43
Valley’s Kiernan forges career in sports
By Greg Gulas
POLAND
When Jerry McGee coached Ed Kiernan in basketball during his grade school years, there was something very special about Kiernan even back then that told the former PGA Tour and Ryder Cup champion that the youngster would enjoy success — and plenty of it — later in life.
McGee’s convictions will be confirmed tonight when East Palestine native Kiernan is honored as one of the nation’s “Top 40 Under 40 in Sports” executives in Dana Point, Calif.
It’s an award Kiernan never expected.
“It truly has been a fun run and I am humbled by my selection, knowing full well there are many young executives out there that are also deserving of consideration,” Kiernan said. “I grew up at Jerry’s house, swimming in the McGee pool and got to see first-hand the amazing memorabilia, which is a direct tribute to his successful golfing career. He probably didn’t realize it at the time, but he served as a role model to me for many, many reasons.”
Industry professionals from the NFL, NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball and NBC Sports, among other athletic areas will be honored at the city’s St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort.
“Eddie has been a go-getter his entire life. He works hard and is passionate about what he does so this honor comes as no surprise to me,” McGee said. “He’s had a real knack for being in the right place at the right time and has aligned himself with the right people. He’s done one great event after another and has moved up the ladder so fast. He is so deserving of this honor and I wish him nothing but continued success.”
Kiernan is the president and founding partner of Engine Shop — a global industry leader in entertainment, sports and lifestyle marketing. He got his start in golf despite never playing a competitive round.
“As a kid I worked in the bag room at Fonderlac Country Club and while in college at Mount Union, worked at The NEC World Series of Golf for PGA Tour professional John Cook’s father,” he said. “It was a great experience and helped me keep my focus as I graduated in three years.”
Kiernan began his professional sports career as director of global operations for Championship Management Company in Palm Springs, Calif., overseeing and consulting on The NEC World Series of Golf in Akron; The Las Vegas Invitational and The Senior Slam in Los Cabos, Mexico.
He was then hired by Pro Links Sports, Inc., where he served as executive director for the PGA Tour’s Verizon Classic, also serving as vice-president of Southeast Operations while based in Tampa.
During his time with PLS and The Verizon Classic, he helped make the event the strongest on the PGA Tour in terms of overall sponsorship revenue, attendance and charitable contributions.
He then joined the PGA Tour and ran what was then The Cannon Greater Hartford Open (now The Travelers Championship), aligning himself with Peter Jacobsen in 2000 where he moved to the Pacific Northwest as executive vice-president and chief marketing officer.
“At the time, my idea of the Pacific Northwest was Toledo,” Kiernan laughed.
As Jacobsen’s business partner he oversaw the agency’s sports marketing and corporate consulting practice with a special emphasis in overall brand strategy/management for blue chip companies; athlete representation; global event management/promotion and the negotiation of complex, multi-level/multi-media contracts for sports and entertainment properties.
While with Jacobsen he assisted in building nine other branch offices and for his efforts, was courted by New York City-based Omnicom’s GMR Marketing; the world’s largest sports marketing firm.
As its senior vice-president and NYC managing director for sports and entertainment, he worked across all of GMR’s platforms, including corporate consulting, sports, lifestyle, mobile, digital and music.
He also oversaw for them the Olympics, NFL, NBA and NASCAR, among others.
“I was definitely spreading my wings outside of the golf industry and in a variety of other sports arenas,” he said.
Wanting to break out and onto his own, he was sitting one night at a Boston Red Sox game with the CEO of Johnson & Johnson, Co. and through conversation, was informed that they had just purchased the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
“One thing led to another and they became Engine Shop’s first client. That was two years ago and things have really taken off,” Kiernan added. “My partners and I joined our rolodexes and my area of expertise is in sports. We feel like we’ve created something unique and have since branched out as we run a lot of events around the Super Bowl, started the DirecTV event and also work with The ESPN Next Party.”
Throughout Kiernan’s career he has directed sports marketing initiatives with the NFL, MLB, NBA, NASCAR, NCAA, PGA Tour, USGA, LPGA, MLS, IOC and USOC.
He has also consulted for blue-chip companies Lexus, P&G, Red Bull, Subway, Johnson & Johnson, NEC, Mercedes Benz, Bank of America, Humana, Ketel One Vodka/Diageo, Canon, United Technologies Corporation (UTC), HBO, Constellation Energy Group, NIKE, Hard Rock, Omega, Capital One, Valero and Madrid, Spain-based, DORNA-Sports/MotoGP, among others.
He lives in New York City during the week and Poland on the weekends.