Golf Industry Asia is saddened to hear of the passing of Josh Burack, the former Asian Tour Chief Executive Officer and highly respected sports industry executive who has died at the age of 54 after a battle with cancer.
Josh Burack passed away in Brisbane, surrounded by family and friends having fought pancreatic cancer for nine months.
Burack served as the CEO of the Asian Tour from 2016 to 2018, during which he played a significant role in securing landmark media rights and sponsorship agreements across Asia. He was also instrumental in establishing key strategic partnerships, including one with the DP World Tour.
The Asian Tour expressed their sorrow in a statement, saying, “We were saddened to hear of Josh’s passing. Many partners and friends of the Asian Tour have reached out to convey their condolences to the Burack family. Our thoughts are with them.”
Guy Kinnings, CEO of the DP World Tour, praised Burack as a "visionary sports industry leader" and a friend to many. He highlighted Burack's energy and insights, noting that his contributions significantly advanced the game of golf in Asia. Kinnings extended his deepest condolences to Burack’s family and colleagues.
Burack graduated from American University in Washington, D.C., in 1992, where he was a member of the tennis team. He began his career in multimedia production and joined World Sport Group (now part of Sportfive) in 1997 as the supervising producer for the ‘Asia Sport’ program. In 2000, he became the Director for the Asia-Pacific region at IEC.
After IEC was sold to Lagardère in 2007, Burack remained with the company for an additional 4½ years before taking a sabbatical to pursue a Master’s in Business Administration at the National University of Singapore. He returned to the sports industry in late 2012 with Dentsu Sports Asia as Senior Vice-President and Head of TV, Media, and Sponsorship, overseeing media rights projects, including the Olympic Games in 22 Asian territories.
Following his time at the Asian Tour, Burack joined Zeus Sports Marketing in October 2018 and served as a senior consultant for Dentsu Inc.'s sports division, focusing on media rights sales for upcoming major events, including the Beijing 2022 and Paris 2024 Olympics.
Please see the original media and post at DP World Tour & AGIF
