Rich “Big Daddy” Salgado, Founder of Coastal Advisors, gave a keynote interview with Emcee Rachel Honoway at Affiliate Summit East 2014, which took place August 10-12, 2014 at the New York Marriott Marquis.
Rich has been in the insurance business for more than a decade, founding Coastal Advisors, in 1998, but he has seen and experienced more than ten times that to drive home his point to athletes: You need disability insurance now, because you never know what tomorrow will bring. As an example to all the athletes he works with, he tells his own personal story. In 2008, Rich complained of a painful earache while at dinner with Thomas Dimitroff, GM of the Atlanta Falcons, ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL VP Ray Anderson. Later that night, he checked into the hospital for emergency surgery for a brain aneurysm, which doctors were thankfully able to remove. He now has a 19-inch scar as a daily reminder that anything can happen to anyone, regardless of their amount of fame or the size of their paycheck.
Athletes of all ranks are getting smarter about disability and career ending insurance since Rich has gotten into to the ears of most GM’s, and many NFL, NHL, MLB draft picks and veterans. In the last five years alone, he has seen a huge increase in insuring college players in their senior year, a concrete example of the changing trends towards more informed players. In the last five years, he has insured more than 60 1st Round NFL picks for disability, career ending insurance, as well as life insurance and estate planning. Not to mention, the flip side of the coin, when Rich insures the teams and the contracts they offer the players. Everyone is smarter due to Rich’s hard work and unmatched networking skills.
While it seems accidents, injuries and deaths can be around every corner, Rich is trying to “one-up” fate, traveling more than half the year, attending more sporting events that you could dream of, and seemingly everywhere. An average day includes, texting Justin Tuck, Larry Fitzgerald, Reggie Bush and Michael Strahan, having pregame rituals with NFL owners like The Giants’ John Mara and traveling with Scott Gomez to name a few. There is a growing saying among NFL locker rooms that “when you get to NY, make sure you sit down with Big Daddy.” If you want to be protected, you need to talk to Coastal Advisors.
In the past five years, Rich has become a staple in the world of sports business media, becoming a regular on the FOX News and FOX Business Channels while also having his business covered in the pages of Sports Illustrated, Wall Street Journal and making appearances on ESPN, FOX Sports, NFL Network and Bloomberg News.
In addition to his tireless work ethic and constant networking, Rich has found the time to give back and support charities both within his hometown area of New York City and nationwide supporting his clients philanthropic efforts. Rich can be seen hosting his annual “Big Daddy Celebrity Golf Classic” every June in Long Island to support The North Shore LIJ Health System which he credits with saving his life in 2008 and supporting Justin Tuck’s R.U.S.H. for Literacy and The Health & Humanitarian Aid Foundation.
More details on Affiliate Summit at AffiliateSummit.com.
Video: Rich “Big Daddy” Salgado Keynote at Affiliate Summit East 2014