Biography

Mark McCormack was born and raised in Chicago where he developed a passion for the game of golf as a young boy. When he was 6, he was hit by a car and fractured his skull, and his doctor barred him from contact sports. 

While attending The College of William and Mary, he placed number one on the golf team and thereafter played well enough to qualify for the British and U.S. Amateur Championships and the U.S. Open

After receiving a law degree from Yale University and accepting a position in a prestigious Cleveland law firm, McCormack remained in touch with several professional golfers he had befriended as a player. He soon began arranging exhibitions for his friends as a sideline and offered them legal advice on a casual basis. Then, in an agreement sealed by a handshake, Arnold Palmer became McCormack's first full-time athlete-client and a new chapter in the business of sports was speedily written. 

While launching his business in the United States, McCormack understood the global nature of sport and built IMG into a global powerhouse with offices in over 40 countries.  He was in China before Richard Nixon, launching both the Chinese Football League and Chinese Basketball Association.  From Soccer to Badminton to Snooker to Cricket to Rugby, his footprint and influence was felt in every major international sport. 

Given sports ever-increasing influence in our culture , The London Sunday Times listed McCormack as one of the 1000 people who most influenced the world in the twentieth century.

Honors

• Named “The Most Powerful Man in Tennis” by Tennis Magazine
• Named “The Most Powerful Man in Golf” by Golf Digest
• Named “The Most Powerful Man in Sports” by Sports Illustrated

• Named by the London Times in 1991 as one of the 1,000 people who have most influenced the 20th Century
• Named to Sports Illustrated ” 40 for the Ages” Honor Roll 1994
• Named Commander of the Royal Order of the Polar Star by the King of Sweden for achievements on behalf of the Nobel Foundation 1991

• ESPN's Sports Century listed him as one of the 20th century's ten "Most Influential People in the Business of Sport."

• Business Age magazine in 1994 said, “McCormack invented the sports business.” 
  
• Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement (2006)
• Inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame (2008)
• Inducted into Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame (2011)

Articles

Extensive Interview from Golf Digest in June, 1998

Mark McCormack: The Visionary 1930-2003 from Sports Illustrated, May 2003

Mark H. McCormack, 72, Pioneer of Sports Marketing, New York Times Obituary, May 2003


 

The Special Collection Department at UMass Amherst Libraries is developing a multimedia timeline of Mark H. McCormack's life