Mark Tatum

Last updated
Mark Tatum
Mark Tatum.jpg
Tatum in 2022
Deputy Commissioner and COO of the NBA
Assumed office
February 1, 2014
Personal details
Born (1969-10-22) October 22, 1969 (age 54)
Vung Tau, Vietnam
Alma mater Cornell University

Mark A. Tatum (born October 22, 1969) is an American sports and business executive who is currently serving as the Deputy Commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) under Adam Silver. Additionally, Tatum also currently holds the position of the NBA's chief operating officer. For his work in these capacities, Forbes ranked him at No. 8 on its list of "Most Influential Minorities in Sports". [1] He is of Vietnamese and Jamaican descent. [2]

Contents

Early life

Mark Tatum was born in Vung Tau, Vietnam, to Kim and Charlie Tatum on October 22, 1969. When Tatum was young, he and his family moved to the United States, where he lived in the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn. In 1987, Tatum graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School, where he led the Brooklyn Tech baseball team to the New York City public school championship at Yankee Stadium in 1984. [3]

Career

Tatum attended Cornell University, where he played collegiate baseball for the Big Red, was a member of the Quill and Dagger society, and was initiated into the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He graduated in 1991 and earned a bachelor's degree in business management and marketing. [4] He also graduated from Harvard Business School in 1998.

Prior to joining the NBA, Tatum worked as a marketing executive and sales manager for companies such as PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, and the Clorox Company. His first work as a sports executive came as a member of Major League Baseball's Corporate Sponsorship and Marketing department. He made the move over to the NBA in 1999.

Prior to becoming Deputy Commissioner, he worked as the league's Executive Vice President of Global Marketing Partnerships, where he managed the Business Development and Media groups. In this role, he collaborated with sports marketing executives from the Coca-Cola Company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Adidas, and Nike, among others, being in charge of NBA-themed promotions and advertising. He also negotiated many of the NBA's television deals with many networks (including ABC/ESPN and TNT). On February 1, 2014, Tatum was unanimously appointed Deputy Commissioner and chief operating officer by the NBA Board of Governors. [5]

Since then, he has continued his work in promoting and advertising the NBA, both domestically and internationally. As head of the league's business operations, he currently oversees the NBA G League, as well as global partnerships, marketing, and communications. He has been praised for his key role in the NBA's recent success abroad, particularly in China. [6]

As Adam Silver's deputy commissioner, Tatum also holds the duty of announcing second-round picks in the annual NBA draft, as well as hosting the NBA draft lottery. He is also the league's representative in the FIBA Central Board. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Stern</span> American businessman, lawyer, and NBA commissioner (1942–2020)

David Joel Stern was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of the world's most popular sports during the 1990s and 2000s. He is credited with developing and broadening the NBA's audience, especially internationally by setting up training camps, playing exhibition games, and recruiting more international players. In addition, with Stern's guidance the NBA opened 12 offices in cities outside the United States, and broadcast to over 200 territories in over 40 languages. Stern also helped found the Women's National Basketball Association and the NBA G League, the NBA's development league. Under Stern, the NBA launched their digital presence with NBA.com, NBA TV, and NBA League Pass. He also established the NBA's social responsibility program, NBA Cares.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glen Taylor</span> American businessman and politician

Glen Allen Taylor is an American billionaire business magnate and politician from Minnesota. Taylor made his fortune as the founder and owner of Minnesota-based Taylor Corporation, one of the largest graphic communication companies in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Reinsdorf</span> American sports executive

Jerry Michael Reinsdorf is the owner of the NBA's Chicago Bulls and MLB's Chicago White Sox. He started his professional life as a tax attorney with the Internal Revenue Service. He has been the owner of the White Sox and Bulls for over 35 years. As of January 2024, his net worth was estimated at US$2.4 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Garber</span> Major League Soccer commissioner

Donald P. Garber is an American sports executive who has served as the Commissioner of Major League Soccer since 1999. Garber is also the CEO of Soccer United Marketing and a member of the United States Soccer Federation board of directors.

Arn Herschel Tellem is an American sports executive who is the vice chairman of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). From 1981 to 2015, he was a sports agent best known for his representation of basketball and baseball players. Tellem was vice chairman of the Wasserman Media Group, a global sport and entertainment marketing agency headed by Casey Wasserman. From 2009 to 2010, he wrote a semi-weekly sports column for The Huffington Post. He has also written for Sports Illustrated, the op-ed page of The New York Times, Grantland, Detroit Free Press, The Hollywood Reporter, The Japan Times and The Detroit News.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Bedol</span> American television executive

Brian Bedol is an American television executive, entrepreneur, and founder of the sports television channels Classic Sports Network and College Sports Television. Bedol owned CSN from 1995 to 1997 and CSTV from 2003 to 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Cohon</span> Former Canadian Football League Commissioner

Mark Steven Cohon, is a Canadian businessman who is the chairman of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS). He was also the 12th commissioner of the Canadian Football League. The son of McDonald's Canada founder George Cohon, he was appointed as commissioner in 2007 succeeding Tom Wright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Silver</span> American businessman and NBA commissioner

