Alex Kay-Jelski named as director of BBC Sport

UK public service broadcaster BBC has appointed Alex Kay-Jelski as director of its sports division.

Alex Kay-Jelski (Source: BBC)

Kay-Jelski as director of BBC Sport will oversee the unit’s editorial and creative strategy. He replaces Barbara Slater, the first female director at the BBC, who retired after 14 years in the role and 40 years at the the pubcaster.

Kay-Jelski joins the BBC in June from sports journalism trade The Athletic, where he was editor in chief since 2019. He set up the international arm in 2019 and helped the company pass a million subscribers just over a year later.

Prior to that Kay-Jelski was the sports editor at The Times and at Daily Mail.

The new BBC Sport boss will lead teams – across commissioning, production, digital and journalism, working closely with talent and partners to drive the growth of sport across the BBC’s digital services.

Kay-Jelski will also represent the BBC with external bodies and rights holders, and be responsible for rights acquisition deals across TV, audio and online.

He will report directly to BBC’s chief content officer,Charlotte Moore, who 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 judgement and expert knowledge is impressive and he brings with him a wealth of experience in telling stories and delivering sports content to audiences in a digital world.

She added, “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 unrivalled sports broadcasting.”

Kay-Jelski  said: “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.”