Ralph Vuono Email & Phone Number

Chapel Hill, Nc, Us

Raleigh, North Carolina, Us

Oversee and manage the day-to-day Business Operations for the North Carolina Courage (NWSL) and North Carolina FC (USL Championship): Marketing, Communications, Creative, Social Media, Community, Corporate Partnership Sales, Partnership Activation, Game Operations, Broadcast & Technology, Merchandise & Licensing, and Ticketing. Lead cross-functional teams to align strategy with execution, ensuring that each department's efforts cohesively contribute to our Clubs' strategic initiatives and revenue goals.Drive strategic planning processes across both Clubs, including formulating annual and long-term strategic plans. Ensure that strategies are clearly communicated and understood and aligned with the broader Club's processes and cadences.Analyze business operations and performance data to make informed decisions and recommendations to the Club's President, Owner, Board of Directors, and Investors. Serve as a key liaison between technical staff and front office departments, ensuring clear communication and coordination on shared goals and initiatives.

Cary, Nc, Us

New York, Ny, Us

As a member of the senior leadership team, and equity owner of the agency, led multiple brand marketing accounts and collaborated with essential business divisions, including property sales, talent marketing, and strategy & solutions to drive new business development and innovation practices for the agency.Work Highlights:Quest Diagnostics | Covid-19: Spearheaded Quest's go-to-market strategy for professional sports and collegiate COVID-19 testing programs. Collaborated with executive leadership teams at several professional leagues (NFL/NBA/MLB/NHL) to operationalize and develop comprehensive safety and testing strategies. Successfully sold $75M worth of Covid Testing Programs across sports and entertainment.Walt Disney World: Co-authored the business plan to help Walt Disney World’s influencer group reimagine the company’s annual #DisneyCreators Celebration. Resulted in a fully-integrated activation platform across several Disney businesses, a record number of influencers to Disney World in a post-pandemic environment, thousands of hours of content, tens of millions of impressions, and the launch of Disney’s first-ever micro-influencer educational program, Disney Creator’s Lab.XDC (hybrid blockchain) | DC United: Supported our Property Sales team in our efforts to successfully sell the front-of-kit partnership on behalf of D.C. United. Hired by XDC to manage the account team to oversee the activation of the partnership and develop and implement XDC’s innovative FanX Program. Increased fan engagement through in-game and social media activations that rewarded fans for their participation and loyalty. Spearheaded XDC's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives via successful hospitality programs, social media campaigns, and Public Relations efforts.

Promoted to Senior Vice President to create a cross-functional and collaborative business strategy between two of the company's most important divisions: Consulting & Talent Marketing. Successfully built digital media platforms that maximized our clients' potential across social streams and other distinct channels & properties.Work Highlights:CHALK Media | Chris Long: After a successful NFL career, Chris Long sought the expertise and insight of 16W during his post-retirement venture into digital media. This led to the launch of CHALK Media. We authored its business plan and content strategy, including the launch of the Green Light Podcast – now ranked among the top fifty (50) sports podcasts in America. In addition to the flagship podcast, our accomplishments extended across original programs such as Fishbowl, Two Guys on a Rock, and several YouTube series; these efforts translated strategically into millions of dollars in annual advertising and sponsorship revenue for CHALK.Influencer Marketing | Family Video Network: Partnered with eight (8) of the world's most renowned YouTube influencers, forming an unprecedented Group Licensing and Marketing Company, Family Video Network Partners. With a combined viewership totaling one billion monthly views and millions in fanbases worldwide, we created compelling content for sponsors through groundbreaking serialized storytelling campaigns that generated over one hundred million video views.Quest Diagnostics | Business Development: Utilized long-standing industry relationships to deliver an impressive fifty (50) professional sports teams as new clients, driving millions of dollars in new revenue. As the primary liaison between Quest Diagnostics and their professional sports team customers, we leveraged diagnostic testing, customized white-glove service, and performance data analytics to increase market share while achieving 100% YOY growth for the Sports Diagnostics business.

As Head of Consulting at 16W, oversaw corporate consulting clients, including Quest Diagnostics, NFL, StubHub, NIKE, Fanatics, Panasonic, Allstate, Turner Sports | WarnerMedia, and Rita's Italian Ice.Work Highlights:Quest Diagnostics | New York Giants: Brokered the naming rights partnership between Quest Diagnostics and the New York Giants, resulting in the Quest Diagnostics Training Center (QDTC). Led successful campaigns highlighting Breast Cancer Awareness, Diabetes prevention efforts, Prostate Cancer education programs, and consumer-initiated testing services.Quest Diagnostics | Sports Diagnostics & Human Performance Franchise: As Head of Business and Marketing Strategy, led a team of 10+ staff members, specialty consultants, and external partners to launch Quest's first consumer product line and e-commerce platform, BlueprintFit. Spearheaded marketing efforts and partnership negotiations with top-tier national properties such as Life Time Fitness, Ironman, NIKE, Strava, and Madison Square Garden.NIKE | Retired Player Jersey Program: Successfully negotiated agreements with over 100 former NFL players to launch NIKE's retired player jersey program. Acted as the intermediary between NIKE and the players, managing all outreach and maintaining strong relationships throughout the process.

