Steve Cohen continues overhaul of business operations
U.S. Tennis Association CEO Lew Sherr is leaving at the end of June to become the Mets’ president of business operations. Sherr had been with the USTA for 15 years and before that he worked at Madison Square Garden. Sherr replaces Scott Havens, who became the Mets’ president of business operations in 2023. Owner Steve Cohen has been extremely aggressive in overhauling the business side of things. Here’s what he said about Havens:
“Scott has played a key role in driving progress across the Mets organization,” Cohen said. “I’m grateful for the impact he’s had during his time with us. While we ultimately had differing perspectives on long-term strategy, I wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
Here’s how Cohen has revamped business executives here recently:
The franchise has been re-shaping its front office with Andy Goldberg (CMO), Katie Pothier (Chief Legal Officer), Nancy Elder (Chief Communications Officer) and Peter Woll (SVP/Finance) all leaving the organization in recent months.
Goldberg, Pothier and Elder all joined the Mets organization in 2022. Goldberg had most recently been the SVP/Global Brand Content & Platforms at American Express; Elder came from DAZN, where she was Chief Communications Officer; and Pothier was EVP and General Counsel for the Texas Rangers.
Source: Mike Mazzeo, Sports Business Journal
The business side of things isn’t terribly interesting to me. However, that’s a lot of turnover in top executive circles, with four of the five people leaving/getting shown the door having been hired by Cohen.
I guess that’s good?
I think there can be a number of reasonable explanations. It could be that he needed a team immediately after the acquisition to help him do due diligence on what was needed. Once that was done, he’s now hiring the next crew. Or that as Cohen is understanding the business and the opportunity that he has modified his initial vision and his first crew doesn’t support it. I would hope that they are all aligned around the vision of making the Mets a consistent contender. But Cohen’s vision for the development surrounding Citi could have created some fractures. I don’t see it as a sign of failure or incompetence necessarily although that could be the case. We may never know.
Like you, I am more interested in the team than in the business. Given his success elsewhere, I have the utmost confidence he’ll figure out how to make the business successful.
Love Cohen’s desire to bring the best and brightest to help operate the franchise. Unlike prior ownership, I don’t get the impression that he is meddling in the day-to-day lineups or in transactions that are made by David Stearns. That’s the sign of an intelligent owner to let the baseball people do what they need to do and let him be concerned with coming up with the dollars to make it all happen.
I believe this year would be year five of his 3-5 year plan and bringing home a championship and he just might pull it off.