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| John Acunto |
John Acunto, a 20-year veteran of the National Basketball Association's communications team, has joined Finn Partners as senior partner.
He reports to Missy Farren, managing partner in charge of consumer, lifestyle and sports, at the No. 4 independent PR firm with $119M in fee income.
At the NBA, Acunto handled strategies for digital and social media, sports betting and esports, and developed partnerships with Nike, Facebook, Disney, Verizon Wireless and Gatorade.
He exited the league as VP-business communications.
At Finn, he will push the new sports division further into betting, esports and professional team assignments.
Acunto will work with senior partner Caroline Andrew and her team that has handled campaigns for every Olympics since 2002, along with The Dew Tour, International Champions Cup and Disney's Swim with the Stars featuring Michael Phelps.
The College Football Playoff has named sports PR veteran Eric Tosi chief brand marketing and communications officer, a newly created role.
Sylvester (Sly) Peoples, who has worked for such sports-oriented brands as Nike, Adidas and Russell Athletic, is joining Burson as U.S. head of sports & entertainment.
If you had your choice of PR clients, former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick—with his 24-year-old girlfriend/"PR rep" in tow—might not be the way to go.
Lara Toscani Weems has joined Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf as senior VP-media relations.
Jason Teitler has returned to Burson as executive VP-corporate affairs. He will focus on sports accounts.
