Steve Bellamy

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Not to be confused with Steven Bellamy.

Steve Bellamy
Nationality	USA
Occupation	Sports and Media
Known for	The Ski Channel, The Tennis Channel, Palisades Tennis Center, LA Golf Academy
Spouse	Beth Herr
Children	Four boys
Website http://www.theskichannel.com

Steve Bellamy is a former rock musician, songwriter, ardent vegan and entrepreneur in sports and media. He is the founder of several businesses, including The Ski Channel television network, where he is currently the Chairman and CEO, The Tennis Channel television network,^[1] which he ran for over seven years, the Palisades Tennis Center, LA Golf Academy and many others.

1 Biography
2 External links
3 References

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early career

A native of Indiana, Bellamy fronted the rock band Johnny Major and the Minors while attending Indiana University, then moved to Los Angeles in 1986 to pursue a music career. After frequently having to sell his cars and guitars to pay rent in the early years, Bellamy became a large draw on the Los Angeles Club circuit regularly playing venues like the House of Blues, Club Lingerie, The Roxy and the Whisky during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. He recorded five albums, toured the country, had songs on commercial radio across the United States and shared the stage with Bruce Springsteen, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Brian Wilson and David Crosby. His video for “Time Takes Away” was seen on MTV and his songs can still be frequently heard in television and film.

While working in the studio and playing concerts at night, he spent his days coaching tennis to a who’s who of Hollywood elite, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Goldie Hawn, Sally Field, Hilary Swank, Kate Hudson and scores of other actors, politicians, and media executives and their families including Mike Ovitz, Steven Spielberg and Leslie Moonves.

In 1996, Bellamy took over a failing public tennis facility in Pacific Palisades near Los Angeles and turned it into one of the most innovative tennis training facilities in the world^[2]. Palisades Tennis Center was dubbed the "Crown Jewel of American Tennis" by Independent Business Magazine and "the nexus for tennis and Mecca for celebrities in Los Angeles" by W Magazine. Shortly thereafter, Bellamy started acquiring other tennis facilities, including the Santa Monica Tennis Center and Westchester Tennis Academy, and launched numerous other tennis businesses.

Bellamy created numerous on-court methodologies including Shotgun 21 and LiveBall. LiveBall is more like Tai Bo or scrimmage basketball than a tennis lesson. Consumers flocked to the clinics and his facilities were soon packed with waiting lists from sun up until lights out, seven days a week. In January 1998, Tennis Magazine did a feature story on the Palisades Tennis Center and pro’s from all over the US started to show up to watch what was happening on their courts. Now facilities around the country are using these programs.

[edit] The Tennis Channel

In 1999 Bellamy started a cable network devoted to tennis and raised significant amounts of capital from a number of his tennis clients and friends who were in media. The Tennis Channel launched in 2003 and although debuting to just a handful of cities across the United States, The Tennis Channel quickly became the most powerful media vehicle in the sport and is now available in every community in the country. It holds television rights to the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, the Masters Series, the U.S. Open Series, the Australian Open and the French Open.

During his tenure as President at the channel, Bellamy rose to the top of the tennis world as one of its most provocative personalities. He appeared almost daily on radio and was a frequent analyst on television networks such as ESPN, Fox, Sporting News and CNN. “In a sport that sometimes has a bad habit of thinking small, Steve is a real visionary whose infectious enthusiasm and outside-the-box strategizing is helping bring tennis to a broader audience. We're all fortunate he swapped one stringed instrument (his guitar) for another (his racket) and is helping lead tennis into the 21st century.” said Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated.

He also hosted a show on The Tennis Channel. “The Changing Face of Pro Tennis.” In 2005, he was named to Sports Business Journal's "Top 10 most Influential People" list and Tennis News named him “Person of the Year.” The award was subsequently renamed after him and “The Bellamy” will go to the most influential person in tennis each year.^[3] He sat on the industry’s most powerful boards and committees including the ATP Foundation board, Tennis Industry Association board, the International Tennis Federation's Joint Media Commission and the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He lectured to thousands and was a frequent personality at celebrity events. “Steve deserves a lot of credit for the popularity of the sport today," said Andre Agassi.

