Sonny Vaccaro, legendary former Nike marketing executive,
will speak at the 2nd annual Sport for Social Change Conference presented by
the Drexel Sport Management Student Union (SMTSU) on Friday, Nov. 14, 2014, the
SMTSU announced Wednesday.
The title of Vaccaro’s lecture is “College Sport at a
Crossroads: Perspectives on the Demise of NCAA,” which will feature his experiences
helping to grow the Nike empire, while fighting for student-athlete rights
along the way. He will deliver his lecture from 11-11:50 a.m. on Nov. 14.
Vaccaro is credited with launching the careers of a legion
of NBA players, including LeBron James and Tracy McGrady. Within the sport
industry, Vaccaro is known as the man who helped established the framework for
modern sport marketing, realizing the power and potential of using college
teams to showcase athletic shoes and apparel produced by Nike, Adidas and
Reebok. He is credited with signing NBA great Michael Jordan to his first
multi-million dollar endorsement deal.
In a career that has spanned more than five decades,
Vaccaro’s influence has been felt throughout the industry. A fierce advocate
for fair treatment and compensation of college athletes, Vaccaro has sought
justice on behalf of college athletes for decades. That life work came into
full focus in the case of O’Bannon v. NCAA (otherwise known as In re: NCAA Names, Likenesses, and Images)
with a ruling that found that the NCAA had violated anti-trust laws as a result
of its business practices.
The Sport for Social Change Conference will be held in the
Academic Bistro (Sixth floor, Paul Peck Building) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The
event is FREE and open to the public
and Drexel community.
Vaccaro will join a speaker line-up that includes Tom Farrey of ESPN and the Aspen Institute (announced Tuesday) and Suzan Shown Harjo, Native American policy advocate (announced Monday).
The SMTSU is still working to finalize participants for a
panel discussion, which will be announced upon completion. We will also have
more exciting news to announce regarding Sonny Vaccaro and Tom Farrey coming
soon, so stay tuned!
Follow the Drexel SMTSU and #S4SC on Twitter for event
updates.
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