BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — A 2006 graduate of Yale University, Nicoletta Ruhl was among the innovators in digital/social media in the National Football League (NFL) during a tenure as Director of Digital Media for the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers.
A member of both the varsity swimming team – earning All-Ivy League honors – and club water polo teams at Yale, Ruhl worked for the school’s radio and TV network for three years as an anchor, broadcaster and sideline reporter prior to graduating in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies.
The granddaughter of late owner Alex Spanos and currently a Brand and Marketing Strategist, Ruhl joined the Chargers in September 2009 as Manager of Business Development after spending the previous seven months as the web/marketing coordinator at MakingOf, Inc. in San Francisco.
From until establishing the digital media department to drive digital revenue, content creation and distribution across all media platforms. To aid this effort, she hired and managed a 10-person team and revitalized the Chargers’ brand through a digital and mobile first strategy. Prior to the team relocating from San Diego to Los Angeles, she managed market research and digital asset valuation relating to the move from the 26th largest media market (San Diego) to the second largest (Los Angeles).
She was responsible for selecting and managing the creative agency and in-house graphic designers utilized by the Chargers. Further, she created and executive produced two television shows including Chargers Insider, an Emmy Award winning magazine-style show, in addition to building the Chargers’ first in-house production studio and creating cross-platform content including TV, podcast, web and social material.
During her tenure, she led the Chargers to rank among the Top Five NFL clubs in mobile engagement rankings; increased the team’s digital sponsorship revenue; Sold two Chargers-produced television shows to local television affiliates and grew the audience by 20 percent on Chargers.com and Chargers owned social media platform.
A key member of the team that developed the Chargers 2016 marketing communications plan supporting the relocation of the Chargers from San Diego to Los Angeles, Ruhl served on the NFL’s Unified Media Committee, which assisted teams in consolidating broadcast, digital, and social media functions.
Prior to joining the Chargers, she held jobs as a Production Coordinator with the NFL Network in Mt. Laurel, N.J., in 2006 and 2007, as a production assistant/coordinator at Red Line Films in New York in 2007 and as a baseball division assistant at Creative Artists Agency in New York from 2007-09.
In addition to her work for the Chargers, she has been a presenter on both branding and social media strategy at multiple branding and digital media conferences – including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Sloan Sports Conference:
