Tepper Sports & Entertainment names new CEO and announces other company restructurings
Tepper Sports and Entertainment has a new chief executive officer, and the group didn’t have to go far to find her.
TSE announced several company restructurings on Tuesday, which included the news that Kristi Coleman will be the company’s new CEO. Coleman will “oversee all TSE business operations,” according to a release, and will “continue to serve as president of the Carolina Panthers” — a role she’s had since 2022.
Coleman will report directly to David Tepper, the owner and executive chairman of Tepper Sports and Entertainment.
“Drawing on more than a decade of experience at this organization, Kristi is a proven leader with the insight and expertise to guide us through this pivotal moment in our evolution,” David Tepper said in a statement. “Nicole (Tepper) and I are happy to have her in this expanded role.”
Tepper Sports has been without a CEO for the past two-and-a-half years, after Nick Kelly chose to step down from the role in May 2022. This news was the biggest milestone in a string of TSE shakeups around that time, which included Coleman’s promotion to Panthers president but also included the exits of TSE president Tom Glick and TSE chief operating officer Mark Hart.
Coleman said in a statement that she is charged with driving “innovation at every level of the organization.” That job already got started, in many ways, with the deal that was struck earlier this year when Charlotte’s City Council agreed to terms of a deal that commits $650 million in public funds to renovate Bank of America Stadium, home to the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte FC and several other high-profile sporting events, concerts and festivals.
“By streamlining how we operate, we are not only meeting the demands of today,” Coleman said, “but also setting the stage for future growth and success as we continue to deliver exceptional experiences for our staff, fans and partners.”
Coleman was the first woman to hold the position as Panthers president when appointed in February 2022. Earlier this year, she and Las Vegas Raiders president Sandra Douglass Morgan met before the Panthers-Raiders game to commemorate the first NFL game between teams with two female presidents.
Joe LaBue will no longer serve as Charlotte FC president
Coleman’s hire is the splashiest restructuring of a bunch of moves TSE announced on Tuesday. But it isn’t the only significant one.
Also on Tuesday, the company announced that Charlotte FC president Joe LaBue will now “transition into a consultant role” with Tepper Sports. LaBue served as the team’s president since February 2022, which is the month that featured the dawn of the first season of the city’s MLS franchise. LaBue has been with the organization for 12 years — initially starting as a sales manager with the Panthers — and has more than two decades of experience in the sports and entertainment space.
LaBue’s track record as Charlotte FC’s business leader is pretty remarkable. He helped usher in a unique, passionate fandom in the summertime in Bank of America Stadium, supervising back-to-back-to-back years in which Charlotte FC boasted the second-best attendance in MLS. He was also president during the team’s magical inaugural-season home-opener — one replete with a new national anthem tradition and a league-record 74,479 fans in attendance.
He also oversaw unique community engagement opportunities, including Charlotte FC’s mini-pitches initiative, which set up goals and turfs all across Charlotte.
TSE announced that it will establish a chief business officer role for Charlotte FC, which will replace the club president title. The CBO will lead all soccer business operations and report directly to Coleman. Natalee Jarrett, current VP of business operations at Charlotte FC, will act as interim business lead for the club during the CBO search.
A TSE spokesperson said the company created the role of CBO at the recommendation of Sportsology Group, a global sports advisory firm that the company has worked with before. Sportsology, for instance, helped with the hiring of Charlotte FC manager Dean Smith and the assemblage of the Panthers’ front office, which includes general manager Dan Morgan and VP of executive football operations Brandt Tilis.
The rest of Tepper Sports and Entertainment’s restructurings
All of the following is effective immediately, too:
▪ The organization will align all revenue-producing departments under a new position called “chief revenue officer,” who will report directly to Coleman. Coleman is leading the search for this new position.
▪ David Nelson is being promoted into a new role of VP of premium sales and services, per a release, meaning he will lead the strategy and development related to premium hospitality and business solutions across the Carolina Panthers, Charlotte FC and Bank of America Stadium.
▪ Bonnie Almond is being elevated to vice president of venue operations, reporting to chief venues officer Caroline Wright. Almond brings over a decade of experience with the organization and was instrumental in the successful move of Panthers training camp into Charlotte after decades spent in Spartanburg.
This story was originally published December 3, 2024 at 3:45 PM.
