Jon Spoelstra
Spoelstra in January 2012
Born	(1946-06-19)June 19, 1946 (age 78)
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Notre Dame
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Spouse	Elisa Celino
Children	2, includingErik Spoelstra
Parent	Watson Spoelstra (father)

Jon Spoelstra (born June 19, 1946) is an American author,sports marketer, and a formerNational Basketball Association (NBA) executive for theBuffalo Braves,Portland Trail Blazers,Denver Nuggets andNew Jersey Nets.^[1] He is the co-founder of SRO Partners, and he currently serves as president ofMandalay Sports Entertainment.^[2] Spoelstra graduated fromNotre Dame in 1966.^[3] He was a judge at theMiss America 2004 contest.^[2] He has two children: Monica andErik, the head coach of theMiami Heat. Spoelstra's father was sportswriterWatson Spoelstra.^[4]

After graduating fromNotre Dame in 1966, Spoelstra founded his first marketing company in 1970, The New School of Youth Marketing and Other Phenomena Inc. In the mid-1970s, his company obtained the rights to syndicate Notre Dame basketball games for $2,000 per game.^[3] In 1977, Spoelstra's career in the NBA began when theBuffalo Braves hired him as vice president of marketing. One of his biggest tasks he was assigned was to try to prevent a relocation of the Braves, although the team moved toSan Diego ten months later. In 1979, thenPortland Trail Blazers ownerLarry Weinberg hired Spoelstra as senior vice president and general manager where he would serve for ten years before resigning.^[3]

TheDenver Nuggets hired Spoelstra in 1989 as president and general manager, but he was fired after 90 days due to a dispute with management. Spoelstra returned toPortland, where he co-founded SRO Partners, and began teachingsports marketing at theUniversity of Portland. He began consulting for theNew Jersey Nets in March 1991, and became the team's president 1993.^[3] During his time with the Nets, Spoelstra implemented marketing tactics that increased the team's home game attendance from last in the league when he initially arrived to first in the NBA.^[3] His most famous marketing gimmick came in 1994, when he sentrubber chickens through direct mail with the tagline "Don't Fowl Out!" to Nets season ticket holders who had not yet renewed their season tickets.^[3]

• Spoelstra, Jon (1997).Ice to the Eskimos: How to Market a Product Nobody Wants. New York:HarperCollins.ISBN 0061745839.
• Spoelstra, Jon (1999).Success is Just One Wish Away. DelStar Books.ISBN 1891686151.
• Spoelstra, Jon (2001).Marketing Outrageously Redux: How to Increase Your Revenue by Staggering Amounts. Bard Press.ISBN 1885167504.

• Sports portal

• Official website

• NBA executives
• Living people
• Portland Trail Blazers executives
• Denver Nuggets executives
• Brooklyn Nets executives
• Los Angeles Clippers executives
• 1946 births
• University of Notre Dame alumni

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Date of birth not in Wikidata
• Articles with hCards
• Place of birth missing (living people)