Jeter Is Said to Hire Warriors' Bowers as Marlins Business Chief
Jeter Is Said to Hire Warriors' Bowers as Marlins Business Chief
(Bloomberg) -- The NBA champion Golden State Warriors are losing one of their top executives.
Chief Marketing Officer Chip Bowers is joining baseball’s Miami Marlins as president of business operations, reporting to part-owner and Chief Executive Officer Derek Jeter, according to people familiar with the personnel move.
The people requested anonymity because the move hasn’t been announced. It is Jeter’s second executive hire since taking the reins in September. Earlier this year he also added David Oxfeld from Jeter’s longtime agency, Excel Sports Management, where he worked on client sales and business development.
Jeter was part of a group led by Bruce Sherman that paid $1.2 billion for the Marlins, who lose tens of millions each season. As the new owners try to create a profitable franchise, Jeter has emphasized corporate partnerships. He is also cutting costs, angering fans with his trade of 2017 home run champion Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees. Stanton’s contract called for the slugger to be paid $295 million over the next decade.
Bowers will oversee many of the efforts to boost revenue, including finding a new naming-rights partner for Marlins Park and negotiating a new local television contract. The current deal with Fox Sports, which pays the team about $20 million a season -- below what other teams in comparable markets get -- expires in three years.
A spokesman for the Marlins declined to comment. Bowers didn’t immediately return a voice mail seeking comment on the job change.
Bowers is in his fifth season as marketing chief of the Warriors, for whom he oversees all marketing and corporate sales. He joined the team after four years as the vice president of corporate partnerships and marketing for the Orlando Magic. He began his career in professional sports as a sales executive with MLB’s San Diego Padres.
The Marlins averaged 20,395 fans last season, third-worst in baseball.
--With assistance from Erik Schatzker
To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Janet Paskin at jpaskin@bloomberg.net, Kevin Miller
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