Steve Bellamy is an

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

in sports and entertainment known for founding niche cable television networks, including the

Tennis Channel Tennis Channel is an American sports digital cable and satellite television network owned by the Sinclair Television Group subsidiary of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. It is devoted to events and other programming related to the game of tennis, al ...

, The Surf Channel, The Skate Channel, and The Ski Channel. He is a writer/director/producer of six feature films, including ''Winter'' and ''The Story'', and one of the producers of The Game Changers on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. He is the inventor of LiveBall and the founder of the Tennis Channel Open. He was named the President of Motion Picture and Entertainment at

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

in 2015.

Early life and education

Bellamy attended

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

from 1983 to 1986 where he graduated with a business degree. He was the commencement speaker at that school in 2008 and won the university's Distinguished Entrepreneur Award in 2005.

Career

Bellamy founded Atonal Tennis, Inc. in 1985 which owned and operated the Palisades Tennis Center, Cheviot Hills Tennis, Santa Monica Tennis Center, Westwood Tennis Center and Westchester Tennis Center. While running those tennis centers, Bellamy invented LiveBall which is played in tennis centers around the world.

Sports Channels

In 2001, The Tennis Channel (TTC) was founded by Steve Bellamy. The channel was launched in Spring 2003. Bellamy had planned to use the Tennis Channel Open, a Tennis Channel acquisition, as the core event as a part of a larger "Tennispalooza". In 2005, Bellamy left to start The Ski Channel. In 2006, Bellamy became chief executive officer of Action Sport Networks. In April 2007, Bellamy announced the formation of The Ski Channel, which would focus on mountain-oriented sports, activities, and lifestyle. The channel, launched via his company Atonal Sports and Entertainment, signed a long-term agreement with Time Warner Cable. During the 2012

US Open of Surfing The U.S. Open of Surfing is a week-long surfing competition held annually during the summer in Huntington Beach, California. Generally held on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier, the U.S. Open is part of the qualification process for t ...

in Huntington Beach, Bellamy announced that he was launching the Surf Channel, devoted to beach, water and board sports, lifestyle and travel, in mid-September. In 2015, he was made chairman of Action Sport Networks. Bellamy was named

President of Motion Picture and Entertainment in October 2015.

Atonal Sports and Entertainment

Atonal Sports and Entertainment owned and operated several tennis centers, a film company, Atonal Films and TV, and Palisades Sound Recording Studio. Atonal Films produced documentaries. Sports facilities owned by Atonal included the Palisades Tennis Center, Westwood Tennis Center, Cheviot Hills Tennis Center, Santa Monica Tennis Center and the LA Golf Academy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellamy, Steve Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Tennis mass media Kelley School of Business alumni American sports businesspeople American entertainment industry businesspeople Businesspeople from Indiana