George Pyne (business executive)

George Pyne
Born (1965-09-02) September 2, 1965
Milford, Massachusetts
Alma mater Brown University[1]
Occupation Business Executive
Employer Founder, Bruin Sports Capital[2]
Website George Pyne bio at IMG

George Pyne (born 1965) is an American business executive and current Founder & CEO of Bruin Sports Capital, a sports, media, marketing, and branded lifestyle company that he founded in 2014.[2] He is the former President of IMG Sports and Entertainment[3] where he also served on the Board of Directors.[4] Pyne is a former board member for 24 Hour Fitness and currently sits on the board of the National Football Foundation.[5] Prior to joining IMG, he served as Chief Operating Officer of NASCAR, where he was the second non-family member in 50 years to join its board of directors.[6]

Early life and education

Pyne grew up in Milford, Massachusetts[3] and attended Brown University where he played football for the Brown Bears and majored in Political Science.[1] While at Brown, he earned All-Ivy League and All-New England honors and served as the team's captain.[1]

Career

After graduating from Brown, Pyne first worked for his family's real estate company in New England,[3] and then moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he worked with local business leaders and the chamber of commerce. Pyne analyzed the finances of the Atlanta Public School system and issued a 250-page report on the finances of the school system, which led to school reform.[7] One of the local business leaders that worked with Pyne on the school report was the president of the Portman Cos. He hired Pyne to work for the global commercial real estate and trade show company.[7] He became part of the team that oversaw its $2 billion debt restructuring.[7]

George Pyne

Pyne's career in sports marketing began in 1994 while working with Portman,[6] where he turned the commercial space owned by Portman into a corporate hospitality environment for the 1994 Atlanta Super Bowl XXVIII. He made a deal with the NFL Players Association for the event where 300 NFL players and VIPs could gather before the Super Bowl.[6] Following the event, he created a division called AMC Events to manage and market sports related properties, with Pyne being executive director of the division.[6] One his early clients for AMC Events was NASCAR, whom he would later join.[6]

Pyne's career with NASCAR began in 1995 as head of new business development.[7][5] He later became the Chief Operating Officer and the second non-family member in 50 years to join its Board of Directors.[6] His accomplishments with NASCAR included a $4.5 billion television rights deal in 2005, the $750 million sponsorship of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series in 2004, investments by 100 of the Fortune 500 companies, the creation of a $2 billion licensing business and the recognition of the NASCAR brand as one of the most admired brands in North America.[8][6][9][10]

Pyne was recruited by IMG in 2006, as President of Sports and Entertainment and a member of the IMG Board of Directors. As President of their global sports and entertainment business, he oversaw client management, college sports, consulting, IMG Performance (IMG Academy), licensing and U.S. business development.[11] When he was hired, IMG was a professional athlete representation and sports marketing company, but had no collegiate presence.[3] Pyne oversaw the acquisition of The Collegiate Licensing Company in 2007 which entered IMG into the collegiate sports market,[5] acquired Host Communication in fall 2007 and ISP in fall 2010.[12] These became part of the newly formed IMG College, a division of IMG that was referred to as the "crown jewel" of IMG by Forbes.[11] IMG College conducts business with more than 200 universities; the revenues of its college division have grown to $484 million in 2013, with earnings during the same period growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 38 percent.[11] IMG grew from its $750 million purchase price in 2004 to its $2.4 billion sale to William Morris Endeavor.[11][11][13]

Pyne left IMG in 2014.[14] In January 2015 he founded Bruin Sports Capital, a media, sports, marketing, and lifestyle branding company. He initially raised $250 million through his reputation as an operator and businessman. WPP Investments is also partnered with Bruin Sports Capital.[2][15] One of its first major deals was with the National Football League, which surrendered operation control of its NFL On Location hospitality unit to NewCo, a holding company formed from Bruin and RedBird Capital Partners. Pyne became the executive chairman of NewCo with the new partnership.[16]

Awards and recognition

George Pyne speaking at the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame.

