John Bello

National Football League Properties

Bello joined NFL Properties in 1979 and became its president in 1986. He transformed licensed apparel from a small business selling novelty merchandise in specialty stores into everyday fashion sold at major chain sporting goods and department stores. He created NFL ProLine authentic sideline gear so consumers could 'Wear What the Pros Wear' and drove major sponsorships with Coca-Cola, Canon, Gatorade, Miller Brewing, GTE, Apple, Citibank, American Airlines and many consumer food products through a Sunday insert program called the 'NFL Tailgate Party.'

He played a major role in creating the NFL Experience fan festival and helped organize the American Bowl series of international pre-season games, starting with the 1986 game between the Refrigerator Perry-led Super Bowl Champion Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys played in front of 81,000 fans at London's Wembley Stadium. Bello's innovative promotions included bedecking pro golfer Payne Stewart in NFL team colors, sponsoring NASCAR racers, launching women's lines of NFL team clothing, and producing made-for-TV events such as the Quarterback Challenge and The NFL's Fastest Man.

During his tenure, NFL Properties grew from $30 million in retail sales, sponsorships and publishing to $3 billion when he left in 1993. He was ranked 46th on Sporting News' list of Most Powerful People in Sports in 1992. Bello left NFLP on Labor Day in 1993 after losing a power struggle with then-NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who was seeking to consolidate league operations under the commissioner's office.

SoBe Beverages

After leaving the NFL, Bello took a position as VP Marketing with Ferolito, Vultaggio and Sons, makers of AriZona iced tea, where he joined former Pepsi colleague Mike Schott. After four months he left to create his own beverage company in partnership with Tom Schwalm, named the South Beach Beverage Company after the trendy South Beach area of Miami. Based in Norwalk, Connecticut, the company marketed New Age beverages—exotic juice blends and ready-to-drink iced teas—facing competition from Snapple, Mystic, Nantucket Nectars and AriZona.

To differentiate, Bello added trace elements of herbs and nutrients such as ginseng, ginkgo biloba, guarana, carnitine, Echinacea, yohimbe, taurine and praline, promoting their benefits beyond hydration. He launched a '3G' line of drinks with supposed energy boosters like ginseng, ginkgo biloba and guarana, and expanded iced teas to include Black Tea, Oolong Tea with bee pollen, Green Tea with Echinacea, and Red Tea with selenium. SoBe introduced '3C' Elixirs in varieties such as Orange-Carrot, Orange-Tomato, Energy, Power, Zen Blend, Wisdom and Eros.

Other products included Lizzard Blizzard, Tsunami, Fierce, Courage and Long John Lizard's Grape Grog. Bello created the 'dueling lizards' design, led guerrilla marketing, and proclaimed himself the 'Lizard King' in radio ads. He enlisted athletes like golfer John Daly and skier Bode Miller as spokespersons, and wooed independent distributors with high margins and small equity stakes. From its creation in 1995, SoBe's sales rose rapidly, climbing to $275 million by 2000.

SoBe was sold to PepsiCo for a reported $370 million cash on October 30, 2000. Bello remained with Pepsi overseeing SoBe until early 2004. In 2001, Bello was named Ernst and Young's National Entrepreneur of the Year in the Consumer Products category.

Other business activity

After leaving Pepsi, Bello formed JoNa Ventures, a family investment vehicle. With former NFL associates Bruce Burke and Peter French, he formed Firefighter Brands, a social enterprise intended to benefit local firefighting units with revenues from Firefighter Branded coffee, chips, chili, trail mixes and energy drinks; the project ultimately failed due to lack of cohesive cooperation among various firefighting entities. In 2005, Bello invested in and became chairman of Soup Kitchen International, a company he helped found that markets soups created by Al Yeganeh, the 'Soup Nazi' from Seinfeld, for retail stores and franchised restaurants.

In 2006 Bello became a general partner of Sherbrooke Capital, a venture capital firm that led the $6.35 million equity-financing round for IZZE in early 2005; he was appointed Chairman of the Board of IZZE, which was subsequently sold to PepsiCo. He also invested in and became active with Beso Del Sol Sangria.

Personal life

Bello grew up in Plainville, Connecticut, the son of the late Generoso 'Jerry' and Edith (Melito) Bello. He is a 1964 graduate of Plainville High School, where he played football, was student council president and was named to The National Honor Society. At Tufts University, he played football for two years, was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity, and played drums in a rock band called 'The What Four.' He met the former Nancy Nelson at Tufts, to whom he was married in 1969. Bello served a four-year Navy tour that included duty in South Vietnam as supply officer for PBR Mobile Base II on the Mekong Delta, for which he was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V. He resigned his commission as a Lieutenant to attend graduate school.