Adam Silver is an American lawyer and sports executive who serves as the fifth and current commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He joined the NBA in 1992 and has held various positions within the league, becoming chief operating officer and deputy commissioner under his predecessor and mentor David Stern in 2006. When Stern retired in 2014, Silver was named commissioner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Pollack</span> American businessman (born 1965)

Jeffrey Pollack is an American sports executive and business consultant. After a brief career in politics, Pollack moved into the industry of sports business where he's held executive roles with the NBA, NASCAR, World Series of Poker, Professional Bull Riders, Los Angeles Chargers and XFL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randy Levine</span> American lawyer

Randy Lewis Levine is an American attorney, the current president of the New York Yankees baseball club and a member of the Board of Directors of A.C. Milan S.p.A.

Peter Charles Bernard Bynoe is a Chicago attorney and businessman, formerly the only African-American equity partner in the Chicago office of DLA Piper. In 1989, he and his business partner Bertram Lee were the first African-Americans to buy a controlling interest in a National Basketball Association (NBA) team, when they purchased a 37.5% share of the Denver Nuggets basketball team, and he is among the most influential minority figures in sports law and management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John McDonough (sports executive)</span> American sports executive (born 1953)

John McDonough is an American sports executive who spent two decades with the Chicago Cubs. In 2007, he left the presidency of the Cubs to become president of the Chicago Blackhawks. On June 1, 2011, McDonough was promoted to president and CEO of the Blackhawks. He specialized in the area of marketing. On April 27, 2020, he was released from his job with the Blackhawks.

Andrew Bruce Dolich is an American sports executive, and currently operates a sports consultancy, Dolich & Associates, in Los Altos, California. Dolich has more than five decades of experience in the professional sports industry, including executive positions in the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB.

Dennis M. Mannion is currently CEO and President of House of 7, LLC, a sports advisory company with professional and amateur sports clients. Mannion was CEO and President of Palace Sports and Entertainment where he oversaw Business Operations of the Detroit Pistons, The Palace of Auburn Hills, DTE Energy Music Theatre, Meadow Brook Amphitheatre, and Freedom Hill Amphitheatre. He has worked in all four Major League sports: MLB, NHL, NBA, and NFL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commissioner of the NBA</span> Chief executive of the National Basketball Association

The commissioner of the NBA is the chief executive of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The current commissioner is Adam Silver, who succeeded David Stern on February 1, 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Lacob</span> American business executive (born 1956)

Joseph Steven Lacob is an American business executive who was a partner at Kleiner Perkins and is the majority owner of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

David Scott Blitzer is an American investor and sports team owner. He is a senior executive at the private equity firm Blackstone and co-managing partner of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and NHL's New Jersey Devils. A native of New Jersey, he graduated from Penn's Wharton School and joined Blackstone in 1991. Blitzer and Apollo Global Management co-founder Josh Harris are frequent business partners, with the pair establishing Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment in 2017.

Jonathan Mildenhall is chief executive officer of TwentyFirstCenturyBrand, a marketing consultancy firm. While working for Airbnb in 2017, he was ranked 8th on the world's most influential CMOs by Forbes.

Dan MacKenzie is a Canadian sports administrator and marketing executive. He has served as president of the Canadian Hockey League since September 2019. He served as the vice-president and managing director of National Basketball Association (NBA) Canada from 2014 to 2019, and previously worked for The Sports Network. During his tenure with NBA Canada, he implemented marketing strategies targeted to younger demographics to grow the game in Canada, and he increased the NBA presence using television, advertising, social media and community involvement. He oversaw events which included managing the development NBA Global Games in Europe, 3x3 basketball tournaments in Canada, the NBA Canada Series, and the 2016 NBA All-Star Game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brett Yormark</span> Athletics Director

Brett Yormark is the fifth and current commissioner of the Big 12 Conference, a position he has held since August 1, 2022. Yormark has a diverse professional background in the sports and entertainment landscape, holding top business positions at Palace Sports & Entertainment, Katz Sports, and NASCAR. He was formerly the chief executive officer of Roc Nation. Prior to that, he served as chief executive officer of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, where he oversaw the business operations of the Brooklyn Nets organization, the Barclays Center, the New York Islanders, New York Liberty, Nassau Coliseum, and the Nets’ minor team Long Island Nets.

References

  1. ↑ Belzer, Jason. "The Most Influential Minorities in Sports – No. 8: Mark Tatum – pg.9". Forbes. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016.
  2. ↑ http://asamnews.com/2014/05/21/nba-com-the-second-highest-executive-in-the-nba-is-asian-american/
  3. ↑ "Mark Tatum's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Baseball Alum Mark Tatum '91 Named NBA Deputy Commissioner and COO". Cornell University.
  5. ↑ "Mark A. Tatum – NBA Careers". August 18, 2015.
  6. ↑ Ozanian, Mike. "Mark Tatum Talks About The NBA's Enormous Success in China And Its Impact on Team Values". Forbes .
  7. ↑ "First FIBA Central Board meeting for new term convenes in Manila on eve of World Cup Final". September 9, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.