NFL Names Mark Waller First CMO; Keith Turner Hired As Senior VP

By Terry Lefton, Editor-At-Large

Turner Hired As NFL Senior VP

With the NFL’s season opener just a day away, the league has unified its sales and marketing departments, with MARK WALLER named the organization’s first CMO. Waller will have responsibility for crafting an integrated marketing function across all league platforms and properties, including NFL Ventures, NFL Network and NFL.com. Waller, who was Senior VP/Sales & Marketing, will also continue to oversee the league’s international businesses. He joined the NFL in early ‘06 as Senior VP/International after 17 years at Diageo, rising to Exec VP/Consumer Strategy & Marketing for North America. Meanwhile, KEITH TURNER has been hired as Senior VP/Media Sales & Sponsorship. Turner fills a void created by the departures earlier this year of former VP/Partnership Marketing & Corporate Sales PETER MURRAY, who headed sponsorship sales before becoming a Senior VP at William Morris; and former Senior VP/Consumer Marketing & Sales RON FURMAN, who left for Comcast in June. Turner reports to NFL Network President & CEO STEVE BORNSTEIN. Turner was with NBC for 19 years. He was president of NBC Sales & Marketing between ’98-‘06. He joined Mercury Media earlier this year for a brief stint as Vice Chair at the Santa Monica-based agency that specializes in buying media for direct-response ads. Before joining NBC in ‘87, Turner began his career at Grey Advertising, coincidentally now the NFL’s creative agency.