Jeffrey Pollack (born 1965) is an American sports executive and business consultant. After a brief career in politics, Pollack moved into the industry of sports business where he's held executive roles with the
NBA,
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...
,
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker p ...
,
Professional Bull Riders
The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) is an international professional bull riding organization based in Pueblo, Colorado, United States. In the U.S., PBR events have been televised on CBS and CBS Sports Network since 2012. In 2013, the ...
,
Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...
and
XFL
XFL may refer to:
Sports
* XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001
* XFL (2020), a professional American football league
Vehicles
* Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...
. He is currently a professor at
North Carolina State University
Pollack was listed as one of
Sports Business Journal's "40 Under 40" and was named twice to
The Sporting News
The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...
100. He has also won two Emmy Awards. Pollack is married, and resides in both Los Angeles and Las Vegas. His half-brother is
Gary Bettman, the Commissioner of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
.
In 2011, Pollack launched Federated Sports+Gaming (FS+G) and the
Epic Poker League. In early 2015, Pollack was hired as special adviser to the former
San Diego Chargers. On January 22, 2019, Pollack was named as the President & Chief Operating Officer of the
XFL
XFL may refer to:
Sports
* XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001
* XFL (2020), a professional American football league
Vehicles
* Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...
.
Education and early career
Pollack received his undergraduate degree in journalism from
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
, in addition to two master's degrees. The first master's was from
The Graduate School of Political Management
The Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) at the George Washington University is a school of political management and applied politics, strategic communications and civic engagement. Its graduates hold a variety of professional titles ...
and his second was in sports management from the
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...
. Pollack subsequently attended the six-week Advanced Management Program at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
.
Initially, Pollack's career led into politics. A summer internship with the
American Jewish Congress prompted a one-year role with the AJC. He worked as a lobbyist on legislation that would permit religious headwear for active military personnel in noncombat settings. Pollack then relocated to Los Angeles to work for Winner & Associates, a leading political public relations firm. He was assigned to consult the Major Baseball League during the labor strife in the early-1990s.
The inception of Pollack's career in sports business occurred in 1992 when he realized—while flying from LA to New York—that there was a niche to fill in the industry.
In February 1994, at the age of 29, Pollack founded ''The Sports Business Daily''. It was the first daily trade publication for the sports industry. Pollack modelled the concept for the Sports Business Daily on the political daily ''
The Hotline
''The Hotline'' is a daily political briefing published by Atlantic Media from its headquarters at The Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.. Founded in 1987, It is currently edited by Kyle Trygstad. and published independently until its acqui ...
''. Its primary goal was to "cover the coverage," or aggregate and organize daily news that was related to business of sports
Doug Bailey
Doug Bailey (October 5, 1933 - June 10, 2013) was an American political consultant and founder of ''The Hotline'', a bipartisan, daily briefing on American politics.
Life
Douglas Lansford Bailey was born on Oct. 5, 1933, in Cleveland. After rec ...
, ''The Hotline's'' founder, was Jeffrey Pollack's partner in this venture. Pollack later noted that Bailey's influence was "absolutely critical" to the initial success of The Daily.
''The Sports Business Daily'' originally occupied 3 rooms in the same building and initially hired ''The Hotline's'' Stephen Bilafer as the Editor-in-Chief. Fellow editor Chuck Todd followed Bilafer in the move from ''The Hotline'' to ''The Daily''. Bilafer would go on to note that it would have been a "deal breaker" had Todd not been permitted to join him at the SBD. After assembling a small editorial, marketing and sales team, ''The Sports Business Daily'' launched on September 12, 1994 amidst the "perfect storm of business and sports stories."
With Pollack as its president and publisher, ''The Sports Business Daily'' garnered a strong reputation among decision-makers in the industry.
When the time ''The Sports Business Daily'' was sold in 1996, it was a "recognized leader in sports industry news and is relied upon by top sports, entertainment, financial, and media executives worldwide."
At the time of the sale, ''The Sports Business Daily'' provided the content for ESPN's SportsZone "Industry Insider."
Pollack's career with the NBA began when he was hired as a communications consultant for the NBA during its collective bargaining arrangement. Pollack consulted with NBA commissioner
David Stern
David Joel Stern (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of t ...
and helped design the relaunch strategy after the NBA
lockout
Lockout may refer to:
* Lockout (industry), a type of work stoppage
**Dublin Lockout, a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers 1913 - 1914
* Lockout (sports), lockout in sports leagues
**MLB lockout, lock ...
in the
1998–99 season.
