a go-to resource for Yankees fans around the globe.
Jordan Schlachter, Advisor of FansView brings 30+ years of sports, entertainment, and media revenue, marketing, and content experience to the advisory board of FansView. Most recently he served as the Chief Business Officer of the XFL, overseeing the day-to-day business of the upstart Football League and its eight teams, including partnerships, sponsorship revenue and relationships, licensing, merchandising and retail distribution, and media partner business and sales.
Schlachter came to the XFL in 2019 after four years at the National Basketball Players Association where he held various roles, including founder and President of THINK 450, the for-profit subsidiary of the NBPA, and the first-ever Chief Marketing Officer of the NBPA. During his time, he rebranded the Union and its marks, and built the intellectual property base to monetize upon the formation of THINK 450.
Prior to joining the NBPA, he led the sports practice of The Marketing Arm (TMA), an Omnicom-owned agency which, during his tenure, was a two-time Sports Business Journal Agency of the Year winner.
Before TMA, Schlachter served as the Managing Director of Business Development and Athlete Marketing for the United States Olympic Committee, leading the organization’s overall new sponsorship and athlete endorsement efforts. His successes included selling major categories through the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and establishing the USOC’s first-ever committed sponsor marketing pool geared towards individual athlete participation.
Schlachter began his career at the National Basketball Association (NBA) where, over the course of a decade, worked in broadcasting, team marketing and business operations, marketing partnerships, consumer products, events and finance. He then worked for prominent football and baseball agents Leigh Steinberg and Jeff Moorad in California as Chief Operating Officer, and eventually returned to New York City to join the New York Knicks as VP of Marketing. He subsequently joined Viacom Incorporated, where he oversaw content distribution and marketing for Spike TV, Comedy Central, Black Entertainment Television, Nick Toons, TV Land, and Country Music Television.
Schlachter earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and received his MBA, with distinction, from New York University’s Stern Graduate School of Business, where he currently serves as a regular guest lecturer. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of USA Basketball from 2015-2018, including both Men’s and Women’s Gold-Medal Olympic Teams in Rio, and the Dudley Foundation, which provides funding for summer basketball camps for children with diabetes.
