Sports Marketing Pioneer

Mr. Carroll graduated from Boston University and Boston College School of Management, he started his career as an Advertising Assistant at the Dupont Company in Wilmington, Delaware where he did both advertising and marketing for Dupont brands Teflon, Corian, Tedlar and Mylar. After four years, he moved to Uniroyal where he became Advertising Director of the Chemical Division and later, Worldwide Director of Proprietary Chemicals. In the later capacity, he was responsible for the development, production, distribution, marketing and profitability of Uniroyal`s most valuable chemical brands. His name was added to the Uniroyal Replacement Charts to be President of the company and was the youngest individual to be considered.

John was recruited to manage the New York office of a San Francisco based Advertising Agency, Allen and Dorward (A&D), who had obtained the Shell Chemical account. After three years, Shell moved to Texas and at the same time, the NFL moved to New York which was also a new client acquired by A&D. As a result, Carroll became the principal day-to-day contact with NFL Properties where he packaged and sold the first NFL branding program in 1970 (the year the NFL merged with the AFL). This became the model for integrated marketing programs that ultimately formed the basis for the “sports marketing” industry. Carroll`s work for the NFL provided the inspiration and motivation for him to create Capital Sports, Inc. in 1972. By all accounts, CSI became the first sports marketing business in America to strategically package the assets embodied in sports for brand marketing utility.

CSI became prominent for its marketing which in some cases also included management of signature events including the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, the 1980 Winter Olympics, the NYC Marathon, the Tour de France, the Federation Cup, the Davis Cup, the New York Horse Show and the Colgate Dinah Shore Golf Classic among others. In addition, CSI represented the NFL, NHL, United States Tennis Association and the Professional Freestyle Skiers Association. The representation of events and organizations led to the development of marketing strategies on behalf of Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, Equitable Life Assurance, Bristol Myers Squibb, Lipton, Bausch & Lomb, Budweiser, JP Morgan Chase and scores of others. After 12 years of running the company, Carroll sold his interest to his partner in 1984.

After the sale of CSI, Mr. Carroll was asked to join the Woman`s Tennis Association Board of Directors headed by Chris Evert and served as the only male member for eight years. He became the booking agent for various TV shows including "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" and "Super Models of the World." Additionally, he founded a community bank with three partners and created a national journalism program with his daughter, Kim, for Pilot Pen as a property of Carroll and Company. In 1990, he was asked to join ProServ to "teach them marketing." While there, he was recruited in 1992 to be the Executive Director/CEO of USA Volleyball, the National and Olympic Governing Body for the sport in America. He led the organization for five years and through two Summer Olympics; he is credited with saving it from bankruptcy and building it into one of the most successful NGB’s in the Olympic movement. In 1996, he was credited with getting beach volleyball into the Summer Games where it has become one of the most popular sports. In 1994, he was elected to the Board of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) as the first American in 25 years.

When his USAV contract expired, John was recruited to become the Commissioner/CEO of the newly created Women’s Professional Softball League (WPSL). He ran the six- team league for six years and was successful in negotiating an "Official Development" relationship with Major League Baseball. He retired when the founding ownership sold the league.

Presently Mr. Carroll is an active adviser on the day to day business and events that Carroll and Company produces annually.