Sopranos' star James Gandolfini has signed on to play former Nike and Adidas impresario Sonny Vaccaro, in an upcoming HBO film. Vaccaro (along with Nike) revolutionized the sports shoe industry with his aggressive marketing stylings. Waaay back in the day, when Converse shoes dominated the market, Vaccaro came along and took on the 800 lb. gorilla, by hitting him with everything he had. Back then, college basketball programs had to buy their own shoes and equipment, with maybe a select few getting a "2 for 1" deal. Vaccaro said to hell with that and just gave the programs Nike shoes and equipment, with the understanding that they would become "Nike schools", exclusively. This all played into recruiting, as Nike would sponsor basketball camps for high school players, and they would eventually be steered to Nike schools by street agents (recruiters within the Nike network), so it was a double win-win proposition. If you want to understand the whole sorted process, read the book Raw Recruits, and it will give you an up close view of the seedy underbelly of college sports.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Tony S. lands on his feet
Sopranos' star James Gandolfini has signed on to play former Nike and Adidas impresario Sonny Vaccaro, in an upcoming HBO film. Vaccaro (along with Nike) revolutionized the sports shoe industry with his aggressive marketing stylings. Waaay back in the day, when Converse shoes dominated the market, Vaccaro came along and took on the 800 lb. gorilla, by hitting him with everything he had. Back then, college basketball programs had to buy their own shoes and equipment, with maybe a select few getting a "2 for 1" deal. Vaccaro said to hell with that and just gave the programs Nike shoes and equipment, with the understanding that they would become "Nike schools", exclusively. This all played into recruiting, as Nike would sponsor basketball camps for high school players, and they would eventually be steered to Nike schools by street agents (recruiters within the Nike network), so it was a double win-win proposition. If you want to understand the whole sorted process, read the book Raw Recruits, and it will give you an up close view of the seedy underbelly of college sports.
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3 comments:
i would watch this of course
nice cast by hbo
You like hoops, El P so you should also check out the book Raw Recruits, which has a ton of info on Sonny V.
I think he should do a spoof comedy on the Sopranos ... that would be cool.
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