Pyne has been recognized as one of the most influential people in professional sports by Bloomberg Businessweek,[17] The Sporting News and the Sports Business Journal.[18] He is a member of both the National Football Foundation's Leadership Hall of Fame[5] as well as the Sports Business Journal's Hall of Fame. Pyne was named one of Advertising Age's 'Top -100 Marketers' and is a recipient of the 2014 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award.[1] In 2015 he was honored by the Ivy League Football Association for lifetime achievement.[19]

Personal life

Pyne comes from a family of athletes who have played in the National Football League.[6] His father, George Pyne III, played for the Boston Patriots (predecessor to the New England Patriots) of the American Football League in 1965.[20] His grandfather, George Pyne II, played for the Providence Steam Roller of the NFL in 1931. His brother, Jim Pyne, also played in the NFL from 1994 to 2001, making the Pynes the first family to play three generations of professional football.[20] Additionally, Pyne's father-in-law, Paul Harney, was an American professional golfer who won six PGA Tour events, finished in the top eight at the Masters four times and was inducted into the PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame.[21]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "NCAA Names 2014 Silver Anniversary Award Winners". NCAA.org. 13 November 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Hall, Emma (6 January 2015). "WPP Leads $250 Million Investment Round in Sports Marketing Start-Up". Ad Age. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Borchers, Callum (5 March 2013). "Milford native a leader in selling collegiate brands". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  4. ↑ George Pyne, Adam Johnson, Scott Soshnick. IMG’s George Pyne on Popularity of College Football (Television). Bloomberg Television.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "NFF Leadership Hall of Fame inducts George Pyne". Atlanta Business Chronicle. 6 May 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hughes, Jed (4 August 2003). "Pyne didn’t follow a playbook on way to NASCAR executive suite". Sports Business Daily. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 4 King, Bill (4 November 2002). "George Pyne". Sports Business Daily. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  8. ↑ Block, Zachary. "From the Gridiron to the Pits: George Pyne ‘89". Brown Alumni Magazine. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  9. ↑ Branham, H.A. (2010). Bill France Jr, The Man Who Made NASCAR. Triumph Books. ISBN 9781623687137.
  10. ↑ "NASCAR COO George Pyne Leaving Organization For IMG". Sports Business Daily. 23 January 2006. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Ozanian, Mike (18 December 2013). "IMG Sold For $2.3 Billion To William Morris Endeavor and Silver Lake Partners". Forbes. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  12. ↑ Wong, Glenn M. (2012). The Comprehensive Guide to Careers in Sports. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. ISBN 9781449602031.
  13. ↑ Smith, Michael; Tripp Mickle (10 January 2014). "George Pyne, Ben Sutton Leaning Toward Staying At IMG Following WME Acquisition". Sports Business Daily. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  14. ↑ Atkinson, Claire (12 August 2014). "George Pyne to uproot from WME-IMG". New York Post. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  15. ↑ Plesser, Andy (7 January 2015). "(VIDEO) WPP's Sorrell Bets on Sports Value With Bruin Investments". Huffington Post. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  16. ↑ Soshnick, Scott (30 March 2015). "NFL Partners With RedBird Capital, Bruin in Hospitality Business". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  17. ↑ "The 100 Most Influential People In Sports". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  18. ↑ "50 Most Influential: Mark MacDougall, Mike Dolan, George Pyne". Sports Business Daily. 9 December 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  19. ↑ "Brown's George Pyne '88 To Be Honored By Ivy Football Association". Brown Bears. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  20. 1 2 Harris, Mike (2006). Game of My Life Virginia Tech: Memorable Stories of Hokie Football and Basketball. Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 9781596700048.
  21. ↑ Megliola, Lenny (12 May 2013). "Milford's Pyne is atop the sports world". Metro West Daily. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
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