SOUTHLAKE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 5, 2026--
TrailRunner International today announced that Tyler Rudy has joined TrailRunner Sports, the firm’s global sports advisory unit, as Vice President. Rudy brings a decade of strategic advisory experience and a rare combination of business, operating, and on-the-field perspective, adding depth to the team as TrailRunner Sports continues growing to meet client demand.
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Launched in 2023, TrailRunner Sports is a strategic consultancy focused on helping professional sports leagues, teams, owners, investors, universities, and collegiate conferences in the U.S. and in markets around the world identify commercial opportunities and achieve their business objectives. Rudy’s appointment strengthens the unit’s ability to continue expanding beyond TrailRunner International’s core competencies in strategic communications and stakeholder engagement as the business of sports grows in markets around the world.
Rudy joins from Deloitte Consulting, where he helped launch and expand the firm’s College Athletics practice. He was instrumental in building the practice’s strategy, economics, and operating model, and helped some of the nation’s most prominent athletic programs transform how they operate and establish sustainable paths for long-term growth.
Rudy’s perspective is also shaped by his own career as an elite collegiate and professional athlete. He was an All-Conference selection and captain for Georgetown University’s men’s soccer program, helping lead the team to its first-ever National Championship game. He was drafted by Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution, where he played one season before joining Puerto Rico FC, an expansion side in the North American Soccer League.
“The business of sports is changing faster than ever, and as our clients develop new revenue streams, adopt increasingly complex ownership and investment models, and modernize their operations, we are excited to have someone with Tyler’s experience and expertise join our growing team at TrailRunner Sports,” said Alden Mitchell, President of TrailRunner Sports. “Tyler has helped major organizations rethink their business and operating models, and given his competitive background, he understands sports from both sides of the table. Tyler will strengthen our ability to help clients make the right decisions, execute on their plans, and deliver for their stakeholders.”
“I am excited to join TrailRunner Sports and to contribute to building this business as the sports industry becomes not just bigger, but more complex,” Rudy said. “I’ve spent my career in this industry as an athlete and as an advisor, and I’m looking forward to applying my experience to a growing business.”
Rudy serves on the Advisory Board for Athletes for Hope, a nonprofit that helps collegiate athletes engage with their communities, and holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. He will be based in Southern Delaware and report to Mitchell.
For more information, visit www.trailrunnerint.com.
About TrailRunner International
TrailRunner International is a rapidly growing global strategic communications advisory firm that provides crisis communications, financial communications, litigation communications, and ongoing corporate communications support to the world’s top enterprises, institutions, and individuals. The firm has a strong and growing sports portfolio through TrailRunner Sports, providing strategic business advisory and communications support to sports clients around the world. TrailRunner International is headquartered in Dallas/Fort Worth with offices in New York, Nashville, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, London, Shanghai, and Truckee. The firm is part of Public Policy Holding Company, a leading global strategic communications provider offering a comprehensive range of advisory services in the areas of government relations, public affairs, and corporate communications. Learn more at TrailRunnerInt.com.
Tyler Rudy, Vice President of TrailRunner Sports
LONDON (AP) — Russell Brand was convicted Thursday of rape and sexual assault charges involving four women on allegations dating back more than 20 years.
Judge Joel Bennathan said the British actor-comedian faces a “significant” prison term when he is sentenced Monday. Brand had been free, but the judge rejected a bail request because of the possibility he might flee and he was taken into custody.
“I regret the hardship caused to the children, of course,” the judge said. “But the hardship has been caused by serious criminal offending by their father.”
Brand was a ruthless, calculating, manipulative “sexual predator," prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones said at trial.
Brand, 51, denied the charges and testified that he was obsessed with sex as a young man and once led a promiscuous life but had never forced anyone to do something against their will.
He was convicted of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. He was acquitted of two rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault.
Brand closed his eyes as the guilty verdict on the rape count was read but showed no emotion otherwise. When bail was denied, he gestured to his lawyers that he was OK and repeatedly said, “I’m good, I’m good, I’m good," before being taken away.
Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy of London’s Metropolitan Police said the conviction was “a testament to the extraordinary courage, resilience and determination of the women who came forward and reported what happened to them.”
“Brand used his influence, status and fame to exploit and sexually offend against women,” he said. “As his profile grew, so too did his sense of entitlement.”
The jury of eight men and four women in Southwark Crown Court deliberated more than eight hours over two days.
Known for risqué stand-up routines and battles with drugs and alcohol, Brand rose to prominence in the early 2000s, hosting television programs and his own BBC radio show. He appeared in Hollywood films including “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek” and was briefly married to pop star Katy Perry.
In recent years he has moved away from mainstream media, relocated to Florida and built a large online following with videos mixing wellness, conspiracy theories and discussions of his religious devotion.
Brand was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman during a birthday party at a London bar in 2004, but cleared of orally raping her in a restroom.
He was also found guilty of kissing and groping another woman at a London radio station in 2004 or 2005 and of anally raping a fan he met backstage at one of his comedy shows in 2009.
The final conviction was for sexually assaulting a different woman who says the comedian demanded a massage and pressed his face into her groin during the recording of an advertisement in 2009.
Brand was acquitted of raping another woman in a hotel room during the Labour Party’s annual conference in the seaside town of Bournemouth in 1999, and of attempting to indecently assault a woman by dragging her into the men’s bathroom at the London office of music channel MTV.
The Associated Press doesn’t name victims of alleged sexual violence, and British law protects their identities from the media for life.
Brand said in the witness box that the criminal case had a devastating impact on his life and family.
“My entire life has been consumed by these events, these allegations, these accusations,” he said.
Brand’s lawyers argued that the alleged victims were undermined by the fact that they only went to police years after the alleged assaults and following the broadcast of a 2023 documentary that contained anonymous allegations against Brand.
Brand testified that friends and colleagues had abandoned him.
His wife, Laura, who accompanied him to court, testified as a character witness in his defense, but no one with relevant evidence was willing to give evidence on his behalf, Brand said.
FILE - Comedian and actor Russell Brand is reflected in a car window as he leaves Southwark Crown Court in London, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, where he is charged with counts of rape and sexual assault against six women.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)
Comedian and actor Russell Brand, accompanied by his wife Laura Brand, leaves Southwark Crown Court in London, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, where he is charged with counts of rape and sexual assault against six women.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Comedian and actor Russell Brand, accompanied by his wife Laura Brand, arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, where he is charged with counts of rape and sexual assault against six women.(AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
