• The Vision
• Our Team
  • · Andy Appleby
  • · Dana Schmitt
  • · Chris Foy
  • · Greg Kowalewski
  • · Laurie Alpers
  • · Kristin Bongiovanni
  • · Melissa Grant
  • · Josh Hartman
  • · Katie Rossette
• Office Tour
• Locations

Dana L. Schmitt
Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel

Dana L. Schmitt, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of General Sports and Entertainment, is an accomplished and talented executive and attorney who provides leadership, expertise and creativity to the entire General Sports and Entertainment operation and its subsidiaries and affiliated companies. Dana joined General Sports in 1999, and she works with General Sports Chairman Andy Appleby to oversee the development and operation of all divisions, subsidiaries and affiliates. She also oversees legal matters for General Sports and Entertainment and its subsidiaries and affiliates. She provides guidance with respect to the strategic development of General Sports and Entertainment as a cutting-edge leader in the sports and entertainment industry.

Dana is actively involved in the Team Acquisition & Management division. She played a key role in completing the acquisition of the Derby County Football Club, an English Premier League football (soccer) team, in January 2008. She also was involved in General Sports' successful management of the Fort Wayne Wizards Minor League Baseball team (Class A Affiliates of the San Diego Padres) from 1999 through 2006 when the team was sold. During this time, the Wizards were twice named Team of the Year for the Midwest League.

In 2006, Dana helped to launch General Sports Alliances, LLC, the Denver-based naming rights and sponsorship arm of General Sports. She also helped to launch the first non-sports venture for General Sports called US Energia, which provides technical services for mission critical DC and back-up power to the telecommunications, healthcare, and government sectors, as well as engineering services to the automotive industry.

In 2003, Dana was part of the executive team at General Sports that launched a new affiliated company called General Sports Venue, a company that specializes in sports venue solutions with an emphasis on synthetic turf. General Sports Venue holds the exclusive licensing rights to the AstroTurf® brand of synthetic turf products in the United States. Dana serves as Secretary of General Sports Venue, and she also served as General Counsel for General Sports Venue from 2003 through 2007, during which time she completed the transaction that secured the long-term licensing agreement for the AstroTurf® intellectual property.

In conjunction with Andy Appleby, Dana created the Sports Executive Leadership Conference in 2001, the premier annual leadership and networking conference for senior level sports industry executives. In 2000, Dana spearheaded the development of the GSE Meetings & Events Division, which executes major events, conferences and event marketing programs for corporate and not-for-profit clients. In 2008, Dana oversaw the launch of General Sports Speakers, a new speaker bureau focused on booking sports personalities and executives for personal appearances and speaking engagements. General Sports Speakers is operated in partnership with Phoenix-based EQ Speakers, a full-service speakers bureau with which General Sports has had a partnership since 2002.

Dana played an integral role in the establishment of the General Sports Foundation in 2000, for which she serves as Secretary and a member of the Board of Trustees. The General Sports Foundation has raised funds at the annual Sports Executive Leadership Conference for Special Olympics, ChildHelp USA, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In 2001, the General Sports Foundation's banner program called the Suite Dream Project was launched with a mission of providing healing environments through the creation of dream spaces in the bedrooms of seriously, chronically ill children, as well as in hospitals and community spaces used for ill, injured or at-risk children.

Prior to joining General Sports, Dana worked for the Chicago law firm of Blatt, Hammesfahr & Eaton, where she represented Lloyd's of London Syndicates, and various insurers and re-insurers in the United States, Canada and Europe. Dana received her Juris Doctor degree in 1995 from the University of Michigan Law School. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan in 1992, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, received the William J. Branstrom Freshman Prize for academic excellence, and was the only female in her graduating class to make the Dean's List every semester. She also served in the University of Michigans Public Service Intern Program and completed an internship in the Washington D.C. office of United States Senator Carl Levin.

Dana is licensed to practice law in Michigan. In 2005, Dana was selected as one of Detroit's "40 Under 40" by Crain's Detroit Business. In addition to serving on the Board of Trustees of the General Sports Foundation/Suite Dreams Project, Dana also serves on the Advisory Board of the Founders Junior Council of the Detroit Institute of Arts. She resides in Rochester Hills, Michigan with her husband Todd.