Sportsdigita's Angelina Lawton on the Yankees, J.J. Watt, and Sports as a Great Unifier

Angelina Lawton is founder and CEO of Sportsdigita, a technology company that helps organizations transform their sales into an immersive, media-rich, interactive conversation with its cloud-based presentation platform, Digideck. Sportsdigita has worked with over 400 of the biggest brands in sports and enterprise worldwide.

Prior to founding Sportsdigita, Angelina was a senior vice president for the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, where she was responsible for the creation, development and management of the Lightning’s in-house marketing agency.

In her earlier years, Angelina handled all branding, marketing and corporate communications for Lawton Sport & Financial.

We spoke with Angelina for our Time-Out series, where we chat with folks in the sports world about their favorite athletes, teams, sports movies and shows, and their love of sports generally.

Angelina, tell us…

Where you grew up, and where you live now.

I was born and raised in Minneapolis, where our Sportsdigita headquarters and my family also reside today.

Your earliest sports memory.

Going to Minnesota North Star games with my father, who had season tickets. Little did I know I was watching my future husband play at the time!

Your favorite sports team.

The New York Yankees. I spend a lot of time in NYC and absolutely love everything about the city, including attending games at Yankee Stadium. Their franchise has such a powerful legacy, and we are proud to work with them on an organization-wide level at Sportsdigita!

Your favorite athlete.

I really admire when athletes use their platform for philanthropic initiatives, and for that reason I would say J.J. Watt. He has accomplished so much as it relates to giving back and donating his time and money to important causes.

Your favorite sports show or podcast.

NHL Network. My husband, Brian Lawton, is an analyst on the network and I look forward to watching it every chance I get.

Your favorite sports movie.

For Love of the Game. What’s better than a movie that combines baseball, romance and Kevin Costner all in one storyline?

A recent project you’re proud of.

A couple of projects come to mind.

For one, our work with Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) is rewarding, as they are truly a forward-thinking organization focused on innovation in all they do and our product is a nice extension of those efforts.

Another one is our work with the New York Islanders. Our main contact there, Bryan Calka, has taken Digideck with him through every career transition he has made, from the New York Yankees to BSE Global and now the Islanders. It is the best compliment to know you are truly making a positive impact at these teams when they circle back to do work with you like that!

Someone else’s project that you admired recently.

I admire Jennifer Just for her work as the founder of Poker Powher. Poker Powher is an organization dedicated to teaching women life-changing skills through poker, such as the art of negotiation, calculating risk and more that are otherwise commonly overlooked among the female population.

What sports can do that nothing else can.

Sports can serve as a platform for change and unification unlike any other. Populations around the world are often united through their love for sports. Athletes and franchises can also use their platform to inspire change and challenge norms. And as fans are slowly allowed to return to the stands, you know attending sporting events will be top of the list for so many people!

What you’d be doing if you weren’t in the sports world.

I consider myself an entrepreneur through and through, so I would probably be running a business in the entertainment industry.