Sunday, May 18, 2003
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McCormack was the founder of International Management Group (IMG), the agency which has ties throughout the sports world in promotions, representation of athletes and event operations. The legendary McCormack had historical ties to Al Capone, the Pope and the King of Sweden. He had been in a coma at a hospital since mid-January. McCormack's rise to the top of the sports marketing empire began in 1960 with a handshake between himself and golf legend Arnold Palmer, a pact that ignited the mainstreaming of professional athletes. IMG provides client representation and financial management, event marketing, television representation and the production and distribution of golf's international expansion. But McCormack's reach was felt in nearly every sport and his decisions affected every top athlete. His stable of stars included golfers Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam, tennis' Venus and Serena Williams, American football's Joe Montana and ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. Among IMG's clients are Wimbledon, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, model-actors Elizabeth Hurley and Liv Tyler, renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman, the Kennedy Space Center and the Smithsonian Institute. McCormack also handled special projects for world leaders like Margaret Thatcher, Mikhail Gorbachev and the Pope. McCormack played a pivotal role in how athletes were paid and portrayed. His corporation employs more than 3,000 people and provides more than 5,000 hours of television programming to more than 200 countries worldwide. A Yale University law school graduate, McCormack did not stop with Palmer. A golf enthusiast, he followed by inking South African Gary Player and then-unknown Jack Nicklaus. McCormack later branched out into other sports, signing tennis great Rod Laver in 1968. Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova later followed. By 1990, McCormack was named the ``Most Powerful Man in Sport'' by Sports Illustrated. He also has been named the ``Most Powerful Man in Tennis'' and the ``Most Powerful Man in Golf.'' In 1991, the London Sunday Times listed him as one of the 1,000 people who have most influenced the 20th century. McCormack, who was working at the time of his heart attack, is survived by his second wife, former tennis pro Betsy Nagelsen, four children and seven grandchildren. His three oldest children are executives at IMG. Chicago-born McCormack suffered a fractured skull when he was six after being hit by a car. Unable to play contact sports, he turned to golf. He learned the sport by playing with his father and occasionally with Chicago prosecutor George E.Q. Johnson, who put Capone behind bars. After qualifying for the US Open as an amateur, McCormack graduated from Yale law school. Following a tour of duty in the Army, he accepted a position at a prestigious Cleveland law firm, Arter and Hadden. While there, he launched IMG with a simple handshake with Palmer. IMG has 80 offices in 32 countries and is based in Cleveland. Under its umbrella, it is the largest independent producer of televised sports programming, top modelling agency and biggest licensing agency in the world. IMG also has a prominent literary agency, another that manages and presents world-renowned classical musicians and a firm specialising in the development of golf courses. McCormack was also honoured by royalty. He was named Commander of the Royal Order of the Polar Star by the King of Sweden for his contributions to the Nobel Foundation.
Tributes
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods was among the sports legends stunned by the death of McCormack. ``It's a loss for everybody,'' said Woods, one of McCormack's clients. ``He was a genius when it came to sports marketing. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be in the position we're in now.'' McCormack's agency, which has ties throughout all aspects of the sports world, will be run by Bob Kain and Alastair Johnston, key IMG figures, who lauded McCormack for "teaching and inspiring." ``His death is a great loss to all of us,'' the statement said. ``But in true McCormack fashion, he prepared the company well for this unthinkable eventuality.'' The Director-General of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Francois Carrard, also paid tributes to McCormack. ``It's a great loss for world sport. He was a remarkable character.'' The tennis world also mourned with ATP chief executive Mark Miles describing the American as ``a visionary and a true pioneer.'' ``He played an important role in the birth of the ATP. Tennis will remember him as a hard-nosed competitor who loved his sports.'' — AFP
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