John Ritenour has demonstrated innovative thinking many times throughout a career in the insurance industry that spanned more than four decades. He operated his own company, Insurance Office of America (IOA), for 30 of those years. One area where he has always excelled in providing customized insurance policies to niche industries, such as amateur and professional sports teams.
John Ritenour Identified an Underserved Market Early in His Career
Sports teams are not the only niche client base that has benefitted from John Ritenour’s knowledge of the insurance market and dedication to meeting unique needs. Entertainment venues, leagues, municipalities, and professionals who work on the business side of sports also became clients of IOA. They knew they could depend on its CEO to educate them about their true risks and meet their needs for financial protection.
John Ritenour retired in 2018, passing along everything he knew about the insurance business to his son, Heath, who now serves as company CEO. Heath Ritenour held leadership positions at IOA for nearly 20 years before taking over as CEO of his father’s company three years ago.
How IOA Prepares Insurance Policies for Clients of its Sporting Division
Insurance expert John Ritenour is the first to admit that managing the risk of sports clients can be challenging. Each team brings such unique risks to the table, which requires an experienced insurance professional to assess the risks and understand the sports business model.
Two of the greatest risks that professional and amateur teams face are loss of revenue from canceled games and serious injury to players or fans. As the recent COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated, a sports team could lose fan attendance for an entire season due to circumstances beyond the team’s control. Having the right insurance policy in place before such an event occurs makes all the difference in recovering from the disruption.
Sports Insurance Always Considers the Worst-Case Scenario
Executives of sports teams have many duties to fulfill and cannot always consider the blind spots that leave them vulnerable to revenue loss. That is the job of the sports insurance division at IOA. Once John Ritenour launched the division, he knew that his most important job was to educate his clients about risks they may never have considered. When clients understand the unique risks they face as a sporting venue, they can choose to mitigate their risks through insurance.
John Ritenour has always viewed his role as one of educator and not a sales agent. He feels it is his job to present potential risks to clients and offer solutions they can consider to reduce them. Ritenour feels it is never appropriate for him to pressure clients to buy an insurance policy, especially when they do not understand what the coverage does and does not provide.
IOA achieved considerable success supporting sports businesses through the pandemic. The company feels confident in its ability to offer exceptional post-pandemic support under the skilled leadership of Heath Ritenour.