Mark JanKar

General Manager at ASM Global (MENA)

Judge

Mark Jan Kar joined ASM Global (APAC & MENA) in November 2018, taking up the role as Commercial Director at the Coca-Cola Arena (CCA), Dubai - the UAE’s first multipurpose indoor events venue. His outstanding success in this role has seen him promoted multiple times; first to Director of Commercial and Live in September 2019, to CCA General Manager in 2021 and his most recent appointment as Senior Vice President – Entertainment, Content and Programming (MENA) in February 2024.

An outgoing, passionate, engaging and highly commercial events and entertainment industry professional, Mark has been at the centre of a range of development and content acquisition strategies, bringing some of the biggest acts, sports teams and live performances across the world to the CCA, while also firmly positioning the venue as Dubai’s home of live entertainment and a global ‘must-play’ Arena.

With over a decade of local experience, Mark is passionate in establishing a truly dynamic events, sports and entertainment industry across the MENA region, starting with embedding a strong legacy for Coca-Cola Arena at its home in City Walk Dubai and leveraging his exceptional industry networks to the benefit of ASM Global’s family of MENA venues.

Prior to his positions at Coca-Cola Arena, Mark was the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at International Management Group (IMG), representing and working closely with some of the biggest names and personalities in the world of sport and entertainment. Mark’s time at IMG saw him take the lead on securing and renewing multi-million-dollar sponsorship deals as well as developing mass participation events in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s growing events market.

Mark also served as Director of Marketing and Events at the Dubai-based multi-media sports information and news platform, SPORT360., where he was responsible for the development, expansion and operation of SPORT360’s commercial arm and oversaw all marketing and partnership campaigns. Benefitting from dual New Zealand and Polish citizenship, Mark has also held senior marketing and communications positions at Raymond Sport, a leading sports fitness and equipment distributor for the Middle East region and Emaar Group – Healthcare.

Mark graduated with a Masters in Business Administration and also holds a Bachelors Degree in Information Management from Monash University in Australia and a Diploma in Digital Marketing from Branded School in South Africa.