MIKE JAKOB
CEO
Mike grew up in Columbus, Ohio as a passionate Ohio State fan -- an addiction he is only recently fully recovered from. He matriculated one state west after high school to attend Notre Dame and one more state west after college for the first stop in his career. After deciding that he had no interest in moving any further west, Mike set down roots in Chicago and he and his family use ORD as their home base to chip away at his bucket list goal of visiting 75 countries, which is at 48 and counting.
Mike brings to DGT over 20 years of experience in sports, technology and digital media. Mike previously served as President, COO and CFO for Sportvision, the company best known for the invention of football’s yellow 1st and Ten® line, baseball’s KZone and PITCHf/x technologies and NASCAR’s RACEf/x. During Mike’s tenure Sportvision technologies were employed at over 5,000 events annually, reaching more than 100 million fans, and captured ten Emmy Awards, the inaugural Sports Business Journal “Sports Technology/Innovation of the Year” Award, and was named by Fast Company Magazine’s as one of the “50 Most Innovative Companies in the World”. Prior to joining Sportvision, Mike worked as COO for Ignite Sports, a leading Chicago based publisher of private label websites for professional sports teams and leagues; Director of Sears Online for Sears Roebuck & Co.; and as a management consultant for both A.T. Kearney and Peterson Consulting. Mike earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a BBA in Finance from University of Notre Dame. Mike has served as a Board Member for Digital Golf Technologies, Sportvision, and Unwired Technologies (a worldwide leader in automotive infotainment connectivity).
Why I like working at Swing King:
Swing King has the potential to have a transformative impact on the game of golf and I wake up excited every day to tackle that challenge with our incredibly talented team
Do you have a Hole-in-One?:
Soon, very soon
Walk-Up Music for 1st Tee:
Welcome to the Jungle, Guns n Roses
Who would play me in “Swing King - The Movie”:
I used to get a lot of Troy Aikman, now it’s mostly Anderson Cooper
Most memorable round of golf:
2008 ESPY's with a barefoot and "well-served" Jim McMahon
