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Who's got the juice in the business of baseball?

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Who are some of the key influencers and power brokers in baseball under new Commissioner Rob Manfred? Manfred’s arrival as the league’s 10th commissioner, succeeding the retired Bud Selig, has sparked a reorganization of Major League Baseball’s central office and several leading owner committees.

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SBJ Podcast Archive:
From Aug. 18, 2014: Baseball writer Eric Fisher and Executive Editor Abraham Madkour discuss the challenges Rob Manfred faces upon becoming the new MLB commissioner.

Nearly every department within baseball and business operations has received a thorough review since Manfred’s election in August with a theme of streamlining and unifying MLB’s previously disparate organizational structure.

Manfred began the transition last fall, naming seven top-level officers reporting to him as he works from MLB headquarters in New York, a shift from Selig’s home base of Milwaukee. Each of those direct reports to Manfred, in turn, has reshaped the structure and personnel within his own areas of responsibility. As a result, the sport has seen its most concentrated period of executive-level change in a generation.

In the pages that follow, we highlight 20 figures in and around baseball who have seen elevated profiles and influence in the early days of the Manfred era.

Bob Bowman

Photo by: Getty Images

President of business and media
MLB
Bowman now sits atop baseball’s newly unified business structure, from where he’ll oversee linear and digital media, sponsorship, licensing, and several other key functions. Bowman lined up firmly behind Rob Manfred in the commissioner-succession process and was rewarded with what is now essentially the second most powerful position in the sport.




Photo by: MLB
Tony Petitti

Chief operating officer
MLB

After nearly seven years invested in the MLB Network, Petitti has shifted across the Hudson River from Secaucus, N.J., to the commissioner’s office in New York. There, he leads all of baseball’s administrative and nonrevenue functions, including marketing, community affairs and special events. Petitti also will play a key role in baseball’s increasing focus on youth outreach and engagement.




Noah Garden
Photo by: Mary de Cicco / MLB..com

Executive vice president of business
MLB

A close colleague of Bob Bowman’s for nearly two decades, going back to 1990s online retailer Cyberian Outpost, Garden will run baseball’s day-to-day efforts in sponsorship, licensing and sales. As baseball now goes to market as a single entity after more than a decade of bifurcation between online and offline media, Garden will be the central figure.




Photo by: Virginia Sherwood / NBC
Jon Litner

President
NBC Sports Group

As president of NBC Sports Group, Litner oversees his company’s relationships with six MLB teams. The longtime media executive sets the strategy and programming for his RSNs and oversees their day-to-day operations. Litner is the lead negotiator to develop local streaming services for MLB games, but those talks with the league have stalled.



Bill DeWitt Jr.
Photo by: Getty Images

Chairman and CEO
St. Louis Cardinals

Already leading what is arguably baseball’s best-run franchise, DeWitt was appointed last year to lead the commissioner succession committee that ultimately led to Rob Manfred’s election. Manfred then designated him to chair MLB’s executive council, baseball’s most prominent ownership committee.




Photo by: Shana Wittenwyler
Kenny Gersh

Executive vice president of business
MLB Advanced Media

MLBAM’s chief business development executive since 2006, Gersh now plays an important role in the day-to-day operations for baseball’s digital arm. Gersh also figures heavily in MLBAM’s continued acquisition of prominent non-baseball clients for digital video streaming projects, the most recent being HBO.




Joe Inzerillo
Photo by: Getty Images

Executive vice president and chief technology officer
MLB

Inzerillo leads baseball’s continued efforts to innovate on efforts such as player tracking and in-venue mobile offerings. As MLB views its 30 ballparks as laboratories for technology and experimentation, Inzerillo is now the sport’s leading scientist.




Photo by: Fox Sports
Jeff Krolik

President
Fox Sports Regional Networks

As the local rights holder to 15 of MLB’s 30 clubs, Krolik is responsible for overseeing those relationships. He recently renewed Fox’s deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks and is in negotiations with the St. Louis Cardinals. He also is pushing MLB to allow in-market streaming, though those talks remain in neutral.




Bob Nutting
Photo by: Getty Images

Owner
Pittsburgh Pirates

Laughingstocks no more, the Pirates under Nutting have reached the postseason the past two seasons, have grown attendance each of the past five seasons, and have quickly become a well-respected franchise, blending in-house player development with skillful acquisitions. Like St. Louis Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., Nutting served on the commissioner succession committee and is now part of the executive council.



