It’s free — and worth every penny

October 24, 2022 Andy Furman

Joe Favorito. Photo courtesy of Andy Furman

Share this:

A hobby – perhaps. A labor of love – maybe. A public service – for sure.

And the magic of it all — that four-letter word each and everyone of us loves — free!

Joe Favorito, the pride of Xaverian High (1981) – is the author and brainchild behind his Sports Marketing and PR Pros newsletter.

“I started it 15 years ago,” he told the Brooklyn Eagle. “There wasn’t a one-stop-shop for topics interesting to know. Let’s face it – Linkedin is a one-way connection.”

So, each and every Sunday for the past 15 years, Favorito puts his publication to bed and it’s ready to roll at 7 am.

“By 7:30 am people are sending me responses,” said the Fordham grad who majored in communication – what else – served as manager for the Rams’ basketball team and worked on the student radio station, WFUV (90.7 FM).

“I do the newsletter by myself, probably because I know what to look for,” he said. “We have about 50,000 people clicking away to read it.”

Favorito says his project is set-up well in advance – and it’s not about finances.

“We’re not about financial,” he says, “I just like to cover my costs.”

His newsletter, he says, makes him re-invent, see trends in the sports business world and makes him think.

“And I truly enjoy inter-acting with people,” he said.

Why not – he’s had plenty of experience.

At 22 he became the youngest sports publicist at a Division I school in the nation when he was working at Iona College in New Rochelle.

When he turned 28, he served as public relations director for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers – and then it was tennis.

“The 1998 French Open was my first assignment,” he said. “I was promoting Billie Jean King and a young Venus and Serena Williams.”

When he was promoting the U.S. Open, Magical Joe Favorito placed 11 women on 13 magazine covers.

And back to basketball, when he was named publicity man for the New York Knicks.

As for his newsletter, he says he doesn’t really push it much. “I’m not really thinking getting it to a certain number,” he said. “In fact, I’m not even sure how many of the recipients even receive it.”

He says he’s doing this work as a favor to the industry – not to help people make money. He’ll piece audio and videos in the weekly publication as well as events and new voices in the sports industry.

And jobs.

“I’ll find those on my own, and post them,” he said, “Yet I don’t use my mailing list to market services.”

In fact, he claims search firms have claimed the Favorito Touch has more quality than a three-party search source.

“It’s a way to give back to people who helped me over the years,” he said.

For 35 years he’s been giving back with his work in strategic communications/marketing/business development and public relations expertise in sports, entertainment, brand building, media training, television, athletic administration and business.

In fact, he was named one of Forbes’ “100 Sports Business Must Follows On Twitter” for 2015, their “50 Must Follow” for 2016 and 2017 and The Huffington Post’s “Sports Media People To Follow” for 2017 and 2018.

Giving back – how about teaching a graduate sports management course at Columbia University. “I learn from them,” he said, “and they from me.”

His goal has always been to help others who may be worse off than himself.

As for his newsletter – check JoeFavoritio.com.

And yes – it’s free.

And worth it.

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected] Twitter: @AndyFurmanFSR