Jack M. Caress, Ph.D.

Jack Caress has had a wide-ranging business and academic career in a variety of enterprises, creation of properties, teaching and consulting.   Recently, Jack took a position as a Licensed General Agent (GA) and principal in the family-owned Caress Insurance Agency, Corporation, focusing on the expansion, scaling, and strategic plan for the rapidly growing business that is currently in 12 states with over 160 licensed agents.   

 

He founded and served CEO of Pacific Sports LLC for three decades prior to the sale of the business in 2019.   He is the Founder of Triathlon Business International, Incorporated, the global industry group for the sport of triathlon.   In February of 2016, Jack was named to the “Top 10 Most Influential in the Sport of Triathlon” in Triathlon Magazine (Europe’s largest multisport magazine).   Caress is an Operating Partner for VO2 Partners in New York and a consultant for the Gerson Lehrman Group,  AlphaSights, Guidepoint Global, and ForensisGroup.   He served on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games (SCCOG) and the Los Angeles Sports Council and now is a member of the Advisory Board for the Sports Management Program at the University of California, Irvine.

 

Jack earned a B.S. in Economics at UC Irvine.   He furthered his education with a Master of Science from the Merage School of Business at UC Irvine and a PhD in Business Economics from the Claremont Graduate School.  Jack has also been an active member of the academic community serving as a professor at Chapman University in the School of Business & Economics for 10 years from 1987-1996, as the Director of the Freshman Seminar Program in Political Economics at Chapman for three years.   His teaching areas included behavioral economics, macroeconomics, accounting theory, and principles to intermediate accounting.  He is currently an adjunct faculty member at the University of San Francisco in the graduate program in Sports Management.

 

Pacific Sports produced over 440 multisport events throughout the world.  Pacific Sports owned and operated the Olympic Distance Triathlon World Championships held in Cleveland, Ohio in September of 1996--the only time the triathlon world championships have been produced by an American.  In addition, Jack has produced twelve U.S. Championships in triathlon, the most of any individual or firm.  

 

Pacific Sports owned and operated the Los Angeles Triathlon at Torrance Beach, Newport Beach Triathlon (oldest triathlon in the United States), Long Beach Triathlon, Brooklyn 15k, U.S. Open Triathlon (Dallas, TX) and the Cleveland Triathlon.  Pacific Sports served as Executive Producer for the Dow Live Earth Run for Water, which took place in over 100 cities worldwide, including events directly produced by the firm in Brooklyn and Los Angeles.

In 2005, he was a founder and co-owner of the Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series bringing together the six major championships of Olympic distance triathlons. His firm has paid out in excess of $3.8 million dollars in prize money and generated more than $115 million for charitable causes.   At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, he produced the official reception with the International Triathlon Union and Triathlon Business International that followed the Men’s Olympic Medal Event.  He served as co-host along with Marisol Casado, the ITU President and IOC Member, which took place at Hyde Park.  

Caress’ career in sports marketing and production began at International Management Group (IMG) in Cleveland as a consultant in the Athletics & Fitness Division. This led to the founding of Pacific Sports and the launch of several events as well as ongoing consultation with sports clientele on sponsorships, sports marketing and athlete representation. USA Triathlon named him Race Director of the Year, in 1996.  Prior to IMG, he was a consultant with Touche Ross, & Company where he earned his CPA. 



Caress has competed in over 400 participant sporting events including the Ironman World Triathlon Championship in Kona on four occasions.  He is in the unique category of both of USA Triathlon’s Century Clubs having both competed and directed over 100 triathlons.  He was a member of the 1975 NCAA Championship golf team at UC Irvine where he now serves on the Athletic Director’s Intercollegiate Athletics Advisory Council.  He has served on the Board of the Tustin Western Little League and a Board Member for Foothill High School Lacrosse.  Caress serves in the Mentor Program at the Merage School of Business at UC Irvine. 

 

He has provided expert commentary on CBS, NBC, ESPN, Fox and Cablevision Sports and served as Executive Producer on broadcasts for both the Los Angeles and Cleveland Triathlons. Jack has edited two books in political economics entitled “The Global Citizen” and “War, Peace, and Justice” and been published in both financial and sports journals writing on the business of sports and financial management and is a regular speaker at conferences, podcasts, and webinars in the lifestyle sports industry.

 

Jack has three sons, Nathan, Jake, and Luke, and has residences in Irvine, California and Shaker Heights, Ohio.   

 

 

 

 

Contact

Jack M. Caress, PhD

☎ CONTACT

J.Caress@icloud.com