As a result of these activities, Pollack was hired as the Vice President of Marketing & Corporate Communications for the NBA.
He remained with the league until 2000.
After a brief stint with a sports website, which Pollack once termed his "reverse MBA," he was hired as the Managing Director of Broadcasting and New Media for NASCAR Digital Entertainment.
NASCAR had recently consolidated its media rights and the brand reoriented the way it presented itself to consumer product and global media companies.
Pollack helped develop NASCAR's television partnerships with
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
,
FX,
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
and
TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
and it was under his guidance that NASCAR grew into a major sporting event. At the time, it rose to the "second-most-watched sports franchise on cable TV, behind football."
Pollack also encouraged NASCAR to use advanced media and technologies. One of his central innovations was to create an immersive experience for viewers at home. He helped developed the cable TV program, NASCAR iN Car, which involved mounting cameras that could capture the race from inside the cars.
Pollack won two
Emmy Awards, as a result: the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Television Programming and a Sports Emmy for Outstanding Innovative Technical Achievement.
He was also the first to receive the Billboard Digital Entertainment Award for the best interactive television programming.
World Series of Poker
In 2005,
Harrah's Casino hired Pollack as its Vice President of Marketing. While he was officially responsible for Harrah's sports ventures, which included boxing and motor sports, Pollack stated that, "My top priority is to grow the popularity of the World Series of Poker … It is already the No. 1 brand in poker, but we're going to make it even stronger through world-class media partnerships, strategic marketing alliances and superior customer service."
By most accounts, he succeeded doing just this.
Pollack introduced a range of changes into the WSOP's media relations, player relations, tournament structure and schedule, and expanded into international markets.
His first responsibility with Harrah's was the
2005 World Series of Poker
The 2005 World Series of Poker opened play on June 2nd, continuing through the Main Event No Limit World Championship starting on July 7th. The conclusion of the Main Event on July 15th marked the close of play, and the largest prize in sports an ...
. Poker players' first impression of him centered on the 2005
Tournament of Champions (ToC). The ToC was hyped as a $2.5 million freeroll for which players had to qualify. In 2005, the ToC was sponsored by Pepsi, who was about to start an advertising campaign involving
Doyle Brunson
Doyle F. Brunson (born August 10, 1933) is a retired American poker player who played professionally for over 50 years. He is a two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several ...
,
Johnny Chan
Johnny Chan (;He has another Chinese name "Chen Qiangni" () which is also commonly used by Chinese-language media. It is a transliteration of "Johnny Chan" (as "Chen" for "Chan", "Qiangni" for "Johnny") rather than his Chinese birth name. born ...
, and
Phil Hellmuth
Phillip Jerome Hellmuth Jr. (born July 16, 1964) is an American professional poker player who has won a record sixteen World Series of Poker bracelets. He is the winner of the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the Main Event ...
. Pepsi insisted that its three spokesmen take part in the ToC and the WSOP consented. The other players objected that three corporate exemptions were granted at the last moment.
WSOP Changes
On January 13, 2006 he was promoted to Commissioner of the WSOP. One of his first actions as the commissioner was to work towards avoiding the criticism of the ToC. Pollack started meeting with a group of professional poker players in a monthly council.
While the council did not have formal decision-making authority, Pollack stated in 2009 that "we haven’t made a meaningful decision about event schedules, structures, rules, et cetera, since 2006 without the input of the Players Advisory Council."
Pollack believed that the success of the WSOP was not determined based upon the number of participants every year, but rather upon the players' experiences.
For example, in 2007 the WSOP flattened its award structure. The cash awards were distributed more evenly so that people who went out earlier earned more money, while those who made it to the final table won less.
In an effort to reduce complaints about marked cards, the WSOP entered into a partnership with
United States Playing Card Company
The United States Playing Card Company (USPC, though also commonly known as USPCC) is a large American producer and distributor of playing cards. It was established in 1867 as Russell, Morgan & Co. and founded in its current incarnation in 1885. ...
(USPC). USPC introduced a new "Poker Peek" cards as the official card of the WSOP. New decks were introduced every day at every table.
In 2006, Copag provided playing cards that became creased as the events endured, resulting in cards that were essentially marked.
