Rob DiGisi, Founder and President
Rob is a sports business expert, entrepreneur and educator. Across three decades in sports, entertainment and consumer marketing, Rob has created new profit centers, distribution channels and brand development platforms for start-ups, pro-sports leagues and multi-billion dollar corporations.
Rob has packaged this expertise into the consulting firm, Iron Horse Marketing. His pedigree includes senior marketing, operations and business development roles for IMG, the National Basketball Association, Bank One, Diamond Resorts International and as an entrepreneur. In addition to Iron Horse, Rob is a lecturer at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania where he teaches both undergraduate and MBA-level sports management classes and oversees student sports business consulting projects. He is a regular guest on SiriusXM’s Wharton Business Daily and penned several OpEds for Sports Business Journal.
The common thread throughout his career is driving innovation in sports and partnership marketing. For example, at the dawn of the digital age, Rob founded and built the NBA’s first online store and its direct-to-consumer marketing platforms. Rob was VP, Strategic Brand Development for upstart Dale and Thomas Popcorn, where he created partnerships and promotions with Universal Pictures, AEG, Miller Beer, Netflix and many others. As the head of national marketing for Diamond Resorts, he was the founder and Chief Operating Officer of the Diamond Resorts Invitational, a nationally televised PGA TOUR event and experiential marketing platform for this global travel and hospitality company.
Rob is a summa cum laude graduate from Boston College and earned an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. A father of two, he and his wife live in Northern New Jersey.
TESTIMONIALS
"The Diamond Resorts International brand was only born in 2007 and in 2012, we had just made a major acquisition that expanded our presence in the Orlando market. In Dec. 2013, in addition to forming marketing partnerships and developing an event marketing channel, Rob put together a one-day celebrity-amateur golf outing to raise money for Florida Hospital for Children as our lead cause-marketing initiative in Orlando. Fast forward to Jan. 2017: This golf event has grown to a week-long official PGA TOUR Champions tournament with exceptional TV ratings, great crowds and broad social media exposure to become Diamond’s primary brand building platform. Through Rob’s leadership and versatile skill set, we’ve built a franchise that is woven into the professional golf schedule and is a highly anticipated special event on the Orlando’s sports and entertainment calendar."
- Michael Flaskey - Chief Executive Officer, Diamond Resorts International
"In 2008, Rob and I partnered on a transformative corporate alliance agreement between Universal Pictures and Dale & Thomas Popcorn where Universal became an equity partner in the start-up snack food company. Rob diligently explored our business and creatively crafted an innovative marketing and activation plan to leverage the equity of Universal's vast catalog of comedies to build D&T’s mass market brand, Popcorn Indiana. Rob was one of the first partner executives I worked with that saw the potential of social media to engage consumers in a one-on-one conversation and ultimately drive retail sales.”
- Stephanie Testa Kauffman - Senior Vice President, Global Alliances, Universal Studios
"In response to the 2008-09 economic recession, we pursued entry into the consumer sector and engaged Rob to lead our consumer marketing program. With his vast experience in market research, sports and experiential marketing, Rob helped us navigate unchartered waters to prepare a long term strategy. He simultaneously helped us understand consumer demand through a formal market research program while also implementing wide-reaching motorsports marketing programs. He immediately ingratiated himself with the leadership team and formed bonds that are still in place today."
- Robert Vannuccini - EVP and Chief Sales and Product Officer, Copart, Inc.
"The $2.3MM raised for Florida Hospital for Children through the Diamond Resorts golf tournaments was wonderful in itself. Rob was much more than the leader who organized this tremendous effort, reporting to the oversight board that consisted of myself and other C-level executives. He was the marketing expert and truly a trusted partner who ensured that as presenting sponsor, we met a wide range of marketing and communication goals."
- Marla Silliman, Chief Executive Officer, Florida Hospital for Children
"In the early days of digital, I co-founded a start-up that was an early foray into e-commerce. Our business model leveraged the passion of sports fans around the world, and we discovered that Rob DiGisi and the NBA shared our vision. Integrating an online store with website content was a breakthrough tactic that engaged fans, built brands and drove sales. Rob was both a tough negotiator and a true partner in helping us meet our common goals."
