Arnon de Mello

As Senior Vice President & Managing Director, NBA Latin America, Arnon de Mello oversees the development and expansion of the NBA’s business and basketball initiatives throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. He directs all of the league’s efforts in the region across marketing partnerships, events, television, digital media and licensed merchandise through a dedicated Latin America team with headquarters in New York City and two local offices in Rio de Janeiro and Mexico City.

Since joining the NBA in 2012 as Vice President and Managing Director, NBA Brazil, de Mello launched the NBA’s regional office in Rio de Janeiro and oversaw the continued growth of the business in Brazil. As part of his efforts to grow the game, he directed key strategic partnerships, including with Globosat and Liga Nacional de Basquete (LNB), grew the league’s local sponsorship business, successfully launched the NBA’s e-commerce presence in Brazil, and brought the game closer to fans through programs such as NBA Global Games, Basketball without Borders, NBA3X and Jr. NBA.

Prior to joining the NBA, de Mello was the CEO and co-founder of Loops, which helps companies, political parties and community groups with their social media strategies. He also has a background in investment banking, covering the media, telecom and technology industries in both the U.S. and Brazil, spending years with Astor Group and Barclays Capital.

de Mello also was the elected president of CSA (professional soccer team) from 1999-2001, and ran for Congress in 2002.

de Mello is a graduate of MIT Sloan School of Management, Harvard University and University of Chicago. He is fluent in Portuguese, English, German and French, and speaks conversational Spanish and Italian.