Emanuel Drakes brings nine years of experience in sales, management, negotiation and marketing to DeBartolo Sports and Entertainment (DSE). He attended Darton College in Albany, Georgia, where he studied business administration. He continued his education at the University of Phoenix with a concentration in business management.

Drakes became the director of team sports at Strickland Management Group where he negotiated representation and marketing contracts in the NFL and NBA. While at SMG, Drakes secured numerous marketing and endorsement deals for athletes with companies such as Nike, Sprint, Vitamin Water, Cingular and Reebok.

Drakes has worked with many athletes including Leroy Hill of the Seattle Seahawks, Evan Oglesby of the Baltimore Ravens, Madieu Williams of the Cincinnati Bengals, Jumaine Jones of the Phoenix Suns and Rasheed Wallace of the Detroit Pistons among many others.