Having spent 27 years working in leading marketing roles for some of the biggest brands in the world, Ricardo Fort is leaving his role leading the Sports & Entertainment team at Coca-Cola to launch his own consultancy “Sport By Fort Consulting”.
We talk to Ricardo about his reflections on the past, present and future of sport and entertainment marketing and get under the bonnet of what, in his opinion, makes world class sponsorship
Ricardo Fort
Founder, Sport by Fort
Former Head of Global Partnerships, Coca-Cola | (@SportByFort)
After 25 years working for some of the best companies in the world and almost a decade successfully leading the Global Sponsorship teams of Visa and The Coca-Cola Company, Ricardo launched Sport by Fort Consulting to help sponsors, leagues, investors and athletes successfully invest in sports.
An excellent track record dealing with major global and local sporting organizations and the savvy of having negotiated over a billion dollars in sponsorship contracts, position Ricardo as an expert with unique skills to help investors evaluate, decide and negotiate partnerships.
At Coca-Cola (Atlanta, GA – USA), Ricardo led the Company’s global portfolio of sports and entertainment sponsorships, partnerships and events, including the International Olympic Committee, FIFA, UEFA, the Special Olympics, athletes, McLaren F1 team, record labels, movie studios, the gaming industry and other worldwide sports and entertainment properties.
Prior to this role, Ricardo was the SVP of Global Brand, Product & Sponsorship Marketing at Visa (San Francisco, CA – USA), where he was responsible for all global consumer marketing initiatives including branding, advertising, digital, design and sponsorships.
Ricardo led the Visa team, one of the most active sponsors in the world, in the end-to-end initiatives related to the International Olympics Committee, FIFA, the International Paralympic Committee, UEFA, the NFL, dozens of Football, Baseball and Basketball teams in the USA and hundreds of Olympic athletes.
Before Visa, Ricardo was the Global Marketing Director for the dairy category at the Group Danone (Paris – France), and held several other Marketing roles at Coca-Cola in Brazil, USA and India, and multiple roles at Kellogg’s and Unilever.
IN CONVERSATION WITH…
Andy Westlake
Chairman, European Sponsorship Association
About #ESAwebinar events
ESA’s mission is to inspire, unite and grow the sponsorship industry for the benefit of its members. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause unprecedented disruption to the sports and entertainment industry, it has never been more vital that the sponsorship community has access to informative, relevant and inspiring content.
Which is why ESA has launched the #ESAwebinar series – a regular series of masterclasses, Q&A discussions and other insightful content designed to educate and unite the sponsorship community, despite our physical distance.
The webinar recording is available exclusively to ESA members in our website video resources.
Sign-up to our mailing list to be the first to hear about future ESA events and other updates.
