Joe Hand Promotions is the
premier distributor of closed circuit pay-per-view boxing and special
events in the country. Founded by Joe Hand, Sr. and his family in 1970,
the company’s size and reputation has grown due in large part to the
chairman's background, passion and keen foresight about the television
distribution industry. One of the first companies of its kind, Joe Hand
Promotions is still leading the way and thriving after 40 years! Joseph Hand, Sr. started his professional career as a Philadelphia
Police Detective but always had an eye and passion for sports,
particularly boxing. In 1967, Hand became a charter member of Cloverlay
Corporation, the organization that helped guide Joe Frazier to the
heavyweight championship. Hand became intrigued by the prospect of
forming his own company specializing in sports promotions. Joe
Hand Promotions main focus is promoting and distributing closed circuit
pay-per-view boxing events, plus other sporting and entertainment
broadcasts. The company has promoted or broadcast almost all of the
major championship fights nationwide including Leonard - Hearns,
Tyson-Lewis, Hopkins-Trinidad and DeLaHoya - Mayweather. Joe
Hand Promotions is no stranger to other sports and events either. The
company has promoted such popular events as the World Cup, Woodstock
’94, David Bowie, the Mr. Olympia Bodybuilding Championship, Kenny
Rogers, The Beach Boys, Frankie Valli, plus numerous boxing and
wrestling events at Atlantic City casinos. They also work with
DirecTV
in bringing the NFL Sunday Ticket to hundreds of commercial
establishments throughout the country. In 1998, Joe Hand
Promotions joined forces with the WWE to distribute its wrestling
events. This partnership increased the non-existent market to over 800
monthly commercial customers. In 2001, the company acquired the rights
to the
Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC). Currently, the UFC is the
fastest growing sport on closed circuit pay-per-view television. With a
growing fan base and the expertise of Joe Hand Promotions’ sales staff,
the UFC is getting bigger and bigger with each event. Their likeable
personalities and competitive mixed-martial arts display has made the
UFC a can’t-miss, monthly event. With its considerable skill, Joe Hand
Promotions has been able to exhibit the monthly
UFC events to its huge
network of bars and restaurants. Within a few months, Joe Hand
Promotions expects the number of locations showing the UFC events to
eclipse 2000 establishments on a monthly basis! Joe Hand
Promotions is one of the founding fathers of
HBO’s commercial sports
distribution network. According to Senior Vice President of HBO
Pay-Per-View Mark Taffet, “[Hand’s] expertise and passion for this
business are respected and unquestioned.” Joe Hand Promotions
works in conjunction with many nationally known promoters including Dana
White from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bob Arum of Top Rank
Inc., Don King of Kingvision Pay-Per-View Ltd., Ken Hershman of Showtime
Networks Inc., Mark Taffet of HBO, and Vince McMahon of World Wrestling
Entertainment. In 1996, with his connections and invaluable friendship
with King, the company was able to bring the Mike Tyson vs. Buster
Mathis fight to the Corestates Center in Philadelphia. At the time, it
was the highest rated sports program on the Fox Network. It has
always been the philosophy of Joe Hand Promotions to support many causes
and organizations in order to make a difference in the community.
Through the years, the company has been involved with the Special
Olympics, Children’s Miracle Network Telethon, and scholarship funds at
various Philadelphia area high schools. Joe Hand, Sr. received the
prestigious Wanamaker Community Service Award in 2002 because of his
philanthropy. He has always maintained the notion that you cannot just
be a taker; you must also give back to the community. He is hopeful that
the children he has helped will also be able to give back to those less
fortunate.
Joseph P. Hand, Sr.
Joseph P. Hand, '54 was born in 1936
and raised in the Lawncrest section of Philadelphia. The
values instilled during 12 years of Catholic education at St.
William's Elementary School and Northeast Catholic High School
have followed and served him for a lifetime.
Unbeknown to Hand, early choices he
made were the start of a lifetime of service to others. Hand’s
service to the community began with his acceptance into
Philadelphia Police Department in 1959. During his tenure in the
police department, Hand received many commendations for his
heroic efforts. He is credited with saving multiple lives during
a subway fire; he was promoted to Detective in the department’s
prestigious Intelligence Unit; he was gifted with a key to the
City of New Orleans for his assistance in apprehending a sniper;
and he was continuously entrusted with the well being of
Presidents, Governors, Mayors and other VIP’s as they passed
through the City of Philadelphia. Despite an illustrious career
with the Philadelphia Police Department, a serious heart attack
in 1975 cut short any thoughts of continuing in this field.
Fortunately for Hand, he had begun paving another path in 1964
when he became a charter member of the Cloverlay Corporation.
