Since the 6th grade, when Pat Croce began delivering daily newspapers door-to-door, he has demonstrated a dynamic entrepreneurial spirit. Upon graduation from the University of Pittsburgh in 1977 with a BS in Physical Therapy and certification in Athletic Training, he pioneered the concept of sports medicine. In 1979 he opened the first sports medicine center in the United States with the Haverford Community Hospital Sports Medicine Center. Four years later, he opened Sports Physical Therapists, the first private non-hospital-based sports medicine center in the country. Ten years later, he opened the fortieth center.
Following the highly profitable sale of Sports Physical Therapists to a public company in 1995, Croce focused his entrepreneurial energy and indestructible positive attitude on the purchase of the NBA’s last-place team, the Philadelphia 76ers. During his 5-year tenure as president and minority owner (1996-2001), the team rose from worst to first in the NBA standings and broke franchise records in attendance, revenue, merchandise, and consecutive wins on the way to the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2001. Croce’s ascension from the training room to the board room, and his remarkable success in the resurrection of the Philadelphia 76ers as a NBA championship contender, inspired NBC Sports’ Chairman Dick Ebersol to call Croce “the architect of one of the NBA’s greatest turnaround stories.”
The entrepreneurial bug bit again when Croce pursued his passion for pirates by building the world’s first authentic pirate museum – Pirate Soul – in Key West, Florida. The museum has received rave reviews from media and press around the globe. The piratical complex was completed when Croce opened the Rum Barrel restaurant/bar next door. During the fall of 2010, Croce moved his museum up to St. Augustine, FL, the oldest city in the country, and renamed it The St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum.
Croce has also tackled television in his high-energy roles as a lively commentator on the NBA on NBC; a Tae Kwon Do expert for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Greece; the host of a nationally syndicated daily TV show, Pat Croce: Moving In, syndicated by Sony Pictures Television; and most recently as a panel judge on ABC’s hit show American Inventor.
Croce has been the proud recipient of the “Entrepreneur of the Year” Award, was a finalist (with Sports Physical Therapists) for the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award, and was featured on the cover of Inc magazine as “The Dale Carnegie of the 21st Century.” He continues to thrive as a serial entrepreneur, funding and launching companies in the fields of fitness, healthcare, spirits, technology, retail, real estate and entertainment.
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