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Ray Schulte - President / CEO
Don Mattingly - Ray Schulte
For over a quarter of a century, Ray Schulte has successfully positioned his marketing and management company as a dominant force in sports business arena.
“Back in 1983 I was working in New York for J.Walter Thompson when I had the opportunity to meet and speak with former NBA great and Hall of Famer, Pete Maravich during one of his Florida youth basketball camps. We decided to meet the next day, and after a lengthy conversation, Pete said he wished he had someone with my background representing him when he played. The last five years of his career, he did not have a shoe contract. I told him that was what I aspired to do, ‘ packaging’ a ballplayer in much the same way we were packaging national consumer products for J. Walter Thompson clients.
“Pete made a phone call and the following day I found myself meeting with a young, entrepreneurial baseball agent named Jim Krivacs. Jim represented approximately 25 players, all minor leaguers. Pete and Jim were friends and business partners. Pete suggested to Jim that I would be a great asset to his agent business because I could handle all marketing and licensing activities for his company, which would enable him to spend more quality time with and provide his clients with category expertise.
Jim and I hit it off, I left the ad agency and started Schulte Sports Marketing in New York. My first client was a Triple A player named Don Mattingly. Till this day, Jim still represents Don’s field activities and I work exclusively with Don off the field. It has been a great ride and Jim, Don and I am still working together and look to an even brighter future.”— Ray Schulte, 2007
An entrepreneur at heart, Schulte started his New York sports marketing and management agency in 1984. While representing many of Jim Krivacs’ up-and-coming players (including Howard Johnson, Harold Reynolds, Alvin Davis and Don Mattingly), Ray also accepted consulting projects such as adidas USA’s transition to Young and Rubicam to achieve a more global marketing and advertising strategy. For a year, he played an integral role as liaison between adidas USA’s boutique ad agency and global powerhouse Y&R.
During 1984–1988, MLB licensing evolved and Don Mattingly was one of the key preferred players included in the MLB licensees’ product releases. In addition to Krivacs’ clients, Schulte Sports Marketing secured representation agreements with such high-profile clients as former MLB Hall of Famer’s Roberto Clemente, Josh Gibson and former New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers manager, Buck Showalter.
As a result of working closely with all the MLB licensees and his vast knowledge of the national collectible category, Schulte’s talents were secured by MLB Properties to create and manage the 1991 MLB All-Star FanFest collectibles and licensing attraction. That relationship lasted more than a decade, through the 2002 MLB All-Star FanFest. Along the way, the NFL (1993–1995), NHL (1995–2004) and NBA (1994–2001) also retained Schulte for their respective licensing and collectible attractions included as part of their annual high-profile events.
In 2001, Ray Schulte was asked by current National Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr. to represent his marketing (endorsements), licensing and signature business in Baltimore. Without hesitation, Schulte moved from Scottsdale, Arizona to oversee Ripken’s business endeavors including his minor-league affiliated team, the Aberdeen IronBirds, The Cal Ripken World Series (youth league–age 12) and the Cal Sr. Foundation.
In addition to player representation and consulting, Schulte created and managed the Roberto Clemente All-Star Weekend presented by American Airlines in Puerto Rico. This very successful event (2002–2005) included a celebrity golf challenge and the annual Clemente Gala where the prestigious Roberto Clemente International Youth Award was presented (Chi Chi Rodriguez 2002, Carlos Delgado 2003, Joe Morgan 2004 and Bernie Williams 2005).
In 2004, Cal Ripken asked Schulte to develop and manage a national collectible/memorabilia e-commerce firm. In response, Schulte created Ironclad Authentics LLC, built the infrastructure and successfully launched the e-store website in December 2004 and on-line auction platform during the fourth quarter, 2007.
Since its inception, Ironclad forged relationships with high-profile corporate partners such as MLB (authentication program) and MLB.com (selling platforms), Bank of America (rewards programs), QVC (three on-air collectible shows), Comcast SportsNet (media auction partner), and MAB (Baseball’s Best—co-partnered major baseball collectibles and signature event / 60 players signing), among others.
2007 was a very exciting and challenging opportunity for Schulte Sports. Key relationships with MLB licensees and other manufacturers enabled Schulte to create extensive marketing, licensing and signature opportunities for Cal Ripken’s induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Schulte Sports is actively looking to expand our player representation client base. Presently, Schulte represents the Cal Ripken, Jr., former New York Yankee great Don Mattingly, Pittsburgh Pirate legend and Baseball Hall of Famer, Roberto Clemente, Negro League great and Baseball Hall of Famer, Josh Gibson, former Manager of the Year, Buck Showalter. Hockey Hall of Famer and former NY Ranger great, Rod Gilbert, former Washington Redskins and 1972 NFL MVP running back Larry Brown and Los Angeles Dodgers 2006 first round pick Preston Mattingly.
Schulte Sports specializes in representing all aspects of the player’s off the field activities, including but not limited to: licensing, marketing, signature management, public relations, website, e-commerce, charitable relationships and evaluating and analyzing all projects and opportunities presented to the player in any business capacity.
In addition to athlete representation, Schulte Sports is nationally recognized as one of the foremost authorities of licensed collectibles and vintage memorabilia in the country. Ray Schulte is a regular column writer on Collecting for the Maryland's PressBox monthly sports magazine. Ray also co-host PressBox Live sports radio show each Saturday morning, broadcast on Baltimore's ESPN Radio's 1300 station.
Ray is a member of the Mattingly Baseball Charities, Josh Gibson Foundation and Sports Boosters of Maryland Board of Directors.
