CAA
Rob DeAngelis has been involved in creating some of the most innovative sponsorship agreements in sports in recent years, including the first deal ever in which the logo of a company was placed on the inside of players’ jerseys.
In that 2013 deal, which was lauded for its creativity, the “Inside Intel” logo was sewn into the skin side of jerseys of the FC Barcelona team. But it was visible when players flipped up their shirts, something they had a habit of doing when they scored a goal.
“Beyond being one of the most creative sponsorship executives in the business, Rob is also a remarkable leader, who inspires everyone around him to really think outside the box,” said Michael Levine, co-head, CAA Sports, and DeAngelis’ direct boss. “He is a big-picture strategist, who has repeatedly made the seemingly impossible possible.”
DeAngelis started out his career in sales and worked for Levine at Van Wagner Outdoor/Sports. Levine joined CAA Sports in its early days in 2007, but DeAngelis made an unusual U-turn for a sales executive. He became on-air talent. In 2009, DeAngelis, an avid sports fan, became one of the co-hosts of a sports talk television show, “The Daily Line,” on Versus.
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“My role was to be the ‘numbers guy’ on the show, so I would talk about all the data, analytics, odds on games, sort of the ‘Moneyball’ of sports,” DeAngelis said.
DeAngelis enjoyed it, but the show was not a big hit and, after a while, he found he missed his old job. With ratings declining, he sought out a meeting with his old boss, Levine.
“Funny enough, he thought I was coming to CAA for representation, and he was nervous about the meeting because he didn’t want to tell me that CAA didn’t want to represent me,” DeAngelis recalled. “I said, ‘Quite the contrary, I am coming back to the white-collar world and I want to work in the partnerships group.’ And he was like, ‘What a relief.’”
— Liz Mullen
rob deangelis
caa sports | executive
Age: 39
Where born: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Education: University of Wisconsin – Madison (B.A., political science)
Family: Wife, Lynne; children, Gavin (7); and Lila (4)
What do you know now that you wish you’d known at age 20? That I could in fact watch sports and play video games all day and both would become a part of the fabric of my career.
Profession other than your own that you'd most like to attempt: Restaurateur.
Charity supported: Smile Train.
Guilty pleasure: Yacht Rock.
Person in the industry you’d most like to meet: Mark Cuban.
I am one of the best I know at … : Believing in something enough to see it through, even when all the players have left the field.
2017 will be a good year if … : The New York Jets and New York Knicks make the playoffs.
The sports industry needs to do a better job of … : Creating opportunities for women.
Most thrilling/adventurous thing I’ve ever done is … : Bungee jumping from a gondola in the Swiss Alps.
