About Me

Qualifications:

Joe has almost a quarter century of strategic communications/marketing, business development and public relations expertise in sports, entertainment, brand building, media training, television, athletic administration and business. He is a producer of award winning and cutting edge programs designed to increase ROI and minimize cost.

The Brooklyn native has managed the day-to-day and assisted in significantly growing exposure by creating long-term integrated communications/marketing plans for:Two of the world’s hallmark sports and entertainment brands (the New York Knickerbockers and Philadelphia 76ers), the world’s largest professional sport for women (the WTA Tour), the world’s largest sports National Governing Body (the United States Tennis Association) and the world’s largest annual sporting event (the US Open). He also oversaw the strategic planning, investor relations, communications and digital business development of the International Fight League during its two year run as a startup Mixed Martial Arts venture and a publicly traded company.

Joe now maintains this blog on the sports marketing and publicity field, writes for the Huffington Post and New Jersey Newsroom on sports marketing, and has a newsletter for the industry with almost 20,000 members from over 22 countries,  as well as handling a consulting practice with clients that include: Bloomberg LLC, Ketchum Sports, Ponturo Management Group/The Leverage Agency (chaired by former head of Anheuser Busch sports marketing Tony Ponturo), Wizard Entertainment/Comic-con, Fantasy Sports Ventures, the security company Global Options (chaired by former USOC, Turner Sports and YES Network head Dr. Harvey Schiller) Mattioli Racing, Sportime Tennis and RotoHog, among others. His event clients include “All Stars Helping Kids,” the International Baseball Federation, The Joe DiMaggio Award and the Brian Piccolo Award. Joe will be associate producer of “Lombardi,” a drama based on the life of legendary coach Vince Lombardi, coming to Broadway this fall, and is also an instructor in Advanced Sports Marketing at Columbia University.

He is an author of “Sports Publicity,” the most used collegiate text on the industry, is a graduate of Fordham University and resides in River Vale, New Jersey with his wife and two children.

Career Accomplishments

WIZARD ENTERTAINMENT/INTERNATIONAL FIGHT LEAGUE

• Senior Vice President, Business Development and Communications2006-2008

Oversaw all new business development, communications and strategic partnership growth for this start-up brand.Created almost $10 billion in impressions in mainstream business, lifestyle and sports exposure for the IFL during its two years of existence.

Key Contributions:

• Developed strategic business partnerships, including revenue sharing deals with YouTube, NeuLion, PalTalk, Getty Images, Stats Inc, the USO, USA Wrestling and others.
• Oversaw all strategic new media planning and implementation.
• Created and implemented all strategic communications plans for the brand, its athletes and world champion coaches.
• Oversaw the aggressive and proactive placement of media on a national and local level, including print placement on IFL-specific topics in 23 of the top 25 major circulation dailies, television placement ranging from 60 Minutes to The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency and wide ranging sports, business, trade and new media coverage for the brand and the sport.
• Developed and oversaw the implementation of the IFL’s broadcast components with HDNet, MYNetwork TV and Fox Sports Net, reaching over 140 million homes weekly in the first two years.
• Oversaw all business correspondence and investor relations.\
• Oversaw development of unique grassroots programs to reach the sport’s core demo and expand the brand as a lifestyle.

NEW YORK KNICKERBOCKERS

• Vice President, Public Relations:2001-2006

Created a comprehensive and proactive communications plan that expanded the team’s exposure across all media platforms. Enhanced business and community relationships by creating unique programs to help partners maximize their investment with the team.

Key Contributions:

• Oversaw all aspects of publicity, media relations and interaction, internal communication, media training and crisis management for one of the world’s most identifiable brands.
• Served as principle spokesperson on all major announcements. Handled key correspondence for president Isiah Thomas and all Knicks coaches.
• Greatly expanded the scope of non-traditional publicity by pitching lifestyle pieces on players, coaches and staff. Highlights have included appearances ranging from “David Letterman,” to “Good Morning America,” NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” and “The Apprentice,” as well as print features in Men’s Health, Stuff, USA Weekend, The New York Times Magazine, and Black Enterprise among others.
• Oversaw the content and development of Knicks-related programming on MSG Network, and on Knicks national broadcasts on TNT, ESPN and ABC.
• Created “theme” programs, incorporating celebrities and players in community events. Included are recent partnerships with the casts of “Yours, Mine and Ours,” “Coach Carter,” and “The Lord of the Rings” among others. Maximized exposure with key national photo and video placement post-event, which has expanded the scope of celebrity and entertainment company relationships.
• Created partnerships to enhance year-round sponsored community relations and field marketing programs. Innovations have included a yearly fitness supplement that reaches over 150,000 school children in the tristate area, a first-time partnership with area minor league baseball teams, and the development of awards programs honoring the top scholar-athletes and minority community leaders in the tri-state area. All led to increased branding and ticket sales opportunities.
• Oversaw the development and implementation of a comprehensive alumni program that is a vital part of team activities and business partner development. Created a series of special events that fostered new business partnerships with the Naismith Hall of Fame and the History Channel, among others.
• Managed fulltime staff of five and game night staff of 50.
• Accomplished all growth while continually coming in at or under budget.

