May 28, 2014

I had the distinct privilege over the last year to work with Bruce McCutcheon and his staff on the 150th anniversary Lafayette/Lehigh game at Yankee Stadium. The game is already a smashing success with over 40,000 tickets sold, and we are six months away. This game would not have been possible without a person like Bruce showing both courage and conviction in buying into a vision that I believed strongly in based on my own 30 years of experience in the sports and entertainment industry and history with Lafayette. But ultimately Bruce and Joe Sterrett, Lehigh's dean of athletics, had to put their necks on the line with a significant `leap of faith.'

This game makes me whole both personally and professionally, for my interest in a career in professional sports dates back to my years at Lafayette, where I started a small business to interview professional sports athletes, was sports director for Radio Station WJRH, and for three years was the voice for Lafayette basketball and football. I also interned at WLEV.

Being at a small school like Lafayette made these opportunities possible. I had some wonderful mentors like SID Doug Elgin, radio station manager Mike LaGatutta and Lafayette basketball legend Marty Zippel '49.

I had a great adviser, Dr. Bob Weiner who taught me the very important lessons of always being true to yourself, friends, family and to always follow your dreams; as well as my tennis coach, Pete Tomaino, who was always there for me on any school or personal matter. Finally, I had a freshman soccer coach named Gary Williams who had a very special drive and determination that I always aspired to emulate.

I gained a tremendous amount of self-confidence combined with a sense of humanity and humility while at Lafayette which prepared me extremely well for the road ahead.

I started out with the sports marketing firm ProServ and found myself at a young age assisting super agent David Falk in the recruitment and management of athletes such as Ralph Sampson, Moses Malone, Buck Williams, and James Worthy. I also traveled on the tennis circuit with the likes of Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl making marketing deals for them.

Back in the early '80s, sports marketing was a real `cottage industry' and since ProServ was essentially a sports law firm, I had to get my law degree to get ahead. While I was deviating a little bit from Dr. Weiner's advice, I felt the timing was right and had pressure from my parents to get an advanced degree. After one year, I realized that it wasn't for me, and joined a small footwear company in Massachusetts that was struggling to stay afloat. The company was Reebok International Limited. To make a long story short we rose from the verge of bankruptcy to overtake both Nike and Adidas as the worldwide leader in footwear for a short period of time. Everything we did was counter culture and intuitive, as we took an overpriced custom running shoe that was delivered to us with distressed leather and inadequate heel support - and turned it into a cultural phenomenon called an aerobic shoe in any color you can imagine.

From there we built a multibillion dollar business in tennis, running, basketball, football, and cross training. Along the way I got to deal with royalty, celebrities, rock stars, and mega-athletes as Reebok became the ultimate growth company of the 1980s. Whether it was Sybil Shepherd wearing the high-top shoes at the 1984 Oscar acceptance, Tom Hanks in Reeboks in Big as he played the piano or Whoopie Goldberg wearing Reebok high-tops in Ghost, we became a cultural phenomenon. Getting Shaquille O'Neil to endorse Reebok out of college; getting the 1992 Olympic Basketball Dream Team to wear Reebok apparel, and traveling around the world with Bruce Springsteen and Sting on the Reebok/Amnesty International World Concert were just icing on the cake for a 10-year dream I hoped to never wake up from. I was also, during this time, able to provide `Coach Pete's' tennis team with footwear and apparel, which always gave me a great sense of pride as I loved to visit Lafayette and hit a few tennis balls with the boys.

After almost 10 great years at Reebok I chose to go to the NFL as head of club marketing and licensing. I was there for almost 14 years and was part of tremendous change and growth as football truly became America's sport. My kids got to grow up at the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl, and I worked closely with the likes of Paul Tagliabue, Jerry Jones, and Dan Rooney. I got to see firsthand how these leaders of industry were able to be partners in a multibillion dollar business yet at the same time compete against each other.

In 2009 I accepted my current position at the New York Yankees. We have grown our brand tremendously over the last five years. Notre Dame and Army college football, a major-bowl game that will involve the Big 10 and ACC going forward, major concerts with Paul McCartney, Madonna, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, part ownership of the expansion MLS franchise and great international soccer matches including the likes of Real Madrid and AC Milan, and finally NHL outdoor hockey in January.

Still nothing is as personally gratifying to me as being involved with the 150th Rivalry. I never have been one for sentimentality, but I can emphatically say that I would not be where I am today without the overall experience of attending Lafayette and the key people who touched my life on College Hill.

I can't wait for November 22, 2014, at Yankee Stadium. Maybe, if I am lucky, I can call one series of downs on WJRH for old time sake! To start 35 years ago with the Yankees and Lafayette College and 35 years later being able to revisit history like this -- I am one lucky man!"

Mark Holtzman '80
History
Executive Director, Non-Baseball Events, New York Yankees

Headshot of Mark Holtzman '80 (at beginning of story): Copyright New York Yankees. All rights reserved.