The Evolving Role of the CEO in Elite Sports Organizations

A review of job descriptions and the biographies of chief executive officer (CEO) roles reveals that elite club CEOs (or their club equivalents in North America aka ‘Presidents’) are required to be the ‘public face’ both ‘internally’ (club operations) and ‘externally’ (broader city, business, and sports communities). As a result, the majority of club CEOs have a wide range of potential responsibilities, ranging from commercial and matchday to first-team recruitment activities. The caveat here is that precise and full assessments of individuals’ CEO roles and responsibilities within elite sports are difficult and are subject to the idiosyncrasies of the individual club ownership and the league in which the CEO operates. However, the consensus from within the elite sports is that the CEO is regarded as the individual who manages all aspects of the club's business operations. Reporting into ownership (via the ‘Chair’), the CEO is the primary steward of club business and its commercial health and in doing so manages all functional areas including ticket sales, partnerships, marketing, digital, finance, public relations, human resources (HR), information technology, security, legal, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and stadium operations. The role extends to having responsibility for the continued development and communication of a club vision, strategic plan and in doing so provide clear key performance indicators (KPIs) to create accountability across the business. In essence, the post holder is responsible for the growth of revenue and the profitability of the business. If the challenges of the above were not enough, a CEO is typically expected to be an inspiring and visionary public ‘face’ of the club, elevating the organization's brand by liaising with a diverse group of stakeholders, including (but not limited to) league office leadership, broader sports industry peers, ownership, local political and business leaders, and organizational partners and sponsors.