The NFL last week named Eric Grubman one of its top business executives, in the continuing remake of the league’s upper ranks.
Grubman, a former Goldman Sachs banker who was instrumental in the sale of the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns, will be involved in what he described as strategic transactions. His title will be executive vice president of finance and strategic transactions.
“In 10 years the league has expanded dramatically in size and scope,” Grubman, 46, said. “If you look at the executive staff in that sense, in 10 years it has probably shrunk from a capacity standpoint and from an experience standpoint.”
Frank Hawkins, an influential league insider who is involved with many key league financing issues, will report to Grubman, along with NFL controller Joe Siclare. But Grubman said there would be no rigid hierarchy in his management, and that he and Hawkins had worked well together on deals such as the sale of the Jets and Browns.
Grubman’s role also appears to overlap with that of Neil Glat, who tackles major strategic issues for the league, as he is doing with placing a team in Los Angeles. Grubman said he would buttress Glat’s team.
Grubman left Goldman in 2000 to become co-president of Constellation Energy in Baltimore. He left that post after only a year, and since then has largely been spending time with his family and involved with charitable work.
He lives in Owings Mills, Md., but plans to move back to the New York area.
