Sport Sponsorship Trailblazer Harlan Stone Named McCormack Department Executive-in-Residence

Harlan Stone, who is widely recognized as one of the leading trailblazers within the sport sponsorship discipline, will serve as the Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management Executive-in-Residence at the Isenberg School of Management this fall.

“We are extremely fortunate to be able to have Harlan Stone join us this fall,” said Steve McKelvey, the head of the McCormack Department of Sport Management. “Harlan follows in a long and impressive line of sport industry icons who have graciously agreed to share their career experiences, insights, and wisdom with our students and faculty.”

The keynote event of Stone’s visit is the Mark H. McCormack Sport Innovators Lecture, to be delivered on Tuesday, November 15, at 6:45 p.m. in room N151 of the Integrated Learning Center.

Stone’s residency activities will also include classroom visits, roundtables with McCormack students and faculty, and participation in the McCormack Collection Oral History Project.

Stone began his career as a promoter of “Legends” tennis events, and then became director of sports marketing for Golf Digest and Tennis (New York Times Magazines) in 1985 at the age of 27. Following two years at the magazines, Stone became the VP of marketing for Advantage International, which later became known as Octagon. Stone went on to became president and was one of five partners when the firm was sold to IPG in 1997.

In his 13 years at Octagon, Stone led the growth of its marketing division, which has become one of the largest sports marketing companies in the world, with focuses on brand consulting, event management, and sponsorship sales. Stone’s clients included LPGA Championship, ATP Tour, WTA Tour, IBM, BMW, Mastercard, AT&T, Cadillac NFL Golf Classic, Coors Softball World Series, and many others.

Stone moved within the IPG family to become CEO of Momentum Worldwide in 2000 (part of McCann Erickson) and then in 2002 joined Velocity Sports and Entertainment. As one of five partners, Stone helped drive the growth of Velocity across all sponsorship disciplines and led a variety of client assignments including USTA, Cirque du Soleil, Little League Baseball, Visa, and USA Track and Field, among others.

After the sale of Velocity in 2007 to Aegis/Dentsu, Stone did a brief stint as president of Major League Gaming and then was recruited to become the chief business officer for the USTA, where he was responsible for aspects of the USTA’s business, most importantly the US Open. Stone set records in securing sponsorship during his tenure and doubled domestic television rights primarily through a landmark $825 million ESPN rights agreement.

In 2021, Stone was named a recipient of the Sports Business Journal “CHAMPIONS OF SPORTS BUSINESS” award, annually given to “Pioneers and Innovators” who have made “a distinct and sustainable impact on the sports industry.” Harlan Stone is now partly retired, spending time on local charity work and occasional consulting.

Recent McCormack Executives in Residence include: International Olympic Committee Board Member Anita DeFrantz (Fall 2021), NBA Commissioner Emeritus David Stern (Fall 2019); and noted sport marketer and The Aspire Group founder Dr. Bernie Mullin (Fall 2018). For a complete listing of former Executives in Residence, click here. 

About the McCormack Department of Sport Management

The McCormack Department of Sport Management at UMass Amherst is the second oldest degree program of its kind in the world and is currently ranked by SportBusiness as a top graduate sport management program in the world. One of the few sport management programs housed in a business school (the Isenberg School of Management), the McCormack Department of Sport Management is also considered one of the nation’s leading undergraduate programs. UMass Amherst also houses the papers of Mark H. McCormack and the company that he founded, IMG. For more information about the McCormack Department of Sport Management, please visit https://www.isenberg.umass.edu/programs/depts/sport-mgmt.