MEET THE COMMISSIONER L
arry Scott came to college athletics in 2009 with an energy and bold vision that he has used to
deliver monumental changes to one of the most sto- ried Conferences in the country, the Pacifi c-10, and transform it into a modern 12-team Conference built for long-term success. Welcome to the Pac-12. Scott succeeded Tom Hansen as the sixth Commis-
sioner of the Pac-10 Conference on July 1, 2009. He came to collegiate athletics after serving six years as Chairman and Chief Executive Offi cer of the Sony Erics- son WTA Tour (Women’s Tennis Association), where he helped generate unprecedented growth and popularity for women’s professional tennis on a global scale. He has established a solid track record of innovation
and growth—across a range of different sports, at both the college and professional levels—grounded in deep experience that goes back to his student-athlete days at Harvard. At the WTA Tour, Scott achieved the long-sought goal of equal
prize money for women in tennis’ grand slam events. He also be- came the architect of the largest-ever sponsorship in both women’s sports and professional tennis, a six-year, $88 million landmark title sponsorship agreement with Sony Ericsson. Among his many other WTA achievements are the largest television deal in women’s tennis history and a reform package that led to a 40 percent in- crease in prize money—a record $86 million—and $750 million in facilities investment. More recently, in his fi rst two years as Commissioner, Scott led
the Conference through expansion for the fi rst time since 1978 by successfully adding Colorado and Utah, created a Football Cham- pionship Game for the fi rst time in Conference history, secured agreement for equal revenue sharing for the fi rst time ever, delivered a landmark media rights agreement with ESPN and FOX that dra- matically increases revenue and national exposure for schools, and created the Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Digital Network that prom- ises to signifi cantly enhance exposure for all sports throughout the Conference. He has also orchestrated a rebranding of the Confer- ence, with messages of innovation, excellence, and the advantages of West Coast location at its core. Scott has earned major recognition for his visionary leadership:
107
In 2008, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour was nominated by Sports Business Journal as Sports League of the Year and was the recipi- ent of the Women’s Sports Foundation Billie Jean King Contribution Award. In 2008, Scott was named to T
ime Magazine’s list of best
global sports executives. Scott’s career in athletics extends back to his time as captain
of Harvard’s tennis team, where he was named an All-American, earned a B.A. in European History in 1986, and gained a lifelong appreciation for the importance of maintaining a careful balance between academics and sports. He went on to play tennis professionally on the ATP circuit,
winning one title, and then going on to serve for more than a decade in key posts, including Chief Operating Offi cer, President of ATP Properties, and Executive Vice President of the International Group. In these roles, which included postings in Sydney, Monte Carlo,
and London, he was credited with signifi cantly growing the global popularity of men’s tennis, establishing the Tennis Masters Cup as one of the sport’s most successful events, negotiating the renewal of the ATP’s 13-year partnership with Mercedes-Benz—which re- mains one of the preeminent sponsorship agreements in tennis history—and launching tournaments in such developing regions as China and the Persian Gulf.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116