Portsmouth Football Club would like to offer its congratulations to Michael Eisner, who has been presented with the prestigious SportsBusiness Journal/Daily Lifetime Achievement Award.
Pompey’s chairman collected the prize in New York City last night and was recognised for identifying the potential of ESPN and his use of sport as a rich tool for storytelling.
Eisner was a vice-president at broadcaster ABC before the age of 30 and was later chairman of Paramount Pictures, before rescuing Disney from the brink of oblivion and turning them into a global media and entertainment empire.
He set up Disney Sports Enterprises, which created the Mighty Ducks National Hockey League side, named after the film which had been released the previous year.
Eisner later led the acquisition of Major League Baseball outfit the California Angels, who were renamed the Anaheim Angels and won the World Series title in 2002.
"This is an extremely prestigious award that recognises Michael’s professional success. "
He then formed the Tornante Company after leaving Disney in 2005 and they purchased the trading card company Topps – among other businesses – before taking over at Fratton Park last summer.
Eisner follows in the footsteps of previous recipients such as tennis superstar Billie Jean King and Dan Rooney, who the ‘Rooney Rule’ is named after.
Pompey chief executive Mark Catlin was in New York to watch Eisner honoured and said: “This is an extremely prestigious award that recognises Michael’s professional success. I would like to congratulate him on behalf of everyone at the club.”