Rick Horrow
Considered to be the leading expert in the business of sports. As CEO of Horrow Sports Ventures, he has been the architect of 103 deals worth more than $13 billion in sports and other urban infrastructure projects. He is also the Sports Business Analyst for CNN, Fox Sports, and the Fox Business Channel.
Horrow’s signature radio program, “FOX MoneyBall: The Cost of Winning,” can be heard Sunday mornings on over 395 FOX Sports Radio affiliates nationwide. Additionally, viewers hungry for breaking sports business news can catch his weekly segments on “CNN Saturday Morning,” his “Sports Business Minutes” video segments and “Sports Dollar” blog on foxsports.com, and his weekly column and podcast on the BusinessWeek website.
“Rick Horrow: The Sports Professor,” a weekly half-hour television program focused on the business of sports, is currently under development by the Versus network and independent production company Career Sports & Entertainment. The program is slated to debut in the second quarter of 2009.
In May 2008, Horrow joined Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P. of counsel to enhance the firm’s sports and entertainment law and facilities development practices. Founded in 1890, Squire Sanders has more than 850 lawyers in 32 offices and 15 countries around the world.
Horrow’s experience covering the world’s premier sporting events includes firsthand reporting from Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa Bay; BCS National Championship Games in Glendale and Miami; 2008 Daytona 500; 2008 Ryder Cup; 2006 World Cup; Wimbledon, the French Open, the Masters, and multiple Olympic Games.
A popular speaker, writer and commentator on the business, law and politics of sports, he has been a regular guest on Fox Sports “Best Damn Sports Show, Period,” and PBS-TV “Nightly Business Report.” He’s nicknamed “The Sports Professor” because he has served as Visiting Expert on sports law at The Harvard Law School, where he also received a law degree alongside Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts, his roommate.
Horrow is author of When The Game Is On The Line (Da Capo Books, 2006), an autobiographical examination of the people, politics and power plays behind mega sports deals. In January, 2010, HarperCollins will release Beyond the Box Score: The Sports Professor’s Guide to the $750 Billion Business of Sports, written with Karla Swatek.
Horrow pioneered the public/private partnership and infrastructure branding concepts that, to date, has enticed more than $4 billion in corporate funding to cities and development projects. Besides developing the stadia and arenas that serve as centerpieces for their communities, Horrow’s ability to put together many urban initiatives into one package for voter approval has resulted in the building of new performing arts and convention centers, schools, libraries, transit projects, and tourist destinations.
He has been a key player in stadium, arena, and speedway deals in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Orlando, Oklahoma City, Indianapolis, Charlotte, Boston, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Detroit, Cleveland, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Houston, Green Bay, San Diego, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh.
Internationally, Horrow’s work through 2008 includes keynote speeches for the Premios Awards (Latin America), Sports and Technology (London), Televisa (Mexico City), Sports Marketing Association (Denver), the World High Performance Forum (Chicago), the World Negotiation Forum (Mexico City), Asia Sports Summit (Bangkok), UEFA Football Forum Nacional (Lisbon), and Insight Sports Management (Toronto).
He has presented sports/facility development options for the governments of Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and on behalf of the United States Department of Commerce Business Development Center, World Tourism Organization, International Hotel Association, and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency/World Bank. He has also worked for the province of Bahia (Brazil), the city of Victoria (Canada), and local entities in the Dominican Republic.
His clients have included the NFL, Major League Baseball, PGA Tour, NASCAR, Great White Shark Enterprises (Greg Norman), Ladies Professional Golf Association, Major League Soccer, General Sports Venue/AstroTurf, Cisco Systems, CA, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Golden Bear International (Jack Nicklaus), Portland Trail Blazers, Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, and the State of West Virginia.
In 2000, Horrow Sports Ventures became part of the Omnicom Group, a leading global marketing and corporate communications company with more than 5,000 clients in 100 countries.
Horrow resides in Jupiter, Florida, with his wife Terri and daughter Caroline; daughter Katie is a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina.