Emil A. Calcano is the Vice President, Chief Sports Marketing & International Patient Development Officer at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), the #1 nationally ranked hospital in orthopedics by U.S. News & World Report and #1 ranked hospital in the world by Newsweek. In this role, Emil oversees multiple verticals for HSS – the first is all aspects of HSS’ sports marketing, inclusive of team, agent and pro-athlete relationships. He leads a group responsible for the management and strategic development of more than 30 local, national and international official marketing partnerships with teams and elite sports organizations such as UFC, FIFA, NBPA, NYRR & NYC Marathon, New York Knicks, New York Giants, New York Mets, Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty, New York Red Bulls, Major League Pickleball and US Youth Soccer. Also under Emil’s purview is the youth sports safety and injury prevention department. This segment of the business is responsible for developing and delivering community-based screening and education programs which focus on teaching young athletes and their parents, coaches, teachers, and administrators how to effectively reduce their risk of musculoskeletal injury. In 2022, Emil was also appointed to HSS’ DEI Leadership Council.
Calcano also leads HSS’ international patient development group which focuses on the consumer facing strategy for the international marketplace. Calcano and his team of seven ambassadors (who are based in Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Peru, Mexico and Middle East) are responsible for evangelizing HSS’ services and expertise worldwide in an effort to drive international patients to HSS. The international business has grown to record levels since Emil took over, and the group is now looking to expand to other regions of the world.
Prior to HSS, Emil was the Director of Marketing Partnerships at Madison Square Garden, where he secured many of the corporate marketing partnerships for the $1 billion renovation of Madison Square Garden and developed the organization’s first multicultural business strategy. Before that, he was Manager of Corporate Sales & Sponsorships for the New York Yankees, where he also spearheaded the organization’s multicultural business development efforts and worked on the $1.4 billion new Yankee Stadium.
Emil was born in the Dominican Republic and grew up on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. He graduated from Oswego State University in 2006, where he played varsity baseball. He currently resides in New York City with his wife, Jessica, and is the proud father to his daughters Penelope and Olivia.
