As he has often been told, Marc Rayfield was born to be the vice president/general manager of Philadelphia’s 610 WIP Sportsradio. In fact, he was born in 1964, the year the Phillies mounted the biggest collapse in baseball history. Upon graduating from Harrington High School in 1981, the year the Eagles lost in the Super Bowl, he pursued a bachelor’s degree in journalism at Temple, which he received in 1985. While spending five years as the marketing director and later a broadcast salesperson at POWER 99FM, he obtained a master’s degree in organizational management from the University of Pennsylvania shortly before Mitch Williams, now a WIP host, served up the homer to Joe Carter that cost his beloved Phillies the World Series in 1993. While at Penn in 1990, Rayfield received his first management opportunity under the legendary tom Brookshier and Ed Snider, owners of a new sports radio station called WIP.
Rayfield was part of the pioneering team that brought commercial success to this new unproven radio format. A rabid Sixers fan who befriended a rookie named Charles Barkley while waiting tables in college, Rayfield later convinced Sir Charles to do a show on WIP; today Barkley is one of the most recognized broadcasters in the nation.
In 1992, Rayfield became sales manager at KYW Newsradio, working his way up to general sales manager and station manager, where he built and maintained a number one revenue ranking for almost 12 consecutive years. CBS Radio then promoted him to vice president of sales for all five CBS Philadelphia radio stations, a position he held until returning to CBS-owned WIP in 2003 as vice president/general manager. He has been credited with that station’s financial and operational turnaround, and today WIP is one of the most visible and highly successful sports radio stations in the United States.
Rayfield is actively involved in the community, serving on numerous boards and advisory committees, including the Terri Lynn Lokoff Childcare Foundation, St. Joseph’s University, the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania (where he also serves as the marketing chair) and the Jewish Federation. He has also taught and guest lectured at several universities, including Temple and Penn.
Reyfield and his wife, Nicole, live in Philadelphia with their daughters, Blake and Aliza, the first of whom was born shortly after the Sixers lost the championship in 2001. But when you are born to be the vice president/general manager of 610 WIP Sportsradio, there’s always hope for next season.