Ron Berkowitz
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Ron Berkowitz is an American entrepreneur, publicist, and former sports journalist. He is the CEO and founder of the New York City-based Berk Communications.


Early life and education

Berkowitz was born on February 13, 1972, in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, to parents Jack and Fran Berkowitz. He graduated from
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South (known locally as WW-P South or South) is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in the Princeton Junction section of West Windsor in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, ser ...
in
Princeton Junction, New Jersey Princeton Junction is an Local government in New Jersey#Unincorporated communities, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within West Windsor, New Jersey, West Windsor township, Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer Co ...
. Berkowitz attended the
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
, where he earned a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
in broadcast journalism and political science with a minor in sports management.


Career


Sports broadcasting

While attending the
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
, Berkowitz worked for the university radio station
WVUM WVUM (90.5 FM) is a non-commercial alternative and electronic music college radio station at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida in the United States and broadcasting over-the-air to the Miami metropolitan area and streaming onli ...
doing play-by-play broadcasting for
Miami Hurricanes baseball The Miami Hurricanes baseball team is the college baseball program that represents the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. Since 1973, the program has been one of college baseball's elite with 25 College World Series appearances, winnin ...
,
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
, and
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
teams. He broadcast the
Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...
and the
1992 Orange Bowl The 1992 Orange Bowl was the 58th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on January 1. Part of the 1991–92 bowl game season, it matched the top-ranked Miami Hurricanes of the Big East Conf ...
. After graduating, he began working as a reporter for
WTOP WTOP may refer to: Radio stations *WTOP-FM 103.5 FM, a radio station in Washington, D.C. *WHUR-FM 96.3 FM, a radio station licensed to Washington, D.C. that held the WTOP-FM call letters from 1949 until 1971 *WFED 1500 AM, a radio station licensed ...
in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, where he covered the
Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...
,
Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...
, and University of Maryland's
Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's college sports in the United States, varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate ...
. He then was hired in a public relations job with the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
before becoming manager of publicity for FOX Television Cable Networks and FX in 1997. In 1999, he left the station and started Berk Communications.