Over the years, he has constantly organized special events that have included Dustin Hoffman, Dr. Phil, David Spade, Sheryl Crow and many of the biggest names in Hollywood. In 2006, he created one of the most distinctive sporting events in the world - The Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas. “Tennispalooza” melded men’s, women’s, college and junior tennis with a myriad of other interesting sports, entertainment and cultural events that included the best from the worlds of paddle tennis, table tennis, air hockey, art, cooking, Motocross, dance, music and much more in a 14-day festival. The event featured one of the most revolutionary tennis broadcasts and made headlines across the globe. James Blake beat Lleyton Hewitt to win the men’s singles title and brothers Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan won the men’s doubles title while Motocross riders were simultaneously jumping 75 feet in the air off ramps and doing flips. For his efforts, Bellamy received the key to the city from Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.

An eclectic student who didn’t buy books for three years of college and didn’t make the Entrepreneur Club while in school, Bellamy was awarded the “Distinguished Entrepreneur Award” from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and is the commencement speaker for '07-'08.

[edit] Atonal Sports and Entertainment

Bellamy owns Atonal Sports and Entertainment which owns and operates several tennis centers, a film company, the LA Golf Academy, and the Palisades Sound Recording Studio. His Atonal Films is focused on documentaries shot in HD. Atonal’s charitable arm controls the Make a Racket Foundation, which tries to get unused tennis racquets out of closets and into the hands of underprivileged youth. The foundations’ first fundraiser was a free tennis exhibition called "Racquets, Stars & Guitars" which featured tennis brothers Bob and Mike Bryan, musician Gavin Rossdale, comedian Jon Lovitz, actresses Elizabeth Shue, Donna Mills, Melissa Rivers and Camryn Manheim and a myriad of other athletes and celebrities. The event was featured in US Weekly. Bellamy also sits on the board of “Head To Hollywood” with Carmen Electra and US Magazine West Coast Editor Ken Baker.

[edit] The Ski Channel

In April 2007, Bellamy announced the formation of The Ski Channel television network^[4]that would focus on mountain oriented sports, activity and lifestyle.^[5] That announcement brought a long term cable distribution deal with Time Warner and advertising deals with: Panasonic, Fender Guitars, Marquis Jets and Mirage Resorts. Panasonic's President, Andy Nelkin stated they were going to use the networks affluent audience to market their new 107 inch hi definition television that cost $70,000. Shortly after a flurry of programming announcements were made with ski film maker Rage Films,^[6] episodic television series Ride Guide^[7]and a series with legendary action sports photographer Tony Harrington, entitled, “Storm Hunter.^[8]”

The biggest announcement was a partnership with Olympic Gold Medalist Jonny Moseley that made Moseley an investor in the channel, a spokesperson and gave Moseley a signature show on the network.^[9] The Moseley announcement came at what was coin “The Ski Channel Baby Shower” and was attended by ski and snowboard stars: Julia Mancuso, Kirstina Koznick, Lauren Ross and Dash Longe. An odd assortment of other celebrities attended as well: Alexandra Paul, Donna Mills, Melissa Rivers, Dawnn Lewis, Jaron Lowenstein, Scott Grimes, Kevin Durand, Amy Pietz, Jason Gray Stanford, Sinjin Smith, Pam Shriver and George Lazenby.^[10]

No official launch date has been given, except that it will be in 2008.

[edit] Personal life

Bellamy’s wife Beth Herr was a NCAA singles champion at USC, a No. 1 world-ranked junior tennis player, a top 20 professional tennis player and is currently the top-ranked female paddle tennis player in the world. They have four children who are all tennis players.