Bobby Sharma

Bobby Sharma is the Founder & Managing Partner of Bluestone Equity Partners.

A business leader with a global track-record of accomplishment across finance, strategy, management, operations, and law, Sharma was previously Chairman of investment firm Blue Devil Holdings, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of esports advisory firm Electronic Sports Group, and Partner at private equity firm GACP Sports, including serving as Vice Chairman & CEO of portfolio company Soccerex, the world's largest organizer of European football industry conferences. He is also Special Adviser to the Sports & Entertainment Group at the law firm Foley & Lardner LLP.

Prior to that, Sharma was SVP, Global Head of Basketball & Strategic Initiatives at IMG, the premier international sports, fashion, and media company. He led the growth of a range of businesses worldwide, including the management of global sports media rights, and the actual creation, development, and management of basketball, soccer, and cricket properties – from grassroots programs and academies, to national teams and professional leagues – with a focus on major emerging markets such as India, Brazil, China, Turkey, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. In such countries he helped build infrastructure for amateur and professional sports organizations, including financial, commercial, and franchise models, along with integrated media and marketing plans, as well as training facilities and event venues. Among those accomplishment, Sharma developed exclusive commercial rights to professional basketball and soccer in India, and basketball in Nigeria – each in partnership with the respective governing federations and their national team programs.

Sharma was also VP & General Counsel of the NBA Development League for nearly a decade, helping lead the establishment of the National Basketball Association’s first minor league. He was responsible for all league and team businesses, operations, and legal matters, including franchise administration, broadcast, digital media, sponsorship, marketing, licensing, tickets, arenas, employment, anti-doping, and security. Sharma was responsible for development and management of all league and team agreements, rules, policies, and procedures, as well as integration of the minor league into the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement. He handled a variety of corporate transactional matters for the NBA, WNBA, and the NBA Development League, including joint ventures and other innovative sports transactions relating to the acquisition, financing, and operation of franchises. Sharma also led the creation of the NBA’s first international league consulting business unit.

During his tenure at the NBA, the NBA Development League (now G-League) grew from a single-entity with 6 NBA League-owned regional teams, to 16 privately-held individual team businesses across the country, achieving significant business growth along the way – including quadrupling franchise values; setting record attendance marks and revenues from sponsorship, ticket, and naming-rights sales; broadening media distribution via new broadcast and digital outlets; and reducing key operational costs. In addition, major NBA development goals were attained, including nearly one-quarter of all NBA players and one-half of all NBA referees having NBA D-League experience by the 2010-11 season.

Sharma also served on the presidential campaign staff of former U.S. Senator and Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Bradley, and practiced law in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and in New York City with Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP.

In addition to various corporate boards, Sharma serves on the Board of Directors for both the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and USA Archery (USAA), the National Governing Bodies for their respective sports in the United States, overseeing grassroots through professional and Olympic competition.

A frequent speaker at universities, conferences, and in news media, Sharma was named one of the “25 Most Influential South Asian Executives in the Media & Entertainment Industry” by Korn Ferry in March 2009. In October 2010 he was given the Corporate Counsel Award by the South Asian Bar Association of New York, and, later that year, the Sports Counsel of the Year Award by the Association of Media & Entertainment Counsel. Sharma received the Rising Star Executive Award from Media Partners Global in March 2011, and the Basketball Federation of India Legacy Award in January 2012. In June 2014, he was named one of the “Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business” by the Asian American Business Development Center, and in January 2021 he was named “Sports & Entertainment Industry Power Player” by the Sports Business Journal.

A resident of Bronxville, NY, Sharma is a graduate of Duke University and Duke Law School, and completed the Harvard Business School executive program on the Business of Entertainment, Media & Sports.