Ben C. Sutton Jr. is an American investor and philanthropist and the founder and Chairman of Teall Capital, a private equity fund and portfolio holding company that helps colleges in their athletic operations. The Teall portfolio includes a portfolio of businesses including Riddle & Bloom, a national next-generation marketing agency; TPG, a high school sports marketing enterprise; Tailgate Guys, a national market-leading hospitality company; Sunshine Beverages, makers of healthy energy beverages; Complex Sports and Entertainment; Nickel; and Dyehard Fan Supply, a national sports/entertainment merchandising business. In addition, separate partnerships managed by the Sutton family include interests in the

Winston-Salem Dash The Winston-Salem Dash are a Minor League Baseball team in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They are a High-A team in the South Atlantic League and have been a farm team of the Chicago White Sox since 1997. The Dash began playing their home games at ...

(minor league baseball club); Alpha Omega, Tolosa and Perinet (wineries in California and Spain); Algonquian Farms and R&S Farms (North Carolina farming operations); technology (including Xperial, Real World Playbook, and ClubUp); residential real estate development; and restaurants (including the award-winning Le Bilboquet in Atlanta). Sutton was formerly chairman and president of

IMG College LEARFIELD, formerly Learfield IMG College, is a large collegiate sports marketing company, representing more than 200 of the nation's top collegiate properties including the NCAA and its 89 championships, NCAA Football, leading conferences, and ...

, the largest college sports sponsorship and media company in America, and the top college or professional sports property sales organization in the country (as named by Industry trade, ''Sports Business Journal'').

Education

Sutton graduated from

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

with a bachelor's degree in 1980. He obtained a Juris Doctor Degree from the

Wake Forest University School of Law The Wake Forest University School of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of Wake Forest University. Located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Wake Forest University School of Law is a private American Bar Association (ABA) accredited ...

in 1983. Currently, Sutton serves in the board of Wake Forest University.

Business career

Sutton's impact is evident in the development and commercialization of school sports in the United States. After spending nine years with

, Sutton founded ISP Sports in 1992. Over the next 18 years, he nurtured ISP from its first media rights partnership with Wake Forest to over 65

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

colleges and conferences. Under the leadership of Sutton, ISP Sports grew to become a leader in collegiate sports marketing. ISP also developed the largest companies in stadium comfort seating and primary market ticketing in the college or professional sports marketplaces with more than 150 university partners. In 2010, Sutton led the acquisition of ISP by IMG. Mr. Sutton served as the chairman and president of

at The Collegiate Licensing Company and helped lead the effort to sell IMG to Silver Lake Capital Partners and WME for almost $2.4 billion. After serving as Chairman Emeritus of

, Sutton founded Teall Investments in 2017. Teall Investments LLC, is a private equity company based in

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and manages significant investment interest in Fluent, Tailgate Guys, Sunshine, Riddle & Bloom,

Applebee's Applebee's Restaurants LLC. is an American company that develops, franchises, and operates the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar restaurant chain. The Applebee's concept focuses on casual dining, with mainstream American dishes such as salads ...

, R&S Farms, Alpha Omega and many others. Currently, Sutton serves on numerous boards, including those for

, Ronald Reagan Foundation, U.S. Olympic Committee foundation, Falk School of Sports Management at Syracuse University,

National Football Foundation The National Football Foundation (NFF) is a non-profit organization to promote and develop amateur American football on all levels throughout the United States and "developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the dr ...

and

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

Awards and recognition

In addition to being named one of the top or most powerful sports executives in America by numerous publications, Sutton has received numerous awards. Order of the Long Leaf Pine, which is the highest civilian honor in North Carolina. Following years of service and philanthropy, Sutton was awarded the Wake Forest University Distinguished Alumni award in 2015. In 2017, he was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.

Philanthropy

The Sutton Family Foundation has invested more than $40 million in significant national and local causes, including: * Sutton Recreation and Wellness Center at Wake Forest University (opened 2016) * Sutton Sports Performance Center at Wake Forest University (opening 2018) * Ben C. Sutton Scholarship at Wake Forest University * Sutton Softball Field at Forsyth Country Day School (top high school softball stadium in U.S.) * Family Life and Community Center at Knollwood Baptist Church (opened 2017) * HopeWay Center (holistic psychiatric and wellness care; opened 2017) * Donation to Reagan Foundation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, Ben C. Jr. Living people American sports executives and administrators American philanthropists Year of birth missing (living people)

Education

Business career

Awards and recognition

Philanthropy

See also

References