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Game Changers

Game Changers: Ali Towle

Photo: TERRELL LLOYD / SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

A
li Towle’s fingerprints are evident throughout the San Francisco 49ers’ new Levi’s Stadium.

As the team’s vice president of marketing, Towle filled the role of brand officer for the club during construction of the $1.3 billion venue. She specifically managed development of the stadium’s museum and its art collection, but ultimately, her oversight extended to everything in the building that was tied to the 49ers’ brand.

Ali
Towle
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
That responsibility meant Towle had some tough decisions to make along the way in terms of hiring employees and consultants involved in the project — including replacing the team’s signage design firm midway through the development. A new consultant, Infinite Scale, redid all the signage in the summer of 2013, one year before the stadium opened.

“I was the person who went out on a limb,” Towle said. “No one wanted to switch, but several months after we had, everyone admitted it was the right decision, although painful.”

Towle also formed what was called the Creative Council, a group of architects from stadium designer HNTB and officials from Infinite Scale, Sports & the Arts (the company hired to help build the art collection) and Cambridge Seven Associates (designer of the museum and the stadium’s team store). Together, the group of 15 met regularly to share updates and collaborate on elements such as ensuring that the wayfinding signs in the museum matched directional graphics elsewhere in the stadium.

“They all said to me … this is the first project they worked on where they were able to talk to the other people helping on the building,” Towle said. “I’m very proud of that, and hopefully the results speak for themselves.”

— Don Muret

  • Biggest professional achievement: I’m proud that I was able to successfully transition from a non-sports career four years ago into such a pivotal role for the 49ers on the Levi’s Stadium project. 
  • Biggest professional disappointment: I waited too long to get back into sports. If I knew then how happy I am now in my career, it would have happened a lot sooner.
  • Woman in sports business you’d most like to meet: Becky Hammon. I just want to tell her that I’m rooting for her success.
  • Best advice received: “Just do what you do.”
  • Career turning point: Being hired by the 49ers.
  • Outside of work and family, I’m spending a lot of my time on … : A book I’m trying to write.

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