Ryan Halkett is an award-winning engagement specialist with 25+ years of experience in the development and execution of innovative fan programs for major sports leagues, teams, brands, and events all around the world. These have included such global events as the 2010 Olympics, Super Bowl XLIX and LII, and NHL Premier Games.
Halkett launched his career in 1997 with the Vancouver Canucks and Grizzlies with a focus on gameday entertainment. After working for a few years in Vancouver’s sports industry, he moved east to work with the New York Islanders and then at the “World’s Most Famous Arena” Madison Square Garden. While at Madison Square Garden, Halkett developed and oversaw the fan experiences for the New York Rangers, Liberty, and other sports properties such as college basketball, tennis, college hockey, and boxing.
Throughout his career, Halkett has always had an entrepreneurial spirit with a focus on innovation which led him to start a marketing agency in 2012 called Rooftop2 Productions.
Along with two business partners, Rooftop2 Productions was built on the foundation of connecting brands and consumers through innovative live experiences. Rooftop2 was proud to call major brands, such as the NFL, Toyota, FanDuel, Topps, and many sports teams across the NFL, NHL, MLS, and the NBA as their clients. Outside of sports, Rooftop2 also had a strong presence in automotive, wireless, broadcasting, and the non-profit industry.
In 2017, Halkett and his partners sold Rooftop2 to a global leader in sports and entertainment, Lagardère Sports (now SportFive), where he served as the SVP of Sports Experiences until 2020. While at Lagardère Sports, Halkett continued to work with major brands and sports clients across football, hockey, soccer, car racing, and eSports. In addition, he was hyper-focused on using emerging technology to connect consumers to brands with cutting-edge fan-focused programming platforms that drove first-party data capture. This data that could be used by business intelligence teams to create new revenue opportunities.
Rejoining the New York Islanders in 2020, Halkett is the SVP, Isles Media and Entertainment and content experiences for the Islanders and UBS Arena. In his role, he oversees the gameday presentation team, content production team, event operations group, and the UBS Arena AVB team. Halkett continues to work on next-generation technological advancements to redefine the fan experience and deliver new technologies to maximize game-day engagement and revenue.
Featured in: Monday MVP: Monetizing Video Production Workshop (12/16)
