csm
As captain of a high school team that won a state soccer title, Matt Grandis hoped to be a pro soccer player. In college, when he discovered that his talent wouldn’t support that dream, he set a course for the business side of the industry.
Getting in the door at PSP, which was producing the NBA’s game-day programs along with others, Grandis worked on events and sales. One of his early programs was a collegiate tailgate tour — the beginning of years in collegiate marketing for Grandis.
By 2008, Grandis was at ISP Sports helping sell deals for the Big East to large brands, including Volvo and Reese’s. “All my relationship building seemed to come together then,” he recalled. Even so, when ISP was sold to IMG in 2010, word was that they were going to “professionalize” the sales staff, so Grandis wasn’t supposed to make the cut. Instead, he became one of IMG College’s most successful sales executives, helping land national deals with brands like UPS, Lowe’s, Hershey and Kraft.
“Matt’s always been dynamic, creative, and he was able to pull together deals at IMG College very few people could have because of that,” said Lawton Logan, principal at The Whitener Company, who supervised Grandis at IMG College. “He was always concerned about what the deal’s outcome was going to eventually be for the partner, which is rare for a business-development guy.”
After a stint selling soccer, among other properties, for Insignia/Ascendant, Grandis joined CSM in 2016. He helps supervise a staff of 25 selling properties including Little League Baseball and U.S. Open tennis, along with USA Rugby, and this year’s Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco, which seems familiar.
“Selling rugby’s a lot like selling soccer,” he said. “There’s a lot of educating, and you have to depend on your network and the trust you’ve built up in the business supporting you; it’s the same with any challenger brand.”
— Terry Lefton
Age: 38
Where born: Livingston, N.J.
Education: Lafayette College, B.S., government and law
Family: Wife, Dara; children, Miller (5), Landyn (3), Bennett (1)
What do you wish you could tell yourself 10 years ago? Keep on progressing and don’t sweat the small stuff.
Guilty pleasure: Drinking better bourbon than Matt Hill — without Cheez-Its.
Charity supported: Urban Dove, which runs after-school programs for NYC at-risk youth.
Person in the industry you’d most like to meet? Adam Silver.
Ideal day off: Without my mobile phone, which may never happen unless there’s no cell service, and being with my family at the Jersey Shore.
Most thrilling/adventurous thing I’ve done: Running four marathons in five years.
Forty Under 40 class members would be surprised to know that … : I’m typically the first person on the dance floor at a wedding.
