Sideline Stories: Chad De Luca, Twitch

My career in the sports industry started in an unorthodox way. I was cut from the varsity team, however, unlike Michael Jordan, didn’t grow five inches and make the team the next year. I came to the realization my passion for sports needed to be satiated in a different way…

I was approached by Coach Conant, the girls basketball head coach and former boys basketball assistant coach, who knew how disappointed I was about being cut. He offered me the chance to be a part of something special. I served as the Manager of the Falmouth girls basketball team, yet, my role was similar to an Assistant Coach. I scouted other teams, worked players through drills, participated in practice, and gave advice to players. Coach Conant entrusted me in helping with shooting strategy and keeping track of shooting percentages from different points on the floor. This helped the team optimize shooting percentage by location on the court. It all made a difference as we advanced to the Western Maine Class B State Finals where we ultimately fell short against Lake Region. The silver lining was the girls demonstrated the grit and mental fortitude to go further than any other Falmouth girls basketball team had gone before!

I went on to study Sport Management at Ithaca College. When looking for experience, I actually ended up connected to Bill Ryan, Jr. through parents of a member of the Falmouth girls basketball team. Bill was starting the NBA Development League (now NBA G-League) expansion franchise which ultimately became the Maine Red Claws. I helped from the ground up – from scouting and helping Jon Jennings, original GM and President, to evaluating and drafting players to creating a marketing and corporate partnership plan to canvassing and helping market corporate ticket plans to local businesses. It all tied back to my service on that Falmouth girls basketball team. I then went on to work for the NBA Offices in London, the New Jersey Nets as they prepared to move to Brooklyn, and the New York Yankees in corporate business development. I worked for Endeavor and one of the biggest advertising agencies in the world, Publicis, to help with sponsorship and sports marketing strategy along with developing the organization’s gaming and esports consulting business.

This led me to Twitch, which is owned by Amazon, where I continue to work on gaming and esports, sports and entertainment. Back in February we produced the Twitch Rivals Streamer Bowl in Miami before the Super Bowl which was the cross-section of gaming and sports: 16 NFL Players and 16 Pro Gamers teamed up playing Fortnite to raise money for charity. It all goes back to putting my pride aside and helping the Falmouth girls basketball team. What’s more, my girlfriend is the daughter of one of the former Assistant Coaches and sister of one of the players on that team.

Getting cut from the varsity team and helping that girls team was the best thing that ever happened to me!