T
here was a time in the late 1980s and early 1990s when the New York Yankees were nowhere near the industry colossus they are now: A midtier performer in attendance among major league clubs; no lucrative team-owned extensions into cable TV, facilities or concessions; and middling brand power.
Deborah Tymon, the club’s senior vice president of marketing and a 29-year employee of the organization, has been a key, behind-the-scenes player in the franchise’s transformation into a global giant.
Hailing from a military family (her father fought in Okinawa in World War II), Tymon also has been the club’s main liaison to the U.S. military and veterans. The Yankees’ long connection to America’s armed forces has since rippled through the rest of baseball and is among the sport’s key community outreach components. Tymon earlier this year received the U.S. Army’s Outstanding Civilian Service Award, one of the military’s highest civilian honors.
“This is something where you had a combination of my own personal passion, a long-standing emphasis of the Yankees and the Steinbrenner family, and where we are as a country,” Tymon said. “Those contacts continued to evolve and are very important to this team, and our sport.”
— Eric Fisher
“She’s the heart of the Yankees. Through a long career, she’s developed many creative ideas that have helped polish the Yankee brand, and she’s shown fierce loyalty and dedication to the Yankees and the Steinbrenner family.”
— Randy Levine | President | New York Yankees