UNITED STATES TENNIS ASSOCIATION

• Director of Publicity and Media Relations: 1999-2001

In newly created position, expanded the media scope of the USTA, the US Open and Davis Cup brands. Enhanced marketing and media relationships by forming strategic communications/marketing opportunities to help partners get maximum value on their investments.

Key Contributions:

• Developed communications activities for the USTA, with particular emphasis on special events, professional tennis, Davis Cup and the US Open.
• Managed communications and publicity for the US Open tennis championships. Supervised media activities for over 1,500 worldwide media members.
• Developed strategic media outreach programs with the ATP and WTA for all American tournaments, as well as Davis and Fed Cup, giving tennis a unified publicity push for the first time.
• Greatly increased the diversity and extended the timeframe of media coverage for the US Open by forging new relationships with national, multicultural, business and lifestyle publications and broadcast outlets. Brought shows ranging MSNBC “Business Tonight” to “America’s Black Forum” on site for the first time. Created a nightly news feed to showcase all onsite business activities and make coverage of local stories easier for outlets not able to attend.
• Maximized celebrity involvement and increased exposure for the USTA by raising the profile of key events nationwide.
• Oversaw content development for “Topspin,” a critically acclaimed weekly kids television show on CBS during the summers of 2000-02. Partnered celebrities, community events, children and pros in different vignettes to highlight the game of tennis from all angles.

WTA TOUR

• Vice President, Communications and Special Projects: 1996-1999

Created the WTA’s first-ever multi-tiered, worldwide integrated marketing and communications plan.Worked with players, sponsors and media partners to maximize the on and off-court personalities of the rising young women in the sport, a key component in the controlled mass exposure of personalities such as Venus and Serena Williams, Anna Kournikova, Lindsay Devenport and Martina Hingis among others.

Key Contributions:

• Created unprecedented media exposure for the sport, with results that included Martina Hingis as the first-ever female athlete on the cover of GQ, women’s tennis simultaneously featured in Time, Newsweek, Business Week and Fortune, and increased appearances on virtually all lifestyle shows and publications with year-round consistency.
• Unified efforts for all 56 worldwide tournaments so that media reps in each area received regular updated information, story opportunities, and biographical information. Result was substantial increase in consistent coverage for the sport.
• Created new opportunities with local and international celebrities and players, including the first-ever awards gala with Dennis Miller and other celebrities (“Tennis by Dennis”). The expanded program led to a partnership with New Regency films as a tour sponsor and more than doubled worldwide television exposure.
• Implemented Tour’s first-ever weekly newsfeed to promote player on and off-court activity to local media markets, resulting in greatly increased television exposure.
• Overhauled all publications and created content for Tour’s first website.
• Oversaw worldwide staff of ten and brought all projects in under budget annually.

PHILADELPHIA 76ers

• Director, Public Relations/Publicity: 1993-1996

Key Contributions:

• Oversaw all media relations and community activities.
• Created unique programs which gained national exposure for All-Star guard Dana Barros (“little big man” campaign) and rookie of the year candidate Jerry Stackhouse (“Stick with Stack” promotional and video campaign), among others.
• Created unique sponsored program (“The Final Fastbreak”) involving Sixers legends and the closing of the Spectrum as home court.
• Overhauled all print publications, managed fulltime staff of three and game night staff of 30.

ADDITIONAL RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

• FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
  • Director, Sports Media Relations: 1988-1993
• SPORTSCHANNEL ASSOCIATES
  • Assistant Director, Public Relations and Marketing: 1987-1988
• MONMOUTH COLLEGE
  • Director, Sports Media Relations: 1986-1987

EDUCATION AND AWARDS

• Bachelor of Arts, Fordham University
• Major in Communications, Minor in Economics: 1985
• Recruited to write and have completed the first-ever text book on sports public relations, “Sports Publicity, A Practical Perspective,” published by Elsevier in Fall, 2007
• Member of the Board of Advisors for the Sports Management programs at Manhattanville College and Columbia University
• Member of the New York Steering Committee for the National Sports Marketing Network
• Instructor in International Public Relations, New York University: 2000-2003
• Selected as one of Tennis Industry Magazine’s “40 Under 40”: 2000
• ACE award for “creativity in communications” for USTA’s“Tennis-e” program: 2001
• Highlighted as one of PR Week Magazine’s “People in Sports”: 2004