On Wednesday afternoon, CBS Philly and PSP contributor Kevin Kinkead tweeted, “Sources: Union Executive Vice President and CRO Dave Rowan is out.”
Soon after, Philadelphia Union announced Tim McDermott the team’s new Chief Business Officer “with responsibility for overseeing the team’s business operations, including working closely with their USL team, Bethlehem Steel FC, and the Philadelphia Union Academy.”
The hiring announcement contained no reference to Rowan. When asked for comment, a Union spokesperson told PSP, “Club can confirm Rowan is still with the organization.” No further details were provided.
McDermott, a native of Philadelphia, comes to the Union from the Philadelphia 76ers, where he was Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer. Before that, he was Chief Marketing Officer for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Capitals. McDermott has also worked as Assistant Director of Sales and Marketing for the San Diego Chargers after beginning his career in Corporate Sponsorships with the Jacksonville Jaguars. McDermott has also worked in New Media Development for Comcast.
Union primary owner Jay Sugarman said in a statement, “I am very excited to welcome Tim McDermott to the Union. We were targeting someone with a very strategic and competitive mindset, who understands and relates to the Philadelphia fan base, and has an incredible work ethic and character. Tim’s experience in the NFL, the NBA, and the NHL coupled with his knowledge of the Philadelphia market will enable him to serve as a tremendous business leader for the Union. With Tim and Earnie Stewart, the Union’s Sporting Director, I believe we have assembled a dynamic leadership team that should help position the Union for success both on and off the pitch.”
McDermott said in a statement, “Since their inception, the Union have built an incredibly strong brand based on a soccer community in the Philadelphia region that is second to none. I love the passion, strength, and energy of Union fans. We will challenge ourselves every day to positively represent the brand, to live the values that Philadelphia is founded upon, and to provide our fans with the greatest experience in soccer. I am truly looking forward to joining the Union and working towards this vision.”
It is unclear at this point what McDermott’s hiring means in terms of Rowan’s future with the club in view of the news tweeted by Kinkead and the Union statement. However, Sugarman spoke about bolstering the business side of the club’s operations during the press conference announcing the hiring of Earnie Stewart.
“On the business side, we’ll also try to be raising our game there,” Sugarman said in October. “Dave Rowan is in the seat right now and is doing a great job. But as I said, we’re definitely looking to add any talent we can there that’s going to make the whole organization better. We have not begun that process. But that’s something certainly as we settle in on the technical side we can turn our attention back to.”
If Rowan does depart the club he joined in October of 2010, that leaves Dave Debusschere, hired as the team’s chief financial officer in 2008, and Carl Cherkin, hired as vice president of communications in 2009 and presently vice president of business relations, from the group of top executives who were with the team at the end of its first season.
They made it pretty clear, at least as I read between the lines, that Mr. Rowan was not the long term solution.
.
Hopefully he stays with the club as I appreciated his candor during a tumultuous time in the club’s history when Mr. Sakiewicz left.
.
Welcome Mr. McDermott… onward and upward.
+1 stated perfectly.
He’s done a fair job running the broadcasts, but he’s really a minor league kinda guy, minus his time selling tickets for the Eagles. I can see him hanging onto a role, just maybe minus the alphabet soup of EVP & CRO. Not sure he’s C-suite material.
No one is safe. Good.