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John Paul Vincent "Sonny" Vaccaro (born September 23, 1939) is an American former sports marketing executive. He lives in Santa Monica, California.

Career

Vaccaro is best known for his tenure with Nike, Inc., where he signed Michael Jordan to his first sneaker deal. Vaccaro left Nike for Adidas, then Reebok. [1] He founded the ABCD Camp, an elite showcase of high school basketball standouts, which ran from 1984 to 2007. It featured future stars Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, and LeBron James. [2] Vaccaro cofounded the first national high school All-Star game, The Dapper Dan Roundball Classic, with concert promoter and boyhood friend Pat DiCesare in Pittsburgh in 1965. The game endured for 43 years and its alumni includes such greats as Calvin Murphy, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Chris Webber, Alonzo Mourning, Kevin Garnett, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Patrick Ewing, Rasheed Wallace and Stephon Marbury. [3] [4]

Vaccaro and basketball coach George Raveling had been close friends, to the point that Raveling was the best man at Sonny's second wedding. [5] Raveling had a falling out with Sonny over the business of summer high school basketball camps that Sonny ran. [5] Raveling became Sonny's competitor in the same position at Nike. [5] Vaccaro was a key figure in the O'Bannon v. NCAA lawsuit, which allowed players to be compensated for appearances in video games. [6] Vaccaro helped to recruit Ed O'Bannon for the case. [7]

Legacy

An ESPN 30 for 30 documentary about Vaccaro titled "Sole Man" aired on April 16, 2015. [8] The show was themed around the "corrosive effect of pumping so much marketing money into the college game." [9]

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon produced a film called Air about his signing of Michael Jordan to Nike and ultimately the Air Jordan brand. [10] Damon plays Vaccaro in the film. [11]

References

  1. ^ Thamel, Pete (June 24, 2007). "Marketing All-Star is Ready to Relax". The New York Times.
  2. ^ Prisbell, Eric (July 6, 2007). "Camps Turn To Skills, Rather Than Thrills". Washington Post.
  3. ^ "The Grassroots Godfather".
  4. ^ "ESPN.com - Dick Vitale - vcolumn010408roundball". assets.espn.go.com. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Bucher, Ric - The Last Don ESPN Magazine. October 28, 2002
  6. ^ "Judge rules against NCAA in O'Bannon case". August 8, 2014.
  7. ^ "O'Bannon v. NCAA: Case Challenges Business Model of College Sports". NBC News.
  8. ^ Sole Man (2015) Sonny Vaccaro rose from Pennsylvania steel town roots to become one of the most powerful and influential men in the athletic shoe industry and in basketball.
  9. ^ Lowry, Brian - TV Review: ESPN’s ‘Sole Man’. Variety, April 6, 2015
  10. ^ "Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's New Movie Air Chronicles the Scrappy Rise of Nike". February 9, 2023.
  11. ^ "Reedley College graduate to be portrayed by Matt Damon in upcoming film". ABC30 Fresno. February 10, 2023.

External links

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