The training of WSOP dealers had also been criticized in past tournaments. In an effort to forestall this criticism, the WSOP began intensive training for dealers as early as March 2007 for over 300 dealers.
The training included staff and supervisory training. Part of the reason for this additional training was to prevent a repeat of the "extra chips" that materialized during 2006's main event. During the 2006 main event, the tournament finished with more chips than normal chip upgrading would have led to. Another effort to reduce that risk was the introduction of special chips exclusively for the main event.
In 2008, Pollack revised the tournament's schedule and introduced a four-month break after the finalists had been determined in July. The hiatus was intended to help build suspense and allow the finalists to promote themselves as "poker ambassadors" before play resumed in November. The final two days of play were edited down to a two-hour show and broadcast on ESPN. The resulting finalists were given the nickname "The November Nine."
Pollack also led the tournament's international expansion with WSOP Europe. The first tournament was held in London and hosted by London Clubs International at three casinos: the Fifty, Leicester Square and the Sportsman. Pollack insisted, "The World Series of Poker Europe will have a unique identity, style and flair, but will remain true to the 38-year tradition and heritage of the WSOP."
The WSOPE remained in England from 2007–2010, was hosted in France from 2010-2013 and is expected to be hosted in Berlin in 2015.
Marketing
Pollack is known for his aggressive marketing. He's noted on several occasions that he's taken the strategies of the major sports brands, i.e. NASCAR, the NBA, and the NFL, and extracted the best practices to grow the WSOP.
He has asserted, moreover, that "
orts marketing fundamentally is about the selling of hope. Fans have the hope of their favorite team trading for the right player, drafting the right player, winning a game, winning the season, winning the world championship." And furthermore that, "
e World Series of Poker offers a brand of hope that is infinitely more accessible" insofar as anyone can enter the tournament and have a chance to play at the final table.
After becoming the Commissioner of the WSOP, he negotiated partnerships with
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
,
Sirius radio
Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio ( SDARS) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings.
Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially la ...
,
Glu Mobile
Glu Mobile LLC is an American developer and publisher of video games for mobile phones and tablet computers. Founded in San Francisco, California, in 2004, Glu offers products to multiple platforms including Java ME-based devices, Android, Wind ...
,
Bluff Media,
AOL, and
Betfair
Betfair is a British gambling company which operates the world's largest online betting exchange. Its product offering also includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Founded in 2000, the business is split int ...
. He also arranged sponsorships with
Miller Brewing Company
The Miller Brewing Company is an American brewery and beer company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller. Molson Coors acquired the full global brand portfolio of Miller Brewing Company in 2016, and operates the ...
,
Planters
Planters Nut & Chocolate Company is an American snack food company now owned by Hormel Foods. Planters is best known for its processed nuts and for the Mr. Peanut icon that symbolizes them. Mr. Peanut was created by grade schooler Antonio Gentil ...
and
Hershey's.
In 2006, Card Player Media provided hand-by-hand reporting, streamed player interviews, gave player recaps and displayed real-time chip count on its website.
Pollack believed that the strength in the WSOP lies in its tradition and legacy. He wanted to do more to honor the WSOP's past champions, "I want to bring our past, our history, and our DNA along for the ride."
Reception by players
Pollack was generally received well by players.
Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu (; born July 26, 1974) is a Canadian professional poker player who has won six World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and two World Poker Tour (WPT) championship titles. In 2014, independent poker ranking service Global Poker ...
was impressed with his first meeting with Pollack, noting that professional poker is "a unique situation, as with the NBA players are being paid, while the poker players actually put up their own money."
On the other hand, Pollack's emphasis on the player's experience along with his effectiveness in growing the WSOP cast him in a good light. This can be seen most clearly through the extent of support he received when he announced his resignation as commissioner. One commentator declared, "the news hit the poker world … like a ton of bricks," and that his tenure in the role "may be unmatched."
Well-known players like Phil Hellmuth, Peter Eastgate and Barry Greenstein expressed their esteem for Pollack.
Resignation
On November 13, 2009, Pollack announced on his
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
feed that he was resigning as Commissioner. In a separate statement, he commented, "Everything I set out to accomplish in 2005, I think I have accomplished. The World Series of Poker is bigger than ever before. The brand is in a strong position and the player experience is better than it's ever been."
