Home Team Marketing Closes Its Doors Permanently After 18 Years

Cleveland-based Home Team Marketing, which was founded in '01 and as recently as '17 had 50 employees, "has closed," according to sources cited by Kevin Kleps of CRAIN'S CLEVELAND BUSINESS. Sources said that employees were "told that the company was closing at the end of business" on Sept. 25. HTM's website is "no longer operational, and a Google search for the company said it has 'permanently closed.'" The company was founded by three Fitzpatrick brothers -- Jake, Peter and Regan -- and friend Patrick Spear. Late in '13, HTM was "sold to a group of investors" led by the company's former Exec Chair & CEO Steve O'Neill. The change in ownership "meant a switch in business models, from one that focused on high school sports marketing partnerships" to what O'Neill said in '15 "was a 'community-oriented social media platform'" (CRAINSCLEVELAND.com, 9/29).