Michael A. Neuman

President

Michael A. Neuman, Co-Founder and President, launched Amplify Sports and Entertainment, LLC in July, 2006.

Amplify is a marketing consulting agency created to help brands harness the power of strategic sponsorship and maximize the impact of athlete/celebrity driven campaigns.

Since launching, project and retainer clients have included:  Medco Health Solutions, Pfizer, Inc., McDonald’s, Pepsi Bottling Company, CSTV, The Absolut Spirits Company, ING Direct,  Samsung, SNY, Nikon, National Basketball Retired Players Association, The Harlem Globetrotters, Everlast, National Grid (formerly KeySpan), Cruzan® Rum, Level™ Vodka, XanGo, Gardenburger, Allergan (BOTOX® and JUVÉDERM®), Strike Ten Entertainment, USTA, U.S. National Whitewater Center, New York Arm Wrestling Association, Hang Ten, USA Field Hockey, Business Clubs of America (Philadelphia) and U.S. Speedskating.

Under Neuman’s leadership, Amplify has been involved in numerous high profile initiatives including: “Tour of Champions” the first-ever consumer marketing campaign for Medco Health Solutions featuring iconic Olympians, Beverage brand XanGo’s milestone MLS jersey sponsorship of franchise Real Salt Lake, negotiating category exclusivity status for Ball Park and DHL with Strike Ten Entertainment, JUVÉDERM®’s first foray into sponsorship (“Decades of Smooth™”) including the US Open and endorsements from Lindsay Davenport and Tracy Austin, Nikon’s Presenting Sponsorship of the New York Mets “Greatest Moments at Shea” interactive fan promotion and securing Olympic Legends Mark Spitz and Nadia Comaneci to endorse BOTOX®’s “Your Personal Best” campaign.

Neuman has over 18 years of experience putting together hundreds of dynamic sponsorship and marketing partnerships totaling well over $125 million.

Prior to launching Amplify, Neuman was the Senior Vice President, Group Account Director with STRATEGIC (formerly Strategic Sports Group), where he provided strategic consulting services for all sports and entertainment partnerships for InBev brands including Beck’s, Bass, Stella Artois, Labatt Blue, Rolling Rock and Brahma. Additionally, Neuman and his staff were responsible for numerous projects for clients such as Hershey’s, GlaxoSmithKline, Pokemon, Pernod Ricard, Tecate and Dos Equis.

Neuman’s team was responsible for strategically negotiating, managing and activating clients' marquee sponsorships with properties including MLB, NFL, NHL, NCAA, Sundance Film Festival, USA Hockey, MLS, PGA and USYSA as well as creating “owned” events, such as the Stella Artois Draught Master and the Labatt Blue Pond Hockey Championship. He also led the agency’s transition into multi-cultural projects, receiving assignments from GlaxoSmithKline and InBev after successfully managing Copa Tecate, the largest grassroots Hispanic soccer tournament in the U.S.

Neuman previously held senior positions with Paragon Marketing Group (HALO Sports), Arnold Communications and Global Television Sports, Inc., where he was involved with such brands and properties as Pfizer (2002 Salt Lake City Olympics), McDonald’s and Hoop-It-Up.

Neuman has been recognized as an industry leader by contributing his business opinions in publications, such as Adweek, Brandweek, Sports Business Journal, The Sports Business Daily, IEG Sponsorship Report as well as in numerous syndicated articles. Additionally, Neuman has spoken at PMA’s (The Association for Integrated Marketing) Sports Marketing Summit, International Sports Summit, IEG Sponsorship Conference and several collegiate and team sports marketing seminars. His work has been recognized by major awards programs, including the Bill Veeck Sports Sponsorship Awards and the Big Apple PR Awards. Neuman also serves as adjunct professor of sports marketing and corporate sponsorship in the Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management at New York University.

Neuman attended the University of Pittsburgh on full scholarship graduating with a BA degree and was a three-year captain on the Lacrosse Team. Neuman, his wife Jennifer, a photographer, and their son Alex and daughter Naia reside in Brooklyn, NY.

Neuman is a five time marathon finisher, has biked from Montreal, Canada to Portland, Maine, Run with the Bulls in Pamplona and sky dived from 13,000 ft.

Brian Cupps

Vice President, Group Account Director

Brian Cupps manages the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of the consulting practice at Amplify Sports and Entertainment, LLC.  An accomplished industry sports and entertainment marketer, he is a lead contributor in Amplify’s sponsorship measurement division, which utilizes the Sponsorship SnapShot™ and Sponsorship Amplifier™, and maintains responsibilities on new business development.  Under his leadership, Amplify has increased its consulting practice in 2008 to include such blue chips brands as Allergan, the makers of BOTOX® and JUVÉDERM®, Medco Health Solutions, National Grid, Nikon and XanGo.  In addition, Cupps maintains responsibility for marketing and positioning the agency to increase overall awareness of the brand.

