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Patrick McGee
With a wealth of strategic sports marketing experience specializing in both athlete marketing and hospitality, McGee founded ProVentures in 2007. Since its inception, the ProVentures team has negotiated endorsement agreements, created promotional activations and developed niche hospitality programs for brands such as Red Bull, TripAdvisor, Gillette, FedEx, BMW, and Hyundai.
McGee began his sports marketing career at Advantage International where he was a client manager in the tennis division and later added football representation to his resume. During this time, the company represented a host of top ten tennis players including world number one Steffi Graf. In 1997 the company was purchased by the InterPublic Group (IPG) and was eventually rebranded as Octagon. During this period, McGee was vice president of the athlete marketing division which was responsible for overseeing the marketing strategy and sales for over 400 athletes including such high profile clients as Anna Kournikova and Michael Vick with whom McGee worked directly. In 2003, McGee shifted his role to assist corporations in negotiating talent agreements and developing activation plans as well as major hospitality programs. McGee was responsible for representing these companies in their athlete partnerships as well including, Sprint / Peyton Manning, Vitamin Water / Ray Lewis and McGladrey / Zach Johnson.
McGee has been recognized twice by the SportsBusiness Journal for its “Forty Under 40” award. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors for Skinit.com and the Board of Advisors for the The Ivy Symposium and Champion Schools, a Phoenix, Arizona based charter school.
McGee received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kentucky where he was also an All-Southeastern Conference selection on the tennis team. He currently resides in Arlington, Virginia.
Email: Patrick.McGee@ProVenturesGroup.com
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Jerry Casselano
Jerry Casselano joined the team at ProVentures in 2010. During his tenure at the agency, he has played an active role with many of the company’s clients serving as the Vice President of Corporate Hospitality. In his current role, he handles all aspects of ProVentures hospitality programs at major sporting events such as the Masters and the U.S. Open. He also manages coordination of all the logistics of multi-day corporate employee incentive reward trips at some of the best international resorts in the world. Casselano has also been closely involved with the development and implementation of ProVentures strategic activation programs with Red Bull, Hyundai, KFC, Blu Homes, and Presidio among others.
Prior to joining ProVentures, Casselano worked at Starbridge Media Group. During his time at the McLean, Virginia based company, he concentrated on sponsorship programs for the Washington Wizards and Verizon Center, while also focusing on his graduate studies in Sports Industry Management at Georgetown University.
After graduating from college, Casselano served as Director of Sales & Business Development at Coastal Cigars, helping to build the brand of the Charleston, South Carolina based wholesale distributor of high-end cigars. In his first two years with the company, he tripled the company’s gross revenue through innovative national sales programs that included luxury Las Vegas hotels such as the Bellagio, Venetian and Wynn Resorts; southeast regional supermarket campaigns featuring Bi-Lo, Harris Teeter and Piggly Wiggly; and successful celebrity charity events for Chris Webber, Jack Del Rio and Bad Boy Entertainment among others.
Jerry Casselano is a graduate of College of Charleston where he received a degree in Business Administration. He earned his M.S. in Sports Industry Management at Georgetown University.
Jerry is one of four children, including his twin Lauren. He resides in Washington, D.C.
Email: Jerry.Casselano@ProVenturesGroup.com
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Tami Bender
Joining ProVentures in 2010, Tami Bender serves as the bookkeeper and maintains all of the company’s financial records. Tami began her career as an accountant for the Construction Management Association before joining Octagon Financial Services, a global leader in providing financial services to professional athletes, as a client manager.
After leaving Octagon, she established Bender Financial Group, LLC which provides accounting and tax services to businesses and individuals in a broad variety of industries. Tami is an active member of her community, supporting a number of civic and philanthropic endeavors. She serves as a financial specialist for Alpha Phi International Fraternity, and as the treasurer for the University of Virginia Alpha Phi House Corp Board. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from San Diego State University.
Email: Tami.Bender@ProVenturesGroup.com