Our Team
LEADERSHIP TEAM
JOHN WACK | President
John M. Wack leads ESM, focusing on business development and new project acquisition. John has management, sales, real estate development, start-up, and finance experience. He has written the business plans for seven ground-up projects and three expansions, attracting financing, managing construction, and directing the management teams in each location. John has been involved in the planning, development or management of over $200M in sports assets and $100M in sports programming and event revenue.
Dartmouth College
St. John’s College
ANDREW BALLARD | Vice-President/Partner
Andy Ballard has 22 years of expertise in facility operations, strategic planning, staff management, marketing, branding, expense controls, and business evaluations. His operations experience spans non-profit, for-profit, start-ups, and rehabilitations. Andy consults nationally on sports projects and specializes in the growth and improvement of businesses. His career includes countless turnarounds, start-ups, and facility improvement projects. He has managed hundreds of millions of dollars in sports construction projects and has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in sports program revenue. He participates on several boards and advisory councils. Andy also led the start of ESM’s charitable arm, Play On, with the goal to provide access to sport and activity to 3,000,000 individuals by 2023.
Andy is a graduate of Liberty University, one of the nation’s first accredited sport management programs. His life has been greatly impacted by sports. Andy has a career commitment to serving communities through sports. Sports have been a critical piece of Andy’s childhood and he credits sports with providing much-needed structure and distraction from negative influences. Andy hopes to continue passing on these healthy lifestyle habits in the most important part of his life, his family.
Liberty University
KRISTINA FINIGAN | National Director of Business Development
Kristi leads ESM's facilities' marketing, communications, sponsorship, and event management. She has been immersed in the hospitality, sports, entertainment, and tourism industries for more than 20 years across the country.
Her event background includes marketing, promotions, talent buying, major-scale performance production, accommodations packaging, ticketing, volunteer coordination, food and beverage programming, and more. Throughout her career, she’s secured more than $4M in sponsorship revenue across an array of properties by developing blanketed sponsorship programs for national corporations.
Kristi is charged with developing and implementing innovative marketing initiatives and effective partnership programs. She specializes in creating multi-facility events which drive positive economic impact and increase brand awareness while expanding the firm’s geographic footprint. Additionally, Kristi leads development and outreach efforts for ESM’s charitable arm, Play On.
Cornell University
Purdue University Global
BRIAN CANN | Project Manager
Brian has worked in Sports and Fitness facilities for over 10 years. He started his career with ESM at the Jeff Rouse Swim and Sport Center, first as Aquatics Director before being promoted to General Manager. Now, as the Project Manager for Eastern Sports Management, he brings his knowledge and expertise in facility operations to facility development. His projects include new facility builds and existing facility renovations.
Brian is actively involved in the swimming community and serves as the Finance Vice-Chair on the Board of Directions with Virginia Swimming.
University of Virginia
DAVID HARRIS | Director of Human Resources
David came to Eastern Sports Management from 8 years in the hospitality industry. He has significant experience in general human resources, payroll, benefits, and employee relations. His positions ranged from HR generalist, payroll and benefits administrator, assistant director of human resources, and finally, Director of Human Resources.
Prior to the hospitality industry, David served over 25 years in the United States Coast Guard. During his time in the Coast Guard, David gained extensive experience in job task analysis, workforce modeling, Total Quality Management, and training development and design. Additionally, David served as Civil Rights Officer in a very diverse work setting overseas and as a civilian personnel coordinator overseas and while at USCG Headquarters. These collateral duties enabled David to gain experience in federal and state/local labor law compliance.
St. Leo University
University of Mary Washington