Cloverlay helped make a young Olympic boxer named Joe Frazier
the heavyweight champion of the world. This membership developed
into the creation of his own business, Joe Hand Promotions,
Inc., in 1971. As his company evolved into one of the premier
sports promotion companies in the nation, Hand continued to give
back to the community.
Hand continued to feel compelled to do more. Thus the idea of
the Joe Hand Boxing Gym began in 1983. It took one dilapidated
building, twelve years and thousands upon thousands of Hand’s
personal dollars to see the gym open and functioning in 1995.
Initially his goal was to build the finest boxing gym and
community program in the city. After developing the best amateur
boxing program in the United States, Hand began to do even more.
Hand saw the gym as a stepping-stone for many kids. He created a
place for kids to learn about competition and accomplishment
within themselves. And it worked! The
Joe Hand Boxing Gym was a
fast success, turning a desolate area of the city into a vibrant
hub of activity. Hand realized the prestige of having the gym
win four
National Golden Gloves Championships within five years,
as well as the pride in seeing team members represent the United
States at the past two summer Olympic games.
It was during this time that Hand discovered the kids needed
something more than just a place to train. They needed
encouragement with their school studies and access to
technologies that weren’t being afforded them. So Hand solicited
some help from area unions and corporate friends, cleared space
in the gym, and in April of 2000 the Joe Hand Boxing Gym evolved
into the Joe Hand Boxing Gym and Computer Center. Hand dreamed
of seeing children from all over the city entering his gym to
not only hone their athletic abilities but also their
scholastics skills. He fulfilled his dream and takes great
pleasure in seeing children come to the gym with a gym bag on
one shoulder and a school bag on the other. Hand offered a less
fortunate neighborhood access to a 19-station computer center.
It is not unusual to see children using the computers with their
boxing hand wraps still in place.
Recognition of Hand’s work began in 1992 when he was inducted
into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. 1996 saw Hand
recognized by the World Boxing Association as the Closed-Circuit
TV Promoter of the Year. In 1999 he was named the Veteran Boxers
Association Man of the Year. 2000 saw Hand inducted into the
Pennsylvania Golden Gloves Hall of Fame. That was followed in
2001 by his induction into the Middle Atlantic Boxing
Associations Hall of Fame. 2002 was a banner year for Hand when
he proudly accepted the prestigious Philadelphia Sports
Congress’ Community Service Award as well as being honored by
the Philadelphia 76ers as a Hometown Hero. Honors like these, as
well as his current Induction into NECHS Hall of Fame for
Community Service fuel Hand’s desire to do even more.
Joseph P. Hand, ’54 takes great pride in NECHS’ acknowledgement
of his continued efforts in community service. This induction,
by his peers, reminds him of a job well done but it also reminds
him that his work is not finished and….THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
Joseph P. Hand, Jr.,
President
When Joe was drafted by the
Philadelphia 76ers in the 10th round in 1980, he felt positive
that his future would involve sports. What Joe didn’t know at
the time is that boxing, not basketball, would be the central
sport in his life.
In May of 1980 Joe joined his father in a part-time position in
the family business, Joe Hand Promotions, Inc. This was Joe’s
first step into a career that can only be defined as
entrepreneurial. Twenty seven year later, Joe finds himself
having everyday dealings with such industry headliners such as
DirecTV, Showtime, Home Box Office (HBO), National Football
League,
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Kingvision, Top
Rank, Inc. and Comcast. As President of Joe Hand Promotions,
Inc. since 1987, Joe has guided his family business to become
the largest independent distributor of closed-circuit TV and
pay-per view programming in the world. His deft understanding of
all means of telecommunication technology has been the
cornerstone of his success.
During the 1980s, Joe branched out and founded Cable Sports
Network, a company that provided fresh sports programming to
growing cable systems desperate for new programs. Joe had the
foresight to predict a need and quickly filled the void.
Joe also has a distinguished philanthropic side to his business
success. His father founded Joe Hand Promotions, Inc. in the
early 70’s mainly to exhibit closed-circuit boxing telecasts.
Joe realized that the sport of boxing is directly responsible
for the company’s success. With this in mind in 1995 the Joe
Hand Boxing Gym and Computer Lab opened in center city
Philadelphia. It was a place where children could find refuge
from the inner city streets. Free of charge, children can come
into the gym for boxing instruction and/or to use the computer
lab. Within weeks of opening its doors, the gym saw children
from all over the city arrive at their doors with a gym bag on
one shoulder and a school bag on the other. Once again…a void
seen and a void filled! The Hand’s will tell you its one of
their most fulfilling achievements. The gym was recognized for
his charitable works in 2002 when it received the Philadelphia
Sports Congress’s prestigious Community Service Award.
