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John Paul Vincent " Sonny " Vaccaro (born September 23, 1939) is an American former sports marketing executive. He lives in Santa Monica, California . Career. Vaccaro is best known for his tenure with Nike, Inc., where he signed Michael Jordan to his first sneaker deal. Vaccaro left Nike for Adidas, then Reebok. [1] .
- He Grew Up Playing Football — Not Basketball
- He Founded The First National High School All-Star Basketball Game in 1965
- He Began Working For Nike in 1977
- Vaccaro Helped Convinced Nike to Sign Michael Jordan in 1984
- Nike Fired Vaccaro in 1991
- Vaccaro Signed Kobe Bryant to Adidas in 1996
- He Helped Bring Forward A Lawsuit Against The NCAA
- Vaccaro Has Been Married Twice and Has Four Children
- Matt Damon Portrays Vaccaro in The 2023 Film Air
Vaccaro grew up in Trafford, Pennsylvania, a town 17 miles east of Pittsburgh. His full name is John Paul Vincent Vaccaro, but his mother gave him the nickname "Sonny" — and it stuck. "My mother always told me that I was a shining light in her life," Vaccaro said in the 2015 ESPN documentary Sole Man. "I was the first child … that's how Sonny came ...
In 1964, Vaccaro and his childhood friend had the idea to launch a national high school all-star basketball game. The following year, the Dapper Dan Roundball Classic was born, where the best high school players from across the country were invited to the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh to compete. Because of its novelty at the time — there were "no high...
When he started the Roundball Classic, Vaccaro was working as a schoolteacher in his hometown of Trafford — but the sports entrepreneur had more ideas up his sleeve. He developed prototypes for different types of sneakers, including a "more casual, more stylish" tennis shoe and a basketball sandal, and traveled to Beaverton, Oregon, to present them...
Perhaps the biggest deal of Vaccaro's career — and the inspiration for the 2023 film Air— was his role in convincing Nike to offer Jordan his first-ever sneaker deal in 1984 — before Jordan had ever played a game for the Chicago Bulls. After having success in getting college teams to wear Nike sneakers and apparel, the brand was looking to "get a s...
Despite the pivotal role Vaccaro played in Nike's expansion into basketball and the success of the Air Jordan line, the relationship between Nike and Vaccaro soured in the early 1990s. The shift occurred when Nike head Knight forced Vaccaro out from the company in 1991 — just months after Jordan had won his first NBA Championship. According to the ...
Jordan wasn't the only major athlete Vaccaro landed an endorsement contract with: In 1996, he signed then-high school senior Kobe Bryant to Adidas, where Vaccaro had moved on to after his departure from Nike. "Nobody else wanted Kobe [aside from Adidas]. Nike was not involved because he was a high school kid," Vaccaro explained to Footwear Newsabou...
Though Vaccaro started his career by paying college basketball coaches, he's spent recent years working on allowing college athletes to be compensated — and has become an outspoken critic of the NCAA. "I always believed the kids got the shaft," Vaccaro told the New York Timesin 2016. "The NCAA would never allow the kids to have anything." Vaccaro b...
Vaccaro was married to his first wife Nancy Schiffaeur for 18 years. The former couple had four children together (two sons and two daughters) before splitting in 1979, according to Sports Illustrated. He later wed Pamela Monakee on May 5, 1984, in Las Vegas. According to Pam, she proposed to Vaccaro. "I just said, 'Hey, have you ever thought how g...
Oscar-winning actor Matt Damon plays Vaccaro in the 2023 film Air, alongside Affleck who portrays Knight and Chris Tuckeras Howard White, a former NBA player and vice president of the Jordan brand. "I didn't know about Sonny Vaccaro before the movie," Damon told PEOPLE in 2023. "I really genuinely like Sonny and I spent time talking to him and hear...
Apr 5, 2023 · Who is Sonny Vaccaro? Vaccaro is a sports marketing executive who worked with Nike, Adidas, and Reebok in their basketball divisions, helping the brands secure the services of signature...
- 19 min
- Benyam Kidane
Apr 5, 2023 · What Sonny Vaccaro Has Done Since Signing Michael Jordan to Nike. Matt Damon plays Sonny Vaccaro in Air, but the movie only scratches the surface of the sports marketing executive’s impact....
- colin.mcevoy@hearst.com
- Senior News Editor, Biography.Com
Apr 7, 2023 · Basketball marketing legend Sonny Vaccaro tells VF the real-life story behind Air, and about the message he just received from Michael Jordan’s mother, Deloris. By Julie Miller April 7, 2023
- 11 min
- Julie Miller
Apr 6, 2023 · Business. Apr 6, 2023 1:27PM EDT. How Sonny Vaccaro’s Unforgettable Speech at Nike HQ Helped Seal the Deal With the Jordan Family & the Accuracy of ‘Air’. By Peter Verry. @PeterVerry. Sonny...
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Apr 5, 2023 · Who Is Sonny Vaccaro? Meet the Exec Behind Nike's Air Jordan | Entrepreneur. Business News. 📺 Stream EntrepreneurTV for Free 📺. A Nike Executive Had a Vision No One Else Saw. Now He's Being...
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