Steve Koonin

Chief Executive Officer, Hawks

Atlanta

Steve Koonin was named Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club in April 2014. Koonin oversees all business, financial and strategic operations of the Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena, and represents the owners as the head of the organization. With oversight from Koonin, the Hawks launched an innovative rebranding campaign and focused on a strategically established set of target audiences: millennials and next generation Atlantans; multicultural residents; and business-based consumers. The club has enjoyed a renaissance of relevance, leading to the addition of more than 20 new corporate partners in just one year. In 2015, the club landed on Google’s year-end list of the 10 most-searched sports teams and Sports Illustrated’s "Social 100" list -- one of only three clubs to make the list, and ranked as the No. 1 NBA team to follow on Twitter.

Koonin joined the Hawks after 14 years with Turner Entertainment Networks, most recently serving as the division’s president. As president, he oversaw programming, marketing, scheduling, strategy and operations for top-rated networks TNT, TBS, truTV, Turner Classic Movies, as well as Peachtree TV. Prior to his stint at Turner, Koonin helmed the marketing and worldwide advertising operations at The Coca-Cola Company, where he spent over a decade. Among his many accomplishments, Koonin has been named one of The 100 Most Influential Atlantans by Atlanta Business Chronicle and one of Atlanta Magazine’s Most Powerful People Shaping Atlanta. He also serves on the boards of several notable Atlanta institutions.

He studied marketing at the University of Georgia, where he and his wife, Eydie, have established the Koonin Scholars Fund at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.