Menu
Download the app

SBJ subscribers – Enhance your experience with the revamped iOS app

People and Pop Culture

Magic Co-Founder Jimmy Hewitt Passes Away At 79

Hewitt (r) made a big impact in Central Florida with Magic’s founding, paving way for other teams to followMAGIC

Magic co-Founder JIMMY HEWITT, who teamed with PAT WILLIAMS to start the franchise, died yesterday at 79, according to Roy Parry of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. Hewitt’s successful pursuit of an NBA franchise “paved the way for professional sports in Orlando.” Hewitt had been “suffering from advanced stages of dementia and recently contracted the coronavirus.” Hewitt made his “biggest impact in Central Florida with the Magic’s founding.” The team’s arrival in '89 “opened the door” for other sports teams to follow. Magic CEO ALEX MARTINS said that Hewitt was “like a father to Magic fans.” Martins: “Jimmy Hewitt is the reason the Magic and professional sports exist in Orlando.” Hewitt was inducted into the franchise’s HOF in ’17 (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 11/30).

HOW IT CAME TO BE: In Orlando, Mike Bianchi writes to Hewitt, “Thank you for literally making Magic. Thank you for believing in your hometown. Thank you for bringing professional sports to Orlando.” Hewitt in '85 “put together a group of investors” and “flew up to New York to meet with then-NBA Commissioner DAVID STERN.” He also “convinced Williams to leave Philly and run the team in Orlando if the city was granted a franchise.” In the end, Hewitt “even took one for the team.” Stern “didn’t want such a large investor group with no majority owner;" he “wanted a small investor group with a large majority owner.” When a meeting was held to decide whether another Orlando businessman, BILL DUPONT, should become the majority owner, Hewitt “did not stand in the way.” Even though he was the “brains of the expansion effort and put in all the time and work to get a franchise, Hewitt endorsed duPont even if it meant his ownership role would be reduced to that of minority investor” (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 11/30).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2020/11/30/People-and-Pop-Culture/Jimmy-Hewitt.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2020/11/30/People-and-Pop-Culture/Jimmy-Hewitt.aspx

CLOSE