J.B. Bernstein (born February 5, 1968) is the CEO of Access Group, an athlete management firm and

chief marketing officer A chief marketing officer (CMO), also called a chief brand officer (CBO), is a C-suite corporate executive responsible for managing marketing activities in an organization. The CMO leads brand management, marketing communications (including adver ...

of Seven Figures Management, a sports marketing and athlete representation firm. Bernstein created ''The Million Dollar Arm'' contest in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, which yielded the first two Indian men ( Rinku Singh and

Dinesh Patel Dinesh Kumar Patel (born 8 May 1989) is an Indian right-handed baseball pitcher who played in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Along with Rinku Singh, he was the first Indian player ever to sign a contract with a major American baseball t ...

) to ever sign pro sports contracts in the US (with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

). Bernstein received his bachelor's degree in political economics in 1990 from the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

, obtaining his MBA at

The London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public university, public research university in London, England, and a member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the University ...

. Bernstein started his career in brand management at Grey Advertising working exclusively with

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...

accounts. Bernstein started working in the sports industry during the early years of ''The Upper Deck Company'' and as Director of Development for their memorabilia division Upper Deck Authenticated. Bernstein's services were retained by

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

from 1995 to 1997, where he acted as their head of licensing and created the league's merchandise program. MLS secured over 50 national partners and reached $50 million in MLS-licensed sales in just its second season. Bernstein became a partner in Pro Access Group in 1997 and created a platform of marketing campaigns to mark significant achievements in sports history. He went on to represent several, including

Barry Sanders Barry Sanders (born July 16, 1968) is an American former professional football running back who played for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. Sanders led the league in rushing yards four times and in rushin ...

Emmitt Smith Emmitt James Smith III (born May 15, 1969) is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, 13 as a member of the Dallas Cowboys and 2 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals ...

, and

Barry Bonds Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants f ...

. Bernstein's involvement with Singh and Patel is the basis for the film ''

Million Dollar Arm ''Million Dollar Arm'' is a 2014 American biographical sports drama film directed by Craig Gillespie and produced by Walt Disney Pictures from a screenplay written by Tom McCarthy. The film is based on the true story of baseball pitchers Ri ...

''. Bernstein is portrayed by

Jon Hamm Jonathan Daniel Hamm (born March 10, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Don Draper in the period drama series '' Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which he won numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and tw ...

Reality contest

Bernstein set up an Indian

reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 199 ...

contest called ''The Million Dollar Arm'' which was aired on

Zee Sports The Sony Sports Network, formerly known as the Sony Pictures Sports Network and also known as Sony TEN, is a group of Indian pay television sports channels owned by Culver Max Entertainment. The original TEN Sports channel was first establish ...

(Now,

TEN Action The Sony Sports Network, formerly known as the Sony Pictures Sports Network and also known as Sony TEN, is a group of Indian pay television sports channels owned by Culver Max Entertainment. The original TEN Sports channel was first establish ...

). The winner received a prize of $100,000 with an opportunity to win $1 million

United States dollar The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

s in a bonus round afterward. Additionally, the winner received formal training in the United States with the possibility of being selected as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

team. The two 2008 winners, Rinku Singh and

, were signed to the

. While Patel returned to India, and hopes to play for the India men's national baseball team, Singh has remained in the United States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, J.B. 1968 births Living people American sports agents Businesspeople from New York City University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Baseball in India