NEW YORK, January 10 2003 — Interpublic Sports and Entertainment Group (TPSEG) Chairman and CEO Mark Dowley today announced the appointment of Rick Dudley as President/Chief Executive Officer of Octagon Worldwide, the global sports marketing firm. Dudley will report directly to Dowley on all Octagon operations and business matters.
The announcement completes the restructuring of Octagon Worldwide initiated by Dowley when he was put in charge of the division by IPG Chairman and CEO John Dooner approximately one year ago.
Dudley had previously been named President of Octagon North America, and now will be CEO of all of Octagon, excluding motor sports. He will be based in New York. As CEO, Dudley will continue to integrate and unify all Octagon operating units, including corporate consultancy, athlete representation, television production and distribution, event operations, sales and marketing solutions.
Octagon currently has the largest global sports consulting practice with clients that include MasterCard, BMW, Pfizer, Nextel, Burger King, NatWest, Energizer, and IBM among others. Octagon represents more than 800 athletes and broadcasters including Michael Vick, Lleyton Hewitt, Anna Kournikova, Davis Love III, John Elway, Mia Hamm and Lenny Krayzelburg. The company produces more than 500 hours of original programming and distributes over 4000 hours on an annual basis.
‘Rick Dudley is the perfect guy for the job,’ said Dowley. ‘His long and successful track record in sports marketing will provide Octagon with a creative and respected leader and ensure that Octagon serves as the dominant force in the sports industry.’
‘Octagon is a global sports powerhouse that understands and can access fans’ passion for sports for the ultimate benefit of our partners and constituents,’ said Dudley. ‘That’s what we are good at. There’s nothing we cannot do at Octagon when operating as one unified company.’
In addition to better unifying and integrating all operating units, Dudley intends to further expand the consulting footprint, develop Octagon’s Marketing Solutions business, identify events and properties to represent and increase Octagon’s sales force and sales penetration. His goal is to have the organization think globally but also immersed within local markets.
Prior to joining Octagon, Dudley spent five years as President of NHL Enterprises. He was also a Senior Vice President at the National Football League, where he ran corporate sponsorships and marketing operations for 10 years and served in a similar capacity at Major League Baseball. Most recently, Dudley held an operating role at Ignite Sports and ran MHC Investments, a private equity investor in sports properties.
Octagon is part of The Interpublic Group (NYSE:IPG), the world’s largest advertising and marketing communications group. The Interpublic Group is the only marketing communications and services group with a global sports marketing capability. Octagon employs over 1500 people in 23 countries on all major continents. For further information please visit: www.octagon.com.
For more details contact:
Chris Widmaier
Dan Klores Communications
212-981-5189
chris_widmaier@dkcnews.com
Ruth Wicks
Octagon Worldwide
44 207 862 0063
ruth.wicks@octagon.com