- David Sable, Global CEO, Y&R
"In the mid-90's, Rob and I were colleagues at the NBA which at the time was enjoying a period of exceptional growth. As is often the case in rapidly expanding organizations, we did not have a disciplined strategic planning process. When Rob joined our Consumer Products Group in 1995, he introduced analytical tools, an annual business planning process and led quarterly business review meetings, creating a culture of accountability and ownership throughout the business. In addition, Rob recognized the enormous opportunity in e-commerce, formulated the league’s initial e-commerce and customer relationship management plan, both of which are key parts of our business today."
- SAL LAROCCA, President, NBA GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS
Iron Horse and Silver Ridge Advisors (SRA) have formed a strategic alliance designed to bring elite management consulting expertise to the sports, media and entertainment industries. Please see the press release announcing the alliance.
SRA has worked with Fortune 500 and mid-size companies as a trusted advisor, collaborative partner and enabler of results. SRA helps organizations design and build new entities, drive profitable growth, and transform operations and technology.
Founded in 2008, SRA has been engaged by major clients like WWE, XFL, AOL/Yahoo!/Verizon Media, Samsung, Amazon and others across entertainment, media & technology, consumer products and financial services. PE and corporate development groups bring in SRA as an investment and operating partner to help launch, grow and turnaround portfolio companies. SRA's professionals were executives, investors and consultants in the industries they serve and were trained at top consulting firms such as Oliver Wyman, McKinsey, Deloitte and A.T. Kearney.
A Sampling of Clients
Engaged by Vince McMahon, led the design and build-out of the new 2020 XFL professional football league. Served as the XFL's interim COO and CTO, and built the organization from zero to several hundred employees. Crafted overall strategic plan and detailed tactical implementation; led the build-out of eight local teams including city and venue selection, team branding; organizational structure and compensation plans; digital marketing strategy ticketing, fan engagement, e-commerce and customer service; deployed enterprise IT systems and player technology platforms; developed capital requirement forecast and pro forma financials.
Performed numerous corporate initiatives across the company on behalf of the CEO and leadership team including Finance, Sales and Marketing, Sponsorships, HR, Consumer Products, Enterprise Technology, Media Production and Analytics. Ledbuild-out of WWE’s new $275MM Global Headquarters, a world-class 400,000 square foot workplace and media production campus that opened in Stamford, CT in 2022.
Developed investment case for launch of new podcast platform including audience segmentation, market positioning, pricing, development costing and financial pro formas.
Engaged by the COO and Corporate Strategy Group to perform multiple transformational initiatives including: merger integration of AOL and Yahoo!; organizational redesign following acquisition by Verizon Media; complete operating model overhaul, redesign of the overall sales and marketing strategy to drive revenue and and leading local news business Patch to initial profitability..
APEL is a sponsorship and media company whose core competency is helping blue chip properties maximize revenue. Fiercely committed to strategic integrity and executional excellence, Apel’s principals are recognized industry leaders with decades of relevant experience and highest level relationships. Clients include The United States Tennis Association, NY Mets, NY Jets, Citibikes, The NHL, NASCAR, Virgin Mobile and Yahoo!
- - -
Spero Media has decades of successfully building audiences and brands, driving revenues and profits and maximizing the impact, efficiency and value of media/promotion/marketing planning. For nearly 40 years, Harry Spero has created, developed and nurtured advertising and marketing campaigns for some of the world’s biggest brand names. Clients include the US Open, WWE, SNY, many sports teams, college football bowl games, golf tournaments and entertainment properties.
- - -
From ushering in the golden age of NBA Identity Systems in the 90s to leaving today’s stadium fans breathless with eye-popping state-of-the-art video board and LED ribbon board animations, GPC’s creative solutions have revolutionized design and are considered by many to be industry best practices.
Led by veteran sports branding executive, Tom O’Grady, GPC has extensive creative and technical skills in sports design, advertising, animation, brand identity, graphic design, marketing, and video production.
- - -
Their name says it all,Vizion Group is all about vision: visibility, perception, marketability, timeliness and building for the future. Founder Steve Griffith has wide-ranging knowledge of the media spectrum, the right contacts and applies a craft to define and deliver the right pitch. He is the PR force behind The National Dog Show and has worked with some of the biggest entities in sports and entertainment including NBC Sports, all major golf tours, American Century, Diamond Resorts, Quint Events, ADT and the Sports Gambling Podcast Network (SGPN.)
