Joe Hand Sr., Founder and Chairman of Joe Hand Promotions, Passes Away at 87
Feasterville, PA, Aug. 1, 2024 — Joe Hand Sr., the esteemed founder and chairman of Joe Hand Promotions, the largest distributor of premium sports and entertainment programming to commercial establishments, passed away Thursday at the age of 87. Hand Sr. had been hospitalized after contracting COVID-19 approximately 15 days ago.
He was a member of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame for his roles as a boxing promoter and a pioneer in the pay-per-view business. He was also inducted last year into the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame.
Hand Sr. led an extraordinary career, beginning as a dedicated police officer for the city of Philadelphia. In the late 1960s, he became involved with a group of businessmen in Philadelphia who were forming Cloverlay, an organization dedicated to managing the boxing career of young heavyweight and Olympic gold medalist Joe Frazier. As a founding member of Cloverlay, Hand Sr. played a crucial role in guiding Frazier to the pinnacle of his career, including his historic victory over Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden on March 8, 1971—a fight still celebrated as one of the greatest in boxing history.
In his late 30s, while continuing his duties as a police officer, Hand Sr. managed Cloverlay and invested in Joe Frazier’s career. Leveraging his experience in the boxing business, he went on to establish Joe Hand Promotions. First through closed-circuit and later on cable, satellite, and streaming, the company grew to become the largest distributor of pay-per-view programming globally to bars and restaurants. Under his leadership, Joe Hand Promotions has distributed nearly every boxing match of significance over the last 50 years and has been the exclusive partner of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for nearly 25 years.
Joe Hand Promotions, headquartered just outside of Philadelphia in Feasterville, PA, has been in business for 54 years and employs more than 50 people. Hand Sr. remained actively involved in the company until about two weeks ago when his health declined due to COVID-19.
Memorial service details and other arrangements are pending and will be announced soon. Hand Sr. is survived by his son, Joe Hand Jr., the President of Joe Hand Promotions, his daughter, Margaret Hand Cicalese, and his sister and co-founder, Patricia Hand.
For inquiries, please contact Joe Hand Jr. at joejr@joehandpromotions.com or call 215-364-9000. Email is preferred.
About Joe Hand Promotions
Joe Hand Promotions brings fan communities from mainstream sports and entertainment into the top corporate and independently owned bars and restaurants, theaters, casinos, and other commercial establishments to provide the best viewing experience outside of the arena. As the commercial content partner for some of the nation’s top live-sports media properties, Joe Hand Promotions is the leader in the out-of-home live sports and entertainment media distribution industry. For over 50 years, Joe Hand Promotions has seamlessly connected commercial establishments with live sports, which has successfully driven traffic and increased revenues, time and time again. The Joe Hand Promotions team is more than the distributor, but also the advisor in this fast-growing industry.
Media Contact:
Joe Hand Jr.
JoeJr@JoeHandPromotions.com (preferred)
215-364-9000