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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. |