Prior to joining Amplify Sports & Entertainment, Cupps was the General Manager, Global Director for Reebok Basketball where he oversaw all of the basketball business for the global athletic footwear and apparel giant.  In his role, Cupps was responsible for setting the strategic direction for the business unit while identifying key objectives and key targets among retail and consumer markets.  Cupps and his team turned around a declining business unit and set in motion a 3 year plan to achieve sales growth and gain market share. 

While at Reebok, Cupps was involved in the signing of several notable NBA endorsers including Marvin Williams, the #2 pick in the 2006 NBA draft and former member of the National Championship North Carolina Tar Heels.  In addition, Cupps worked with notable NBA Endorsers Allen Iverson, Baron Davis, and Steve Francis on several global marketing campaigns and managed the NBA relationship for Reebok.

Cupps previously held the position of Global Director of Sports Marketing for AND1 basketball, a niche basketball footwear and apparel brand based in Paoli, PA.  His time at AND1 saw him work with NBA All-Stars Kevin Garnett, Ben Wallace, Stephon Marbury, Shawn Marion, Chauncey Billups and Jason Williams as well as Streetball and AND1 Mix Tape Star, Rafer Alston, aka “Skip to my Lou”.  Cupps and his team doubled AND1’s NBA endorser stake over a two year period and placed AND1 as the #2 footwear brand in the NBA behind only global basketball power Nike.  In addition, Cupps co-founded the AND1 Rising Stars Clinics internationally to increase brand awareness.  The camps grew from 2 in the first year to 8 in the third year of operation.

Cupps is a former college basketball player at Seward County Community College and Wichita State University and spent six years coaching college basketball.  He graduated with Honors from Wichita State University and received his MBA from West Virginia Wesleyan College.  Cupps is a member of the National Sports Marketing Network.

Allyn Michalek

Vice President, Sales

Allyn oversees the Property Division at Amplify in addition to business development responsibilities.  The property division delivers strategic client solutions focusing on aligning our properties with relevant and dynamic brands.   Through the procurement of corporate partnerships, Michalek and his team have successfully negotiated agreements that promote brand activation and enhance ROI.

The property division has grown significantly over the past two years.  Allyn’s group currently represents five properties and has negotiated multi-year and multi-million dollar relationships.  These properties include Strike Ten Entertainment, U. S. National Whitewater Center, US Speedskating, USA Field Hockey and the United States Tennis Association.

Some of the brand partnerships include Ball Park Franks, Columbia Crest, Dale and Thomas Popcorn, DHL Express, Heineken, Jeep, Miller Coors, Redwood Creek and Sara Lee.

Prior to joining Amplify, Michalek was a senior executive at the Partnership Marketing Connection (PMC), the agency that was spawned from Millsport in 2004. At Millsport/PMC, Michalek was instrumental in developing new business, managed the event marketing division and procured and managed accounts for several Fortune 500 brands including Deloitte, Disney, ESPN Golf Schools, Morgan Stanley, Nike Golf, RL Polo and Yahoo. He also co-founded PartnerShop, the “World’s Largest Online Employee Company Store.” 

In August of 1999, he joined Live On Line as Vice President of Business Development.  Live On Line, a pioneer in streaming video solutions delivered live/on demand event broadcasting over the Internet coupled with integrated marketing solutions. In August 2001, Live On Line/Digital Island was acquired by Cable & Wireless and Michalek was promoted to Director of Media Service Sales and CDN where he oversaw sales and marketing for all properties and clients representing over $30 million dollars in revenue.  He procured and managed relationships for Bloomberg, DLJ Direct, EMC, ESPN, Johnson & Johnson, Mercedes Benz, Microsoft, Net Radio, Public Interactive and the WWE.

He spent 11 years working for GSH&TI, owned by World Champion tennis player Ivan Lendl. Under his direction, he managed a staff of 25; developed, promoted and marketed events; and formulated and managed sports properties into multimillion-dollar enterprises.  He founded the Grand Slam Satellite Division and the Grand Slam Championships, a tennis tournament for regional, national and international tennis professionals completing for prize money.

Michalek has spoken at a number of prominent industry conferences including the Internet Radio Conference sponsored by NPR in Washington, DC, the Major League Baseball Winter Meetings, New Media panelist held in Dallas, Texas, the WRG Sports & Media Technology Conference in New York and the International Sports Summit on the Rich Media Applications panel also in New York.                     

Michalek holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of New Haven, where he received the Seton Business Award for his work in community service and Masters of Education and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Springfield College.  Michalek is an avid golfer playing out of the Course at Yale, tennis player (runner-up in the NCAA D2 New England College Doubles Championships) and is a very passionate paddle tennis player.  He resides in New Canaan, CT with his wife Sheila and sons, Adam and Matthew where he is active in community service and volunteerism.