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C T I N N O V A T O R S , 2 0 2 3 7 PATRICK studio. Originally leasing the property, Patrick ended up buying it in 2020 for $1.15 million. e 67-year-old Ohio native's company now employs 12 people, including Patrick and four in-studio producer types — Paul Pabst, Patrick O'Connor, Todd Fritz and Marvin Prince — known as the "Danettes." ey are akin to a rock star's backup singers and regularly banter and jocularly joust on air with Patrick. Patrick was one of the early ESPN personalities to leave the Bris- tol-based sports media behemoth — which he oen refers to as the "Mothership" — to launch his own independent brand, show and company. Other sports media personalities have since followed in his foot- steps. But things weren't always glamorous. Aer leaving ESPN in 2007, Patrick initially launched the show out of the attic of his Milford home. He had to build it — including the audi- ence, distribution partners and even sponsors/ advertisers — from the ground up. e transition to entrepreneur has been re- warding because Patrick gets to do what he has always loved to do — make a living in the sports and entertainment world, on his own terms. He is the boss, sets the agenda and even gets involved in closing sponsorship and partner- ship deals. His revenue primarily comes from radio and TV revenue-share contracts and sponsorships. Patrick is also an actor, and has had minor roles in several Adam Sandler movies. 'Fighting for recognition' Of all his broadcasting success over the past 40 years, and multi- ple national awards, Patrick said he's most proud of the Dan Patrick School of Sportscasting, launched six years ago at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. ere, he shapes the curriculum, lines up guest speakers from the media industry and mentors aspiring sports broadcasters. "We are changing lives there by getting people jobs," Patrick said. "I make time for (the school) because the stories of students securing broadcasting jobs are so overwhelming. It's the most rewarding thing I've ever done." Patrick recently signed a contract extension with NBC Sports and iHeartMedia, which will run through 2027. In announcing the renewed multiplatform distribution deal in July, iHeartMedia said the "Dan Patrick Show" is heard on more than 360 radio stations nationwide, and is attracting 7.3 million monthly pod- cast downloads. When the contract expires, Patrick said he plans to retire at age 71. He bristles at the word "retirement," insisting he'll still be produc- tive, but with a more scaled-back schedule. "I have fun coming here every day," Patrick said. "I demand a lot, but I still have fun. I get to do this every day and it's challenging. I'm still fighting for recognition for this show, not necessarily for me, but the show. I want the show to win a Sports Emmy. I have won them. I want (the staff) to experience it. at would be awesome." Competitive zeal To best describe Patrick's career and work-life balance these days, one could lean on two of his most popular on-air catchphrases as ESPN anchor. e first is "Dare I say, en fuego" — the English translation is "on fire." e other: "You can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him." He earned all-conference recognition in bas- ketball as a senior at Ohio's Mason High School in 1974. Patrick then attended Eastern Kentucky University, where he saw limited playing time on the basketball team for two seasons. He transferred to the University of Dayton, and earned a communications degree. Patrick currently carries an 11-handicap in golf, up from a five-handicap when he was play- ing regularly years ago. By nature, the once painfully shy kid who was preoccupied with reading Sports Illustrated — where he would eventually work for a time aer leaving ESPN — is highly competitive and a per- fectionist. ose traits influenced him to make the pivot from ESPN to entrepreneur in 2007. As he was entering his 50s in the early 2000s, Patrick was still co-anchoring the weeknight and Sunday night SportsCenter. He also hosted "e Dan Patrick Show" on ESPN Radio — aired by about 300 stations. He watched as several colleagues moved on to new challenges within ESPN, or new opportunities outside the "Worldwide Leader in Sports." For example, colleague Chris Berman was assigned an ESPN Sunday NFL show; Chris Fowler was doing college football; and Mike Tirico started doing play-by-play. Meantime, his former co-anchor, Keith Olbermann, went to Fox Sports Net before becoming an outspoken liberal political pundit and hosting his own politics-related show on MSNBC. Time was passing by, and so were Patrick's work peers and friends. "I took inventory and said, 'man, I'm kind of the old guy doing SportsCenter," he said. "And I think it's a young person's game. I just thought I needed to do something that's going to get me kick-started again." So, one of ESPN's most popular on-air personalities decided to bet on himself. "I said, 'well, let me see what kind of cache I have in leaving," Pat- rick, a Milford resident, said sarcastically. "I realized that I didn't have Dan Patrick Owner/CEO Dan Patrick Productions Education: Bachelor's degree in communications, University of Dayton Age: 67 Continued on next page "Don't let someone have a glass ceiling above you. You will hit it eventually. But don't let someone set it for you. And don't take 'No' for an answer. … You must be obsessed with being great. Every day." – Dan Patrick