Public relations

Berkowitz has represented Michael Rubin,
Yoenis Céspedes Yoenis Céspedes Milanés (born October 18, 1985), nicknamed "La Potencia" (The Power), is a Cuban-born former professional baseball outfielder. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut on March 28, 2012, for the Oakland Athletics, and has ...
,
Robinson Canó Robinson José Canó Mercedes (; born October 22, 1982) is a Dominican-American professional baseball second baseman for the Diablos Rojos del México of the Mexican League; he also captains the Estrellas Orientales of the Dominican Professio ...
,
Kevin Durant Kevin Wayne Durant (born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Durant has won two List of NBA champions, NBA champ ...
,
Dez Bryant Desmond Demond Bryant (born November 4, 1988) is an American former professional American football, football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oklahoma State Cowboys football, Oklahoma State ...
,
Meek Mill Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group the Blo ...
, and some of
Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...
's business ventures. His long-standing clients include Victor Cruz,
Justise Winslow Justise Jon Winslow (born March 26, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Wisconsin Herd of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils, with whom he won the 2015 NCAA championship. High school ...
,
Miguel Cotto Miguel Ángel Cotto Vázquez (born October 29, 1980) is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017. He is a multiple-time world champion, and the first Puerto Rican boxer to win quadruple champion, world titles in fo ...
,
Andre Ward Andre Michael Ward (born February 23, 1984) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2017. He retired with an undefeated record and held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including unified super ...
,
CC Sabathia Carsten Charles Sabathia Jr. (born July 21, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, and New York Yankees. Sabathia batted and th ...
,
Geno Smith Eugene Cyril "Geno" Smith III (born October 10, 1990) is an American professional football quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the West Virginia Mountaineers, leading them ...
,
Jérôme Boateng Jérôme Agyenim Boateng (; born 3 September 1988) is a German professional footballer who plays for Austrian Bundesliga club LASK. Boateng started his career at Hertha BSC where he developed from the youth ranks to the first team. After his deb ...
,
Todd Gurley Todd Jerome Gurley II (born August 3, 1994) is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons, primarily with the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for the Georg ...
,
Elton Brand Elton Tyron Brand (born March 11, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player and the general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing college basketball for Duke, he was selecte ...
,
Armand de Brignac Armand de Brignac, known colloquially as Ace of Spades, is a French Champagne owned by Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and LVMH. The brand is produced by Champagne Cattier and sold in opaque metallic bottles. The brand's first bottling, Armand de Brignac B ...
,
ROC Nation Roc Nation is an American entertainment company founded by Jay-Z in 2008. Headquartered in New York City, the company is a successor to his previous Roc-A-Fella Records label, with additional offices in Los Angeles and London. It serves as a re ...
,
Roc Nation Sports Roc Nation Sports is the sports management division of Roc Nation. History Roc Nation Sports was founded by Jay-Z in early 2013 in partnership with Creative Artists Agency, a prominent talent agency based in Los Angeles. Roc Nation Sports' fir ...
,
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...
,
Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
, D'usse,
Robert Kraft Robert Kenneth Kraft (born June 5, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Kraft Group, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainmen ...
, Puma,
Body Armor Body armour, personal armour (also spelled ''armor''), armoured suit (''armored'') or coat of armour, among others, is armour for human body, a person's body: protective clothing or close-fitting hands-free shields designed to absorb or deflect ...
,
Van Jones Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones (born September 20, 1968) is an American political analyst, media personality, lawyer, author, and civil rights advocate. He is a three-time ''New York Times'' bestselling author, a CNN host and contributor, and an Emm ...
,
Aaron Judge Aaron James Judge (born April 26, 1992) is an American professional baseball right fielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is a six-time MLB All-Star and two-time American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award (MVP ...
,
Rao's Rao's () is an Italian-American cuisine, Italian-American restaurant founded in 1896. It is located at 455 East 114th Street, on the corner of Pleasant Avenue in East Harlem (or Italian Harlem), New York City. Rao's has a sister restaurant in Los ...
, Reform Alliance, and Tao. In 2012, along with DJ Williams, Jon Beason, and
Jonathan Vilma Jonathan Polynice Vilma (born April 16, 1982) is an American color analyst and former professional football player in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a linebacker and was a three-time Pro Bowl selection. Vilma played college f ...
, he opened the restaurant Brother Jimmy's BBQ in
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
. In June 2013, he began representing
Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop, third baseman and designated hitter and current businessman. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (ML ...
. Berk Communications was acquired as an independent subsidiary by the
MikeWorldWide MikeWorldWide (formerly MWWPR) is a public relations firm. The company works in public relations and marketing, technology, digital and social media marketing, public affairs and government relations, corporate communications, healthcare, sustai ...
in October 2015, with Berkowitz continuing to serve as president and chief executive officer of the company. In 2016, he received national media attention and recognition for his role in the makeover of
New York Yankee The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one ...
, Alex Rodriguez, following a suspension for use of performance-enhancing drugs. In April 2021, Berkowitz collaborated with CC Sabathia and the
MLB Network MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with TNT Sports (United States), TNT Sports, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Communications h ...
to produce a non-traditional game telecast for the New York Yankees versus the
Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...
. He began representing
Aaron Judge Aaron James Judge (born April 26, 1992) is an American professional baseball right fielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is a six-time MLB All-Star and two-time American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award (MVP ...
in 2022. Berkowitz began representing
Rao's Rao's () is an Italian-American cuisine, Italian-American restaurant founded in 1896. It is located at 455 East 114th Street, on the corner of Pleasant Avenue in East Harlem (or Italian Harlem), New York City. Rao's has a sister restaurant in Los ...
in October 2023. His firm will focus on supporting the opening of Rao's third restaurant location in Miami.


References


External links


Ron Berkowitz
at
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkowitz, Ron 1972 births Living people American public relations people University of Miami alumni