Tim Rothwell

Tim Rothwell is an American entertainment and licensing executive. He is CEO of The American Outdoorsman, one of the longest-running outdoor-themed television program in the U.S. and a member of the Board of Directors of Cinsay, Inc., an eCommerce and online video platform development company headquartered in Texas. Rothwell served as Corporate Vice President and Co-Managing Director of Worldwide Licensing and Consumer Products at IMG. He worked for Universal Studios, reinvigorated Marvel Entertainment by pursuing new licensee business that totaled over $5 billion in retail sales^[1] and was named the top licensing agent while at IMG.^[2] He currently is President and CEO of The American Outdoorsman and sits on the board of online e-commerce/video on demand/merchandising startup Cinsay Inc.

Early years

Tim Rothwell attended from the University of South Carolina and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism in 1982.^[3] He began his career at the Kimberly Clark Corporation, working with world-renowned consumer brands including Kleenex, Huggies and Depends.^[4]

Career

VF Corporation

Rothwell worked for VF Corporation's Lee Jeans brand for nine years, and was responsible for managing sales and marketing of the brand to a broad range of retailers.^[3]

Universal Studios

He entered the entertainment industry at Universal Studios, where over a seven-year period, he rose to the level of senior vice president of Universal Studios' consumer products group. During his tenure he oversaw merchandising and marketing launches for numerous theatrical titles including Jurassic Park, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "The Fast and the Furious" and Hulk movies.^[5]

Marvel Entertainment

He left Universal to join Marvel Entertainment, where he served as president of worldwide consumer products. There, he oversaw licensing and marketing strategy for all major Marvel franchises, including Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and X-Men.^[3] He generated $5 billion in retail through licensing the company's major franchises, as well as developing new business with Hasbro, Activision and Microsoft.^[5]

While at Marvel, Rothwell identified an opportunity to turn the comic book publisher's universe of 5,000 characters — besides its identifiable characters that had traditionally gotten attention by consumers — that had potential to become lucrative intellectual properties and licenses built on the company's X-Men, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Wolverine, Iron Man, and Hulk feature films. International business of Marvel's properties rose six times under Rothwell. He also revived the company's animation production with new Fantastic Four, Iron Man and X-Men series as well as bringing Marvel's heroes and villains to clothing retailers Foot Locker, Steve & Barry's, Zara and H&M as well as UK retailer Next and Japanese clothing line A Bathing Ape.^[1]

In an announcement coinciding with 2005's San Diego Comic-Con International, Microsoft Game Studios inked an exclusive deal with Marvel, which Rothwell facilitated. Rothwell, quoted by Reuters, stated the agreement with Microsoft and its Xbox 360 platform was the "one and only" for Marvel in the realm of massively multiplayer online gaming.^[6] The partnering was seen as response to Korean-based NCsoft's City of Heroes game which allowed players to outfit their online characters to appear like Marvel superheroes, prompting a lawsuit by Marvel.^[7]

Rothwell also oversaw Marvel extending its exclusive deal with video game company Activision to continue publishing titles based on Spider-Man movie titles and any new TV series until 2017 that gives it exclusive worldwide publishing rights.^[8]

Rothwell put Marvel together with toy company Hasbro in exclusive toy deal for all regions outside of Asia in January 2007.^{[1] [9]} The five-year agreement initially centered on Ghost Rider and the then-upcoming Spider-Man 3. Marvel was guaranteed $205 million in royalty and service fee payments; $70 million would be payable on the theatrical release of Spider-Man 3 and $35 million upon the release of Spider-Man 4.^[9]

IMG

Rothwell joined entertainment and media company IMG in 2006 as executive vice president and co-Managing directors of worldwide licensing and consumer products. He was tasked with developing IMG's licensee business which included the entertainment, media, fashion and sports companies it represented.^[5]

In April 2009, Rothwell was named No. 1 in a survey of Top 20 Licensing Agents by License Magazine. His key licensing properties for retail sales in 2008 included EA Sports, Wimbledon, Ferrari, Cesar Millan, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Manchester United F.C., Arnold Palmer, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Rose Bowl Game, University of Texas, University of Notre Dame, The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. In international markets, the key properties he represented were Chevron Corporation, Churchill Downs, Pelé and 24 Hours of Le Mans.^[2]

Later that year in July, he brought IMG and national nutritional supplement retailer General Nutrition Centers together to develop GNC-branded consumer products which included food and beverage, fitness and wellness equipment, apparel, health and body products and fitness accessories.^[10]

In new position, Rothwell brought eight new licensees for Harrah Entertainment's World Series of Poker in June 2010: Boys and Nat Nast (apparel), United States Playing Card Company (playing cards, poker chips, and poker accessories), Technosource (electronic handhelds), Cinsay Inc. (E-commerce), Silver Buffalo (barware/wall decor), Top of the World and Infinity Headwear (headwear).^[11]

He also orchestrated a brand licensing deal with IMG client Electronic Arts and its Toy Island and EA Sports divisions to develop a line of interactive athletic training aids to include integrating voice commands and coaching elements, a complete game-in-a-box, sports toys using electronics and a line of foam balls to help children develop motor skills at an early age.^[12]

The American Outdoorsman

Rothwell is currently CEO and president of The American Outdoorsman, which produces a hunting and fishing show that has run for over 20 years. He also sits on the board of directors of CInsay Inc.^[13]

References

1. 1 2 3 "Global License! – Marvel's Mavericks". Global License!. Retrieved March 10, 2011. 
2. 1 2 "Global License! – Top 20 Licensing Agents". Global License!. Retrieved March 10, 2011. 
3. 1 2 3 "Marketwire.com – Marvel Enterprises Appoints Tim Rothwell President Consumer Products Group". Business Wire. Retrieved March 10, 2011. 
4. ↑ "Brandweek – People: Rothwell Spins Marvel-ous Ideas". Brandweek. Retrieved May 6, 2011. 
5. 1 2 3 "The Free Library – Rothwell and Maglione Join IMG to Head up Sports & Entertainment Worldwide Licensing and Consumer Products". The Free Library. Retrieved March 10, 2011. 
6. ↑ "IGN – Microsoft Plus Marvel Equals MMO Fun". IGN. Retrieved March 10, 2011. 
7. ↑ "Sprong – Microsoft signs Marvel for Xbox 360 MMO". Sprong. Retrieved March 10, 2011. 
8. ↑ "Activision – Activision Extends Agreement With Spider-Man(R) Merchandising L.P. for Spider-Man(R) Movie Rights Deal Grants Worldwide Interactive Publishing Rights for Spider-Man(R) Movie Sequels Through 2017". Activision. Retrieved March 10, 2011. 
9. 1 2 "Comic Book Bin – Hasbro-Marvel Deal". Comic Book Bin. Retrieved March 10, 2011. 
10. ↑ "Global License! – GNC to Brand Products with IMG". Global License!. Retrieved March 10, 2011. 
11. ↑ "Trading Markets – IMG Signs Eight New Licensees for Harrah's Interactive Entertainment's World Series of Poker". Trading Markets. Retrieved March 10, 2011. 
12. ↑ "Licensing.biz – US TOY FAIR 09: EA Sports brand to be expanded". Licensing.biz. Retrieved March 10, 2011. 
13. ↑ "Marketwire – Global Licensing Leader Tim Rothwell Joins Cinsay, Inc. Board of Directors". Marketwire. Retrieved March 10, 2011.