RESUME

Anthony DiCosmo is Global Vice President/GM of Sports Marketing at Jordan Brand.   A Jordan Brand Executive Leadership Team member, he is tasked with leading the Sports Marketing team and building the athlete and team asset strategy across sports at Jordan Brand globally. A former professional athlete, DiCosmo brings authenticity and credibility to the board room.  During his tenure, Jordan Brand signing included two NBA Rookie of the Years, two WNBA Rookie of the Years, as well as multiple MVPs in MLB and NFL, managing relationships and securing deals with some of the biggest athletes in the world, including Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic, Jalen Hurts, Nigel Sylvester, Aaron Judge, and Carmelo Anthony.  He also manages key relationships with CAA, Excel Sports, Wasserman, and WME. 

 

Prior to his role at Nike, DiCosmo served as Senior Vice President of Sports Marketing & Content Development, Nickelodeon Group.  He was tasked with building and developing innovative brand and franchise-focused marketing and content initiatives across Nickelodeon with specific focus on live experiential sports and lifestyle events.  DiCosmo started the Nickelodeon Sports division in 2012, building the strategy and positioning from scratch.  He developed content partnerships and marketing programs that generated significant new revenue opportunities for Nickelodeon’s ad sales and consumer products licensing businesses.  His work helped establish a very successful niche for Nickelodeon in sports, including a healthy slate of live-action and animated originals and acquisitions for NickSport, building league partnerships, producing live marketing events and activations, and helping create Nickelodeon’s biggest sports event of the year, Kids’ Choice Sports Awards.

 

Notably, DiCosmo brokered an unprecedented, ground-breaking partnership between Nickelodeon and the NFL around Super Bowl XLVIII and 50 as the "Official Kids and Family Entertainment Partner."  The relationship brought the Nickelodeon brand to life through consumer activations and on-air programming. DiCosmo spearheaded partnerships with various sports marketing and management agencies for the company, including Excel Sports, CAA Sports, Wasserman, RocNation Sports, and IMG/WME. These partnerships produced projects with some of the biggest athletes and influencers in sports, including Michael Strahan as host and executive producer of Kids’ Choice Sports Awards, a series of projects with LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, development of hit TV series All In with Cam Newton, and episodic stunt casting featuring Chris Paul, Victor Cruz,  Jimmie Johnson, and Danica Patrick.

 

DiCosmo also helped Nickelodeon’s consumer product business establish their footing in sports.  He spearheaded a ground-breaking partnership with Carmelo Anthony that helped create Turtles x Melo, a Macy’s exclusive signature line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles apparel. He orchestrated a partnership in NASCAR to build a robust product line, as well as co-branded NBA apparel line with Adidas featuring The Rugrats sold in key arenas throughout the league.  In each market, the product line sold out before tip-off.

 

DiCosmo also oversaw live sports events and activations for Nickelodeon. These events include massive live events for 100,000+ fans, including SpongeBob SquarePants 400 NASACAR Cup Series race at the Kansas Speedway, a one-of-a-kind activation and integration trackside.  The event included seven SpongeBob-themed paint schemes featured on cars driven by star drivers in the race, and a 900-ft SpongeBob mural and winner trophy created by world renowned pop artist KAWS. He also brokered a two-year deal for naming rights of the ChicagoLand NASCAR Cup Series race, branding the 2016 race the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 and the 2017 race the Tales of the Turtles 400.  The two races combined for 15 Turtles branded race cars and an attendance of nearly 200,000 fans. DiCosmo executive produced 90s Nickelodeon Night in the NBA during the 2016-2017 season, a live experiential marketing activation that brought iconic 90s Nick shows to life on the court during NBA games, as well as a robust consumer products program targeting Millennials. He also built a comprehensive partnership with Minor League Baseball featuring custom uniforms and in-game activations with 45 teams inspired by iconic shows Double Dare, Legends of the Hidden Temple, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Rugrats.

 

Prior to shifting to Sports Marketing, DiCosmo held several positions at Viacom. As Vice President of Public Affairs & Administration, DiCosmo developed and produced signature pro-social initiatives and events.  DiCosmo helped the company keep their finger on the pulse of key issues affecting Millenials & Gen Z, including health & wellness, environmental stewardship, civic engagement, and volunteerism.  Most notably, DiCosmo was one of the producers for Worldwide Day of Play in DC, building partnerships with 80 organizations including the White House & FLOTUS Michelle Obama to build a massive sports and active play event attended by over 70,000 patrons. 

 

Other major initiatives he worked on include Spike’s Check Up or Check Out, TV Land’s Family Table, TeenNick HALO Awards, and Viacom’s Get Schooled. He oversaw relationships with non-profit organizations, government, advocacy groups, and sports leagues, including Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Big Brothers Big Sisters, NRDC, NWF, Alliance for a Healthier Generation, NFL Play 60, NBA Fit, USTA’s 10 & Under Tennis initiative, President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, Kiwanis International and the LeBron James Family Foundation. He also oversaw the company’s community grants program, distributing over $15M to local schools and community-based organizations. He began his career at the company as Special Projects & Events Manager for Spike TV.

 

Before his corporate career at Viacom, DiCosmo played professional football for several franchises, including NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, XFL’s NY/NJ Hitmen, and AFL’s Los Angeles Avengers. DiCosmo earned a MA in Liberal Studies and is completing a Masters in Public Administration from Rutgers University. He studied at University of Virginia Darden School of Business through NAMIC’s ELDP program, and attained a BA in Communications from Boston College while lettering in football and track & field.

 

DiCosmo was one of forty executives globally named Leaders Under 40 Class of 2017, and was one of thirty selected for Reality Sports 2017, a sports learning expedition to Israel via The Schusterman Foundation. He was also named to Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 Class of 2016, which acknowledges the next generation sports executive, as well as The Network Journal’s Forty Under 40 2012 for exemplary accomplishments on Nick’s Public Affairs team.