R. Lee Barstow, Vice President of New Media, World Wrestling Federation

Career at a glance

– Graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, in 1983 with a bachelor of science degree in marketing and communications.

– That same year, joined Filenes Department Stores of Boston, Massachusetts, as a sales manager/assistant buyer.

– From 1985 to 1986, worked for facility management company Spectacore Management Group, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a group sales coordinator/marketing assistant.

– Served as the director of marketing for the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island, for the next four years.

– Joined the Stamford, Connecticut-based World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1990 as the director of marketing. Became vice president of marketing in 1994, and vice president of marketing of worldwide properties the next year. As well as his marketing responsibilities, he steadily developed the new media area.

The New Job

As the WWF’s first vice president of new media, Barstow will oversee all new media efforts, including day-to-day management of its America Online area (keyword: WWF), the production of CD-ROMs and other titles, and the WWF Web site, scheduled to launch in March 1997 to coincide with WrestleMania XIII. To date, the company has introduced video and PC/CD-ROM games with publisher Acclaim Entertainment of Glen Cove, New York, and two screensavers.

The Challenge

In his new position, Barstow aims ‘to take the WWF into the new millennium in terms of new media, and to make sure that this company is put in a position to take advantage of all the new new-media vehicles, including the Web [and] CD-ROM publications, and eventually delivering real-time video [of WWF television programs and pay-per-view events] into as many homes as we possibly can through computers.’