- - -
Weidinger Public Relations is an award-winning agency with a 30+ year history of success for clients in travel/tourism, hospitality, gaming and lodging, sports/recreation, real estate/development and nonprofits. Weidinger PR works with local, regional and national media in the areas of broadcast and linerar digital media and print. They’ve earned a reputation with media as the source for accurate, timely and difference-making information.
- - -
For more than 20 years, Sports and Leisure Research Group has played a pivotal role providing marketing professionals with the most extensive customized research in the sports, travel and leisure markets.
With the skill, knowledge, and access to the latest data and information available, their expertise allows clients to take a creative and strategic approach to advertising research, product development, target market analysis and sales support research.
Case Studies
DIAMOND RESORTS INVITATIONAL
Launched and built The Diamond Resorts Invitational, a nationally televised official PGA TOUR Champions golf tournament. Usually the event comes first, then the title sponsor but we flipped the model, meeting wide-ranging goals at a fraction of the cost of traditional entitlements. Working closely with Golf Channel, we seamlessly integrated Diamond's Stay Vacationed message through nine hours of live programming. Further accelerated growth of the Diamond brand and point of differentiation through cutting edge promotions, PR, social media, national and local advertising and member communication. Results included:
SALES VIDEO
TV Ratings that exceeded regular PGA Tour events on Golf Channel
Generated $4MM in sponsorships covering half of the event’s production cost
Generated over $10MM in vacation ownership revenue
Raised over $2.3MM for Florida Hospital for Children
RADIO INTERVIEWS
-----
COPART
Led initial consumer marketing strategy for this $3B, publicly traded online vehicle auction company as they initially sought to penetrate the consumer sector.
Drove strategic execution of NASCAR and NHRA race team sponsorships designed to build brand awareness, communicate the unique value proposition and build relationships with vehicle-sourcing partners.
Negotiated official sponsorship with NHRA and led media planning/buying for Fox and ESPN advertising programs.
Led RFP process and served as executive point for market research, experiential marketing, advertising, media buying, branding and public relations elements of the consumer marketing plan
Created “The Copart Camaro” a digital webisode series to demonstrate Copart’s value proposition to consumers
-----
Copart Brand Introduction Ad
Copart Camaro Auction Webisode
DIAMOND RESORTS MASTERCARD
In order to overcome objections during sales presentations, create brand loyalty and have an effective tool to attract top sales talent, I created partnerships with both Barclays Bank and MasterCard to introduce a co-branded credit card program.
This valuable financing tool greatly increased sales conversion and generated over $3MM in annual royalties for Diamond Resorts.
-----
NBA.CoM
In 1995, at the dawn of the digital age, I introduced e-commerce to the National Basketball Association with the launch of NBA.com. Earned Commissioner David Stern’s approval and grew revenue from start-up to $4.1MM in three years. To best position the NBA to share in growth of e-commerce as a distribution channel, negotiated the league’s first equity-compensation alliance to provide merchandising and fulfillment for NBA.com store. Formed and managed partnership with Sports Illustrated to build a 4.2MM basketball fan database to support e-commerce and other direct marketing initiatives.
-----
Box tops for education
In response to saturated market with shrinking direct response rates, redirected focus to opportunities providing access to new marketing channels and to partners that offer compelling value propositions. Developed a three-way partnership to form this groundbreaking fundraising vehicle for General Mills, utilizing 65,000 program volunteers to access the deep and previously untapped affinity between parents and their children’s elementary and grammar schools.
-----
WHARTON
Co-founded the leading sports industry think-tank, the Wharton Sports Business Initiative and taught the course, Entertainment & Sports Marketing.
-----
Famous 58
Partnered with former NFL All-Pro, Carl Banks, to launch a branded line of BBQ foods targeted to the football tailgate party segment. Turned a vague idea into a start-up including product concept, competitive positioning, branding, manufacturing and distribution. Launched distribution through HSN and supported by online and experiential marketing programs.
-----
PENN ATHLETICS
As part of a brand fortification initiative for the University of Pennsylvania, oversaw audit of athletic brand and developed a strategy for the University of Pennsylvania’s licensed merchandise program.
-----