Photo by: MLB
Dan Halem

Chief legal officer
MLB

With Rob Manfred’s elevation to commissioner, Halem becomes baseball’s point person on all matters relating to collective bargaining, the sport’s drug policy and revenue sharing. The current collective-bargaining agreement with the MLB Players Association expires after the 2016 season, and Halem will lead management-side negotiations toward the next deal.




Hal Steinbrenner
Photo by: Getty Images

Managing general partner
New York Yankees

Now entering his seventh season leading the club’s day-to-day operations, Steinbrenner has steadily carved his own persona that is quite different from his late father, the larger-than-life George Steinbrenner. The quieter, determined Hal has weathered the Alex Rodriguez saga and two straight seasons without a postseason berth without major disruptions to the Yankees’ business, and was placed by Rob Manfred on the powerful executive council.



Photo by: Getty Images
Tony Reagins

Senior vice president for youth programs
MLB

In a newly created position at baseball, Reagins will be the point person for Rob Manfred’s heightened focus on youth development activities (see related story), and will oversee a variety of league initiatives such as the Urban Youth Academies and the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities effort.




Phil Orlins
Photo by: ESPN

Senior coordinating producer for MLB
ESPN

The producer of “Sunday Night Baseball” in the 1990s, Orlins made his return to the series in the middle of last season and is preparing for his first year back at the helm. He oversees all production for game and studio programming for a sport that dominates ESPN’s summer months, and helps to manage the network’s ever-important relationship with the league office.




Photo by: Getty Images
Tom Ricketts

Chairman
Chicago Cubs

It’s been an often-bumpy ride for Ricketts, leading the Cubs since 2009. But over the past year, perhaps no team has been involved in the mainstream baseball conversation more than the Cubs between a roster loaded with young talent and the beginning of major renovations to Wrigley Field. He is also a close ally of Rob Manfred, which has elevated his role in league circles.



Terry McGuirk
Photo by: Getty Images

Chairman and CEO
Atlanta Braves

McGuirk, leading the Braves for more than a decade, has never carried a heavy public profile. But there are few industry figures more broadly respected than the longtime television executive and key ally to Rob Manfred. On the field, the Braves are in transition, but ground has broken on SunTrust Park and its adjacent mixed-use development, the club’s much-discussed project in suburban Cobb County.




Photo by: Turner Sports
Craig Barry

Senior vice president of production and executive creative director
Turner Sports

Promoted in August to manage Turner Sports’ operations and technology, Barry oversees everything from MLB game production to the studio operations. Barry is responsible for the overall look and feel of the sport on TBS, from developing the creative for marketing campaigns and choosing graphics to hiring on-air talent and developing social media integrations.




Jim Pisani
Pasani
Photo by: Majestic
Koch
Photo by: New Era

President, Licensed Sports Group, Majestic Athletic
VF Corp.

Chris Koch
President and CEO
New Era Cap

Not much change is expected on the licensee side of baseball’s business. MLB’s largest apparel rights holders renewed last year and Majestic (jerseys) and New Era (caps) are longtime on-field rights holders. However, with MLB licensing chief Howard Smith shown the door by the new administration last month after 17 years, it will be interesting to watch for changes on the league side. MLB’s licensing now will be headed by Noah Garden. Watch for closer ties to e-commerce and a possible venture into new business models, including taking equity positions in licensees and a much closer alignment of traditional commerce, previously Smith’s bailiwick, with e-commerce, previously Garden’s sole responsibility, when it comes to licensing.



Harter
Photo by: Pepsico
Herscovici.
Photo by: Anheuser-Busch
Adam Harter

Vice president of consumer engagement
PepsiCo

Lucas Herscovici
Vice president of consumer connections
Anheuser-Busch InBev

For years, MLB and MLBAM competed with each other in sponsorship sales. As digital rights grew more important, some adept clients even played the two organizations against each other. Now that they are combined, selling everything from one place, marketers across MLB and the sponsorship world are eager to see what the new package of digital and traditional rights will be. These are two bellwether sponsors. A-B is MLB’s oldest corporate patron, having been in the fold since 1980, while Pepsi has been aboard since 1997. Watching these two long-standing sponsors will indicate how effective the new and unified MLB sponsorship sales team is doing.

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