Dudley, formerly president of Octagon North America, replaces Mark Dowley, chairman of the Interpublic Sports and Entertainment Group who had been acting CEO since the departure last year of Les Delano.
Dudley will report directly to Dowley on all Octagon operations and business matters. His remit will not, however, include Octagon Motorsports.
The announcement completes the restructuring of Octagon Worldwide initiated by Dowley when he was put in charge of the division by IPG chairman and CEO John Dooner approximately one year ago.
He will be based in New York.
“Rick Dudley is the perfect guy for the job,” said Dowley. “His long and successful track record in sports marketing will provide Octagon with a creative and respected leader and ensure that Octagon serves as the dominant force in the sports industry.”
Added Dudley: “Octagon is a global sports powerhouse that understands and can access fans’ passion for sports for the ultimate benefit of our partners and constituents.
“That’s what we are good at. There’s nothing we cannot do at Octagon when operating as one unified company.”
In addition to better unifying and integrating all operating units, Dudley intends to further expand the consulting footprint, develop Octagon’s Marketing Solutions business, identify events and properties to represent and increase Octagon’s sales force and sales penetration. His goal, says Octagon, is to have the organisation think globally but also immersed within local markets.
Prior to joining Octagon, Dudley spent five years as president of NHL Enterprises. He was also a senior vice president at the NFL, where he ran corporate sponsorships and marketing operations for 10 years and served in a similar capacity at Major League Baseball. Most recently, Dudley held an operating role at Ignite Sports and ran MHC Investments, a private equity investor in sports properties.
