Former NFL consumer products chief Mark Holtzman is taking a job with the New York Yankees developing the non-baseball revenue side of the business at the team’s new $1.56 billion facility. Sources said Holtzman will join the franchise in a position that will promote everything but baseball at the new Yankee Stadium, which hosts its first regular-season game on April 16.
The Yankees are trying to develop the new stadium as more than a site for baseball games, and are seeking to promote concerts, sales meetings and other events. Eventually, the Yankees hope to make the new ballpark a year-round facility that can host anything from religious revivals on the field to weddings, bar mitzvahs and corporate events inside. The new Yankee Stadium is also a prime site under consideration for the next NHL Winter Classic outdoor game on New Year’s Day.
A specific title for Holtzman has not been determined, though one source said his new job will be something akin to director of non-baseball events. Holtzman will report to Jim Ross, Yankees senior vice president of business development, and will also assist Ross in suite sales, sources said. Neither Ross nor Holtzman returned phone calls.
Holtzman, a former Reebok marketer, was at the NFL for more than 13 years. Since late 2007, he has been chief marketing officer at Loyalty Exchange Partners, a New York firm that sells and administers frequency loyalty programs between retailers and affinity groups.
