Built an agency. Ran a federation's business. Ready to lead — in the Gulf and beyond.
Founder and CEO of a 25-person agency with full P&L. Eight years running the business side of a national football association — revenue, brand, partnerships, digital, governance. Trained at MESGO, the UEFA-backed Executive Master in Global Sport Governance, and appointed to the UEFA Working Group on Commercial Revenues.
Founded Vert from scratch, grew it to 25 staff; clients including Microsoft, Pepsi, HP and Guinness; UEFA Marketing Award.
Restructured a national federation's commercial portfolio; sponsor satisfaction up 25%.
Largest commercial contract in Icelandic sports history — betting rights and data, negotiated with Genius Sports from analysis to execution.
Three sides of the table.
Agency founder, federation business head, governance-trained leader — the same operating logic, applied from every chair.
Director, Marketing, Commercial & Business Development — Icelandic Football Association (KSÍ)
Ran the business side of a national federation — revenue, brand, partnerships, digital ticketing, governance — on its leadership team. Delivered +70% sponsorship growth, the ISK 2bn Genius Sports agreement, the CLIO-awarded national team rebrand and a five-brand kit tender won by PUMA. Appointed to the UEFA Working Group on Commercial Revenues.
Founder & CEO — Vert Marketing Agency
Founder and CEO with full P&L for nine years; built the agency from scratch to 25 people. Brand and commercial strategy for Microsoft, Pepsi, HP and Guinness. UEFA Marketing Award for Pepsi's activation of the domestic league.
MESGO & UEFA DFLM — executive sport governance training
Executive Master in Global Sport Governance across five universities and UEFA; thesis on women's football in the UAE. UEFA Diploma in Football Leadership & Management, Lausanne. Has consulted other national associations on strategy.
Trained where European sport governance is written.
MESGO — the Executive Master in Global Sport Governance — is the two-year programme run by five European universities with UEFA and the major international team-sport organisations. Its stated purpose is to anticipate the key challenges facing sport, exploit its dynamics, and positively shape the development of sport governance: law, economics, politics, integrity and ethics, taught inside the organisations that set the rules.
Stefán graduated in 2024. His thesis — Strategic Development & Commercial Governance of Women's Football in the UAE — is the reason the Gulf is not a new market for him but a studied one.
MESGO — Executive Master in Global Sport Governance
Five universities and UEFA. Sessions hosted inside major sports organisations across Europe. Thesis on the strategic development and commercial governance of women's football in the UAE.
UEFA Diploma in Football Leadership & Management
University of Lausanne. Complex sports project management, event operations and stakeholder alignment.
UEFA Working Group on Commercial Revenues
Selective appointment advising on how Europe's national associations grow and govern their commercial income.
Governance in practice
Consulted national associations on strategy and brand development; worked on governance improvement inside a federation; MBA Football Industries (Liverpool) and MSc International Marketing (Strathclyde) underneath it all.
A general manager with a commercial edge.
For federations, leagues, club groups and investors — as a chief executive, a general manager, a head of business development, or an advisor.
General Management & P&L
Nine years as a founder-CEO and eight running a federation's business: budgets, teams, boards, partners, and the accountability that comes with all four.
Commercial & Business Development
Sponsorship portfolios restructured for +70%; a landmark rights and data deal from analysis to execution; a five-brand kit tender won by PUMA.
Brand & Digital Transformation
A CLIO-awarded national team identity that lifted merchandise 40%; digital ticketing and competition systems delivered inside a federation.
Governance & Institution Building
MESGO and UEFA frameworks applied to club groups and federations building institutions that outlast their founders.
On stage, on panels, in the lecture hall.
Regular speaker on commercial strategy, rebranding, multi-club ownership governance and women's football at international sports business conferences. Part-time lecturer in branding and marketing communications at Reykjavik University and the University of Iceland.
Reykjavik is home. Most airports are familiar.
I live in Reykjavik with my wife, two nearly grown-up daughters and Keano, a French bulldog with firm views on who sits where. I trail-run when my knees allow, took up golf late and love it, and spend more time than I should testing AI tools for strategic thinking. Twenty years of work across Europe and the Middle East have made me curious about every new city and comfortable in most rooms — from a federation board to a club owner's table.
Building something in the Gulf? Let's talk.
A confidential 30-minute conversation about your organisation, its business and its governance — no intermediaries.