Epic Poker League
In January 2011, Pollack and
Annie Duke
Anne LaBarr Duke (née Lederer; born September 13, 1965) is an American former professional poker player and author in cognitive-behavioral decision science and decision education. She holds a World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet from 2004 ...
announced the launch of Federated Sports+Gaming (FS+G), the parent company for the
Epic Poker League.
Duke served as the league's commissioner. The EPL was designed to showcase the best players in the world and elevate them to the status of leading figures akin to icons in other sports. There was to be 200 players admitted and ranked by a system "driven by mathematics and proven historic achievement."
Pollack stated, "I’ve long believed that the top professional poker players create enormous value for the industry and are skilled in a way that is worthy of star treatment," and moreover that, "
r new league will celebrate poker professionals like never before and provide a tournament experience at the Palms that is first-class at every turn."
The first season of the EPL was slated to include four "rake-free" $20,000 Main Events, in addition to a $1 million Championship Event. The EPL had negotiated 20 hours of television programming. Seven of which were to be aired on CBS and the remaining 13 on Discovery Communications’ Velocity network.
The poker league took place in 2011.
Adviser to the Chargers
In early 2015, the then-San Diego Chargers hired Pollack as a special adviser to the team's Chair and President
Dean Spanos
Dean Alexander Spanos (born May 26, 1950) is the chairman and owner of the National Football League (NFL)'s San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers franchise. He is the son of Alex Spanos, who purchased majority interest in the team in 1984. Spanos to ...
. Pollack consulted the team on both future revenue growth and the development of a new stadium. Pollack aided Chargers Special Council
Mark D. Fabiani in the hiring and identifying of
MANICA Architecture, the architects tasked with designing
a stadium in Carson, California.
The Chargers were ultimately denied the Carson stadium by the NFL and moved into
SoFi Stadium
SoFi Stadium () is a 70,240-seat sports and entertainment indoor stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California, United States. SoFi occupies the former site of the Hollywood Park Racetrack, from Los Angeles International Airport an ...
with the
Los Angeles Rams in 2020.
XFL
On January 22, 2019, Pollack was named as the President & Chief Operating Officer of the
XFL
XFL may refer to:
Sports
* XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001
* XFL (2020), a professional American football league
Vehicles
* Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...
.
On March 12, 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the XFL was forced to cancel its season after only five games had been played. Pollack announced, "We were on track to be the most successful launch of a new sports league in decades, if not ever, and we are hopeful the XFL can resume that trajectory with a new owner, for the fans and players and for the love of football."
On April 10, 2020, Pollack announced in a conference call with the employees that the league was suspending operations and all employees would be laid off. Three days later, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the XFL filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and Pollack stated that "The league will aim to use its bankruptcy to sell off assets, the most significant of which are the XFL brand, trademarks, and intellectual property like its slogan, ‘For the Love of Football.’"
On August 2, 2020,
Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the develop ...
,
Dany Garcia
Dany Garcia (born November 29, 1968) is an American businesswoman, film producer, and IFBB professional bodybuilder. Garcia is the founder of GSTQ, and the CEO and chair of The Garcia Companies and TGC Management, overseeing a portfolio of bra ...
, and RedBird Capital Partners purchased the league for $15 million followed by the court approval five days later.
On March 10, 2021, Pollack, XFL owner Dany Garcia and
CFL
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
commissioner
Randy Ambrosie
Randy Ambrosie (born March 16, 1963) is the 14th and current commissioner of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Ambrosie played Canadian football professionally as an offensive guard for the CFL's Calgary Stampeders, Toronto Argonauts, and Edmo ...
announced that XFL and CFL have agreed to work together following conversations by both sides seeking a potential collaboration, saying, "We are honored and excited to be in discussions with the CFL. It's clear through our early conversations that we share a passion for football, an expansive sense of possibility, and a deep desire to create more opportunity for players and fans across North America and around the world," and continued, "Blending the CFL’s rich heritage with our fresh thinking, and the unique reach and experience of our ownership, could be transformative for the game."
On October 14, 2021, it was reported that Pollack had left the XFL. Details of his departure were unknown at the time of the report.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollack, Jeffrey
World Series of Poker
Harrah's Entertainment
National Basketball Association executives
Auto racing executives
Jewish American sportspeople
Living people
1960s births
University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni
Northwestern University alumni
The Graduate School of Political Management alumni