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Donald Dell (born June 17, 1938 in Bethesda, Maryland, USA) is an attorney and was a professional tennis player, U.S. Davis Cup captain, and administrator. Dell was one of the first professional sports agents, having represented professional tennis players Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Jimmy Connors, and Ivan Lendl during pro tennis' golden age (1975 to 1985). He was also the founder of Professional Services (ProServ), one of the nation's first sports marketing firms established in 1970 with co-founder, Frank Craighill, a fellow law partner.
Dell is considered one of the fathers of sports marketing and the sports agent business with IMG's Mark McCormack.
Dell, was also very instrumental in the seventies in establishing the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Clients of ProServ dominated the leadership roles of the ATP in its formative years. ProServ and one of its young agents, David Falk, would go onto to represent professional basketball players such as Patrick Ewing and John Lucas. Michael Jordan[1] selected Dell's ProServ and Falk as his first sports agent after leaving the University of North Carolina.[2]
ProServ was acquired in 1999 by SFX Sports Group, which later became a subsidiary of Clear Channel Entertainment.[3]
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Playing career
Dell played his collegiate tennis at Yale University where he was a three-time All-American (in 1958, '59 and '60). He reached the NCAA singles finals in 1959 (falling to Whitney Reed of San Jose State University), and was a semifinalist in 1960.
He played on the U.S. Davis cup team in 1961 and 1963 and was the captain of the winning Cup teams of 1968 and 1969.
He was a quarterfinalist at the U.S. National championships (now known as the U.S. Open), in 1961, and at the Cincinnati Masters he was a singles finalist in 1959 and a semifinalist in 1958.
Continued involvement with tennis
Dell received his undergraduate degree from Yale in 1960 and his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1964. He was an associate for the law firm of Hogan & Hartson from 1966 to 1967, was Special Assistant to Peace Corps founder Sargent Shriver from 1968 to 1969, and founded ProServ, Inc., (now known as SFX) in 1970 and served as its chairman until 1997. He was also a co-founder of the players' union, and was co-founder with John Harris of the Legg Mason Classic tennis tournament in Washington, D.C.[4]
Dell is the Vice Chairman of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and a member of the board of directors for the Arthur Ashe Institute of Urban Health. Dell broadcast tennis for PBS and NBC television in the 1970s and '80s and makes appearances on the CBS local affiliate station, WUSA. His last interview was July 31, 2007 with Andrea Roane.
Awards and honors
He has been enshrined into the ITA College Tennis Hall of Fame He was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009.[5]
References
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=tNNsesXOUVUC&pg=PA125&lpg=PA125&dq=ProServ+%22Michael+Jordan%22&source=bl&ots=evCDiwUJsk&sig=758sIYJHvi5dTXv794kFJI5oLn8&hl=en&ei=HOfUSbWPMtOrtgfSyJzhDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3
- ^ http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/37621
- ^ http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1024185/index.htm
- ^ Legg Mason Tennis Classic Official Page
- ^ Seles Elected to Hall of Fame ESPN.com, January 15, 2009
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