Phil de Picciotto
| Phil de Picciotto | |
|---|---|
De Picciotto in September 2015 | |
| Born | Philip de Picciotto 1955 (age 68–69) |
| 🏳️ Nationality | American |
| 🎓 Alma mater | Amherst College, University of Pennsylvania |
| 💼 Occupation | Founder, President of Octagon (sports agency) |
| 👶 Children | 1 |
| Twitter= | |
Phil de Picciotto (born March 11, 1955) is the founder and president of the sports marketing firm, Octagon (sports agency). He has built the brands and managed the careers of many of the world’s most recognizable talents, athletes, and celebrities – ranging from Super Bowl champions..[1] and Olympic gold medalists to royalty and network broadcasters. De Picciotto currently serves on the Executive Board of the International Tennis Hall of Fame[2], the Board of Directors of The Economic Club of Washington, and the National Advisory Board for the Concussion Legacy Foundation.
Early Life[edit]
Phil de Picciotto was born to Elisabeth de Picciotto, a mathematics teacher, and Maurice de Picciotto, a civil engineer and banker. De Picciotto attended Birch Wathen Lennox High School (’73), followed by Amherst College (’77) graduating magna cum laude with a degree in anthropology[3].
After his graduation, he moved to Washington, D.C., to work first for the National Council on Crime and Delinquency and later for the U.S. Senate before enrolling at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he earned his J.D. (’81). While pursuing his law degrees, he first worked at the law firm Dell, Craighill, Fentress & Benton as an intern before moving up the ranks. In 1983, he co-founded Advantage International, which was later re-branded as Octagon[4].
Career[edit]
De Picciotto was a founding member of sports industry pioneer Advantage International in 1983, along with Frank Craighill and Lee Fentress, among others. From its initial global vision and focus on sports and entertainment management for superstars such as Tennis Hall of Fame talents including Steffi Graf[5] and Michael Chang, basketball legends including Moses Malone and David Robinson, Olympic record holder Bonnie Blair, and golfers including Fred Couples and Lee Janzen, Advantage International took early steps to diversify its portfolio geographically and became the global thought leader across talent management in all areas, maintaining a clientele that includes many of the world's most recognized and beloved names.
By 1987, de Picciotto had helped Advantage International become a recognized leader in the complementary areas of event management and property representation. By 1990, Advantage International became one of the first major agencies to offer strategic marketing consultancy services to major corporations. In 1997, the Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE: IPG is one of the world’s leading advertising, communications, and marketing services conglomerates) acquired Advantage International. The firm was rebranded as Octagon in 1999.
Since then, Octagon has also evolved into the world's largest sponsorship consulting practice. With more than 800 employees across the globe, Octagon influences more than $3B in sponsorship rights fees and activations.
Today, Octagon is a globally recognized, award-winning, sports and entertainment powerhouse providing diversified services to clients in the areas of talent, brand and property representation, media rights, data and research, event ownership and management, and marketing consultancy, through offices in 68 cities in 22 countries on six different continents[6].
De Picciotto's current title is Founder and President.
Advocacy[edit]
De Picciotto led the successful effort to remove tobacco sponsorship from women’s professional tennis[7], an important move not only for the sport itself, but also for health advocates across the globe. “The fact that our industry plays such a visible and influential role in international diplomacy, economic development and social advancement adds a sense of responsibility to everything we do,” he noted. He has also been a longtime champion for equal opportunity for female athletes.
He was active in the removal of sugary soft drinks from New York City Public Schools.
He remains one of the earliest and most influential figures in the globalization of professional sports.
Personal Life[edit]
De Picciotto has one son.
Awards and Distinctions[edit]
Laureate, Washington Business Hall of Fame[8]
Agency of the Year, Sports Business Journal[9]
Best in Talent Representation, Sports Business Journal in 2015, 2018, and 2021[10]
Forbes World’s Most Valuable Sports Agencies[11]
Advertising Age “The Marketing 100”[12]
Sporting News “Top 100 Most Powerful People in Sports”
Sports Business Journal’s “20 Most Influential People: Sports Agents”[13] and “Top 50 Most Influential People in Sports Business”[14]
Octagon was selected among The Washington Post's 2021 Top Workplaces in the Washington-D.C. area [15]
While not an award, de Picciotto was noted by the New York Times to have coined the tennis term "Golden Slam[16]" [17] in reference to a situation where a tennis player wins all four major tournaments (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open) along with an Olympic Gold Medal in the same calendar year. He represented the only player ever to have achieved this feat, Steffi Graf, for the entirety of her playing career.
References[edit]
- ↑ "Super Bowl ring hasn't changed Cowher's endorsement strategy". www.sportsbusinessdaily.com.
- ↑ "Board of Governors & Staff". International Tennis Hall of Fame.
- ↑ "Phil de Picciotto- Founder and President of Octagon". 17 November 2015.
- ↑ "Monday Morning". 27 September 1999 – via www.washingtonpost.com.
- ↑ "The ladies' man - Special reports - guardian.co.uk". www.theguardian.com.
- ↑ "About Us". 12 July 2016.
- ↑ Bonk, Thomas (5 March 1989). "Tennis : Having Already Come a Long Way, Women Decide to Change Sponsor" – via LA Times.
- ↑ "Here Are the Washington Business Hall of Fame Laureates for 2017 - Washingtonian". 3 November 2017.
- ↑ "Octagon Named "Sports Agency of the Year" by Sports Business Journal - News - Sportcal". www.sportcal.com.
- ↑ "Sports Business Awards: Octagon Wins Best Talent Representation Of The Year". www.sportsbusinessdaily.com.
- ↑ "Octagon on the Forbes Sports Agencies List".
- ↑ "The Marketing 100".
- ↑ "The 20 most influential sports agents". www.sportsbusinessdaily.com.
- ↑ "The 50 Most Influential People In Sports Business". www.sportsbusinessdaily.com.
- ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/pr/2021/06/18/washington-post-announces-2021-top-workplaces-washington-area/
- ↑ "Grand Slam (tennis)". 11 June 2018 – via Wikipedia.
- ↑ "Others Left Standing Face a Tall Hurdle in Serena Williams".
This article "Phil de Picciotto" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Phil de Picciotto. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
