Jim Kozak is stepping away from his position of EVP, GroupM Sports and Live after more than six years with the agency. He is moving west to join Canucks Sports and Entertainment (CSE) on December 2 as the chief operating officer of the Abbotsford Canucks and Abbotsford Centre.

In Abbotsford, Kozak will oversee the entire business operations of the centre including but not limited to ticket sales, corporate sponsorship, hospitality, food and beverage, merchandising, and community relations. He will also be part of CSE’s senior leadership team.

GroupM Canada launched the Sports and Live brand engagement unit headed by Kozak in July 2023. The seasoned sports marketing expert says he is now passing the torch to the organization’s next generation of leaders. MiC has reached out to GroupM, however, it has not yet announced how his role will be filled at the agency.

Prior to GroupM Sports and Live, Kozak was a VP at sports-centric agency Wasserman and worked at CBC for four years as director of sales, Olympics and sports partnerships before moving up to senior director marketing and Olympics. Kozak also has client-side experience through an eight-year stint at Kraft Foods Group in marketing and promotions roles after four and a half years as project manager at Molson Sports and Entertainment.

Kozak has been behind several successful programs at GroupM Sports and Live, including Sofina Foods “Janes All In” program that celebrates women in hockey and Kruger Products’ “Big Assist” initiative to help keep kids stay in hockey and make the sport more inclusive. He also helped create Dr. Oetker’s “Practice with a Pro,” Molson’s “Hockey Night in Canada” multi-language edition and helped define commercial sponsorship strategies for OLG, Kruger, Mars Wrigley, Shell, Kubota and Circle K.