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Ray Katz
President, Sports Properties & Media
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Ray joins Leverage after serving as Managing Director- Sports Marketing, for Optimum Sports, an Omnicom Company, for almost six years. He oversaw consulting for brand and property clients, including VISA, State Farm and Bank of America, and was highly instrumental in Optimum’s rapid revenue growth in consulting for both sponsors and properties, as well as in capabilities in the areas of Return-On-Investment (ROI) analytics, integrated platforms, emerging technologies, research and analytics.
In 1999, Ray founded Smartix International, an affinity commerce company that partnered with MasterCard and MBNA to launch a comprehensive fan management program for sports teams and Leagues. After serving as president for four years, he continues as founder, consultant, and Chairman of the Advisory Board. While Director of Sales at Madison Square Garden, formulating integrated season subscription and group sales and marketing plans for sports and entertainment events, and created the first ever Knicks mini-plan and pre-playoff promotion.
As Senior Director of Marketing at the NFL, Ray managed a $10 million budget and was responsible for company-wide advertising, direct marketing and research, during a time in which NFL Properties business doubled. He started his career in Account Management at Young and Rubicam and subsequently became the head of The Lord Group’s sports marketing unit. His account experience includes, Kraft/General Foods, Procter and Gamble, Adidas, The Sports Authority and Major League Baseball.
Ray graduated with distinction with an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania after graduating from Penn Summa Cum Laude, and winning the William D. Gordon award for outstanding graduating senior. Ray was heavily involved in the initial curriculum development for the NYU Masters in Sports Business program in 2001, and has taught E-commerce, Sports Media, Sports Marketing, and Sports Sponsorship courses for both the Masters and Undergraduate Sports programs at NYU.
Currently, Ray is also an adjunct faculty member at Columbia University, teaching courses in Summer and Fall 2009 in the Sports Business Program.
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Newsletter |
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The Leverage Wire |
30.08.2010
Westin Shows Sponsors How It\'s Done At US Open |
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02.08.2010
LEVERAGE AGENCY SELECTED AS CORPORATE PARTNERSHIP AGENCY OF RECORD FOR... |
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14.06.2010
Leverage to sell deals for post-Cup soccer tournament |
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