Hasseltine, who works out of a 14th-floor office in the World Trade Center, has upped the tempo in Maryland sports marketing, looking for open talent and distributing the proverbial ball.
The Ravens, the Blast and Creative Artists Agency - promoters of the six-city World Football Challenge tour - were among the organizations he knew and assembled when he saw months ago that there was an opening in the local sports calendar and time available at the Ravens' home field.
"So many pieces were in place here, and there's this huge passion for sports throughout the state," Hasseltine says.
At a time when a tight economy has squeezed sponsors, his efforts have meant an economic boon to Maryland of more than $100 million, says Hasseltine's boss, Hannah Byron, head of the state's Division of Tourism, Film and the Arts, including about $25 million for each football game, $20 million for the lacrosse tournament, and perhaps $20 million for the soccer game.
Hasseltine's work as deputy director of the Kentucky Sports Commission (2005-2008) foretold his Maryland successes. Derrick Ramsey, now athletic director at Coppin State, was his boss at the time.
Ramsey recalls the "Team Kentucky" concept Hasseltine created. He identified 24 jurisdictions in the state, uniting them under one banner. If Frankfort, Louisville or Bowling Green had or wanted an event, the others promoted it.
"It allowed us to sell our local strengths, but also those of the state in general," Ramsey says.
Hasseltine helped negotiate the contract between PGA of America and the Commonwealth of Kentucky that made the state (not the city of Louisville) the official host of the 2008 Ryder Cup.
He moved to Maryland before a ball was played. Hasseltine did that, he says, because it meant a chance to kick-start an organization of his own, and in a state with untold potential.
The budget for his office - $150,000 for the first year, $200,000 for the second - paled in comparison to the $500,000 sometimes available in Kentucky, but he found the variety of venues and sheer diversity of Maryland's athletic landscape irresistible.
One veteran colleague is unsurprised he has produced on it. "Terry is a bright young guy, very highly regarded in the industry," says John McCasey, president of the Sacramento (Calif.) Sports Commission and a fellow board member with the National Association of Sports Commissions, a trade organization. "He doesn't go around with his head in the clouds. He listens to everybody, digests information and ends up finding ways for everyone to come out ahead. That's great for a statewide setting like Maryland's."