After being named by Philadelphia Magazine’s one of “84 People
to Watch in 1984”, Joe has had numerous appointments, namely by
his Alma Mater, King’s College Advisory Board; Northampton
Township’s Cable Advisory Board; Pennsylvania’s State Athletic
Commission Chief Deputy in Charge of National Affairs; the
National Football League’s Sunday Ticket Advisory Board and as a
Board Member of Glen Mills School.
As President of the company, Joe oversees every aspect of the
business in their Feasterville, PA headquarters. He continually
motivates his employees, satisfies his customers, and maintains
the respect of the industries top executives.
Margaret Hand Cicalese, Vice President
Having grown up as the daughter of
the country’s premier closed-circuit boxing promoter, Margaret
began running closed-circuit locations by the time she was in
the 8th grade. Her involvement in the family business began in
1971 by helping out in their home office by stuffing envelopes
and licking stamps. As the company prospered and grew so did
Margaret’s involvement in the business. Upon graduating from
King’s College in 1983, Margaret joined forces with her father
and brother with a full time position in the business. Since
that time the business has changed quite dramatically.
Today Margaret manages the daily endeavors of Joe Hand
Promotions in the corporate offices in Feasterville, PA.
Although the work that she does is mainly “behind the scenes,”
Margaret prides herself in being the driving force behind her
father and brother as well as the entire staff of Joe Hand
Promotions. She is actively involved in every aspect of the
business from grant writing for their non-profit organization to
repairing office equipment. Her most important skill is being
able to anticipate the needs of the office and providing the
tools necessary to continue on their course of success!
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Susanne Kelly
Susanne joined the JHP family
in early 2000. Susanne’s position as Assistant to the
Partners brings her into contact with every aspect of
JHP, including special corporate projects. Susanne also
is responsible for the “Piratcy Campaign”, is the liaison
with the Piracy attorneys, tracks all Piracy revenues,
and compiles the required reports for JHP and the
Promoters. She is also involved with the daily
activities at Joe Hand Boxing Gym and Computer Lab.
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Joey Jones
Joey came to JHP in 1992
as a member of the sales team. Over the years, Joey has
risen to Manager of the Sales/Marketing Department and
has expanded his scope of responsibilities and duties as
his position evolved. The JHP sales team has grown over
the years and, under Joey’s guidance, the sales force
can be characterized as motivated and productive.
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Jason Joyce
Jason became a member of
the family-run business in 1993. Jason’s ability to
service over one thousand commercial accounts with the
highest level of individual detail has earned him
recognition as a “top sales executive”. He is
responsible for strengthening and servicing pre-existing
client relationships as well as forming new business
alliances.
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Jim
Fenstermacher
Jim started with JHP in
2000. He is a member of the sales team handling certain
corporate accounts and designated territories.
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Mike Joyce
Mike came to JHP in 2008
with ten years experience in the communications field.
He is a member of the sales team.
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Pat Sullivan
Pat
came to JHP in 2005 with twenty years experience in the
accounting field. She is responsible for overseeing the
accounting department and its growing staff. She
handles all accounts payable and accounts receivable,
and is involved with all financial aspects of JHP. |
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Nancy Ortiz
Nancy
started with JHP in 2007. She is a member of the sales
team handling certain corporate accounts and designated
territories. |
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Steve
Rottloff
Steve
came to JHP on a part-time basis in 2007 and
evolved into a full-time position. Steve is at the warehouse and does the
physical work associated with the various shipments,
etc. |
"The
guys at Joe Hand Promotions know more about Closed
Circuit TV than anyone else I've ever met. Their
experience in the CCTV business has helped build UFC
events into the fastest growing sport in America."
Dana White,
President, Ultimate Fighting Championship |
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"I have
always appreciated the great support Joe Hand Promotions
has given me. And I will support Joe anyway I can.
Joe is my man. He does a great job. Thank
you. Thank you. Thank you."
Don King,
President & CEO,
Don King Productions, Inc. |

"In
the 32 years I've known Joe Hand, I can't think of a
better person to deal with...he is most certainly one of
the premier promoters of his kind in the country.
His honesty, professionalism, and general knowledge [of
the boxing industry] is impeccable. He definitely
runs a top-notch organization."
Bob Arum,
Chairman,
Top Rank, Inc. |
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"Dedication,
service, and integrity is what you have whenever you
deal with Joe Hand, Sr. and his company, Joe Hand
Promotions. A former highly-respected Philadelphia
police detective, he has turned his 40-year-old sports
promotion company into one of the premier promoters of
closed circuit television boxing in the nation."
Ed Rendell,
Governor of Pennsylvania |
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