Features

People on the move: Barcelona, Golden State Warriors and more

Josep Maria Bartomeu has tendered his resignation as president of Spanish LaLiga football club Barcelona after facing a vote of no confidence.

In his resignation speech, Bartomeu revealed that Barcelona’s board of directors – which have also stepped down – had “approved the acceptance of requirements” for a future European Super League of clubs. Bartomeu did not reveal details of what the Super League competition would entail, nor which clubs would be involved.

Bartomeu had been coming under increasing pressure at Barcelona amid poor financial and on-pitch performances, along with his public fallout with Lionel Messi over the summer. Bartomeu was first appointed Barcelona president in January 2014 after taking over from Sandro Rosell.

Meanwhile, Ticketmaster has announced a series of leadership appointments within the North American team as part of the company’s move towards a global business model.

Marla Ostroff, who has worked at Ticketmaster for more than three decades, has been promoted to managing director of Ticketmaster, North America.

In addition, Trevor Allin has been promoted to executive vice-president, business and commercial operations, North America. He was most recently at the helm of the Canadian Ticketmaster business and will remain on in that role as managing director of Canada.

Maura Gibson, who has more than 23 years of ticketing and software experience within Ticketmaster, Live Nation and Front Gate Tickets, has been appointed to a new role as executive vice-president, client solutions and strategy, North America.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Cabalquinto has stepped down from her position as chief financial officer of NBA basketball team the Golden State Warriors.

Cabalquinto’s departure was reported by the San Francisco Business Times. She will remain on board as a special advisor and told the Business Times that she is “considering various opportunities”.

Cabalquinto spent seven years with the Warriors and oversaw the development of the team’s state-of-the-art Chase Center arena, which opened in San Francisco in September 2019.

She told the Business Times: “It’s not often you get to be part of changing the skyline of a city, and not just the skyline but the energy and dynamic of the city as well. I am so incredibly proud to have been a part of it all. I can leave knowing I’ve met every challenge and delivered for my team.”

Steve Lacroix, executive vice-president and chief marketing officer for the Minnesota Vikings, is leaving the NFL team after 20 years, according to Sports Business Daily.

LaCroix played a key role in the naming-rights partnership with U.S. Bank for the Vikings’ stadium, which opened in the summer of 2016.

LaCroix joined the Vikings in 2000 from Pacers Sports & Entertainment, where he served as director of sponsorship sales. A reason for his departure from the Vikings was not given.

Australian NRL rugby league club Melbourne Storm has announced the departure of chief executive Dave Donaghy, who will not be extending his contract past the current term of January 31, 2021 due to personal reasons.

Storm chairman Matt Tripp said the search for Donaghy’s successor will begin immediately. The club has appointed current chief financial officer Ashley Tucker as interim chief executive.

Krowne, which has designed bars at major sports venues such as Yankee Stadium, Allegiant Stadium and Little Caesars Arena, has named Kyle Forman as its new president.

Forman will succeed his father, Roger, who served as president for more than 36 years. Kyle has worked in a variety of departments at Krowne over the past 10 years, and as vice-president he launched an industry-first 3D and virtual-reality bar configurator, BarFlex3D.

Do you have news of an appointment that we should know about? Get in touch by emailing news.editor@thestadiumbusiness.com and we’ll include it in our next round-up.