Designed innovative strategies to drive revenue through diverse media and experiential platforms. Led a cross-functional team to create robust activation programs that generated millions in client income. Work Highlights:Turner Sports | WarnerMedia: Orchestrated a groundbreaking partnership between Turner Sports/Bleacher Report, Harrah's Hotel, Inside Sports & Entertainment, and the NFL for Super Bowl XLVII. As senior project head, responsible for brokering media and experiential activation programs with all parties involved to promote Bleacher Reports Team Stream mobile app launch.NFL | NFL Alumni: Hired as Senior Project Leader by the NFL Commissioner's Office to help reinvigorate the business unit of the NFL Alumni Association. Authored the business plan and strategy which led to several million dollars in new revenue generated through newly established platforms: NFL Alumni House at Super Bowl, Super Bowl Luncheon, Sunday Tailgate Party, and retail licensing programs with NFL licensees under a newly launched Group Licensing program for retired NFL players. Our ambitious vision was realized when we successfully produced the NFL Alumni "Player Of The Year" award show on the NFL Network -- which was nationally broadcast the Monday after the Super Bowl.The Experts Network (TXN): As digital and social media began to revolutionize the sports and entertainment industries, launched The Experts Network (TXN), a trailblazing digital sports network headlined by prominent retired athletes as owners: Phil Simms, Howie Long, Cris Collinsworth, Cal Ripken Jr., Nick Faldo. As senior leader of this innovative company's operations, led creative projects that produced compelling digital video content series - gaining distribution partnerships from major media outlets - Turner Sports, Big Lead Sports, Yahoo Sports & USA Today.

In role as Executive Director, called upon to serve in a capacity akin to senior leadership for various clients. Through managing internal teams and providing direction for the launch of their businesses, worked diligently toward the success of each venture.Work Highlights:Served as the "Acting" Vice President of UFL Properties during the United Football League's inaugural season. Managed a multi-faceted Properties Division and directed fourteen full-time staff members plus six strategic consultants. Role involved overseeing marketing, sponsorships, consumer products, TV production, public relations, stadium operations, and game day productions. To ensure success across all departments, spearheaded the development of a cross-functional work stream between the Ownership Group, Properties, and Football Operations. Led the negotiations and activation programs for corporate partners, including StubHub, Motorola, Men’s Wearhouse, University Of Phoenix, Title Sports Drink, USI, and twenty licensees across a dozen categories.

Promoted to Senior Director and served as senior account leader for all 16W's corporate consulting accounts, including NFL | New Orleans Saints, FieldTurf, StubHub, General Motors, IEAH Stables | Big Brown, the National Football Foundation | College Football Hall of Fame.Work Highlights:NFL | New Orleans Saints: As a member of the NFL Commissioner's-designated task force, 16W was enlisted by NFL Commissioner's Office to help rebuild the business unit and secure revenue for the New Orleans Saints organization following Hurricane Katrina. As senior project leader, efforts included creating cross-functional business plans and developing strategies to increase sponsorship, merchandise sales, publicity initiatives, luxury suite sales, and community engagement - all of which were instrumental in ensuring that the team remained rooted in its home city and did not relocate to another city. With the successful execution of these objectives came an impressive $11 million boost in sponsorship revenue, bringing stability back to the team, their partners, and the local community.FieldTurf: As account lead for the consulting partnership, successfully helped our client develop and implement an innovative go-to-market strategy that significantly increased market share. Our efforts led to over $30M in revenue with installations across twenty-three (23) NFL stadiums and practice facilities. Additionally, I worked directly with FieldTurf's Vice President of Marketing on all sports marketing initiatives, including NFL | Super Bowl, Major League Baseball | Cal Ripken JR., and collegiate activations - underscoring our commitment to driving impactful results at every level.StubHub | Super Bowl: engaged by StubHub to help activate their annual Super Bowl Fan Tailgate. Responsible for creating Talent programming and orchestrating an efficient, successful player outreach process that included contract negotiations, logistical management, and on-site coordination.