EP244: Jon Patricof, CEO and Co-Founder, Athletes Unlimited

Jon Patricof is CEO and Co-Founder of Athletes Unlimited, a network of professional sports leagues. Launched in March 2020, Athletes Unlimited now operates leagues in pro women’s softball, volleyball, lacrosse, and basketball. In 2022, the company will conduct over 120 games that will be broadcast to over 150 countries.

Before founding Athletes Unlimited, Patricof served as president of Major League Soccer’s New York City Football Club, where he currently serves on the board of directors. Prior to NYCFC, Patricof spent 11 years as a member of the board, President and COO of Tribeca Enterprises, the owner and operator of the Tribeca Film Festival and related business ventures. Among his accomplishments was the creation of the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival as well as the company’s landmark branded content partnerships with Dick’s Sporting Goods and American Express.

Throughout his career, Jon has been involved in driving revenue and expanding operations. At Tribeca, he helped expand the company from film into branded entertainment and sports as well as the company’s JV with Lionsgate and international partnerships in the Middle East and Asia. Prior to Tribeca, he worked in media private equity prior to which he worked in Corporate Strategic Planning at Disney helping grow the Disney, ESPN and ABC brands across video, audio and digital platforms. His first job was at Forest City Ratner at the inception of the Atlantic Yards development (future site of Barclays Center); he worked on Dean Kamen’s Segway project and with Harvard Prof. Michael Porter’s Initiative for a Competitive Inner City.