Last week’s SBJ Football didn’t age well. After I noted that Wild Card rounds had been somewhat boring in recent years, all six of this year’s games were within one score in the fourth quarter, and four were barn burners. And after I noted the remarkable consistency of the coaching carousel, Mike Tomlin stepped down in Pittsburgh, making this year an official outlier with nine coaching vacancies.
Texans President Mike Tomon recently restructured the C-suite as the club prepares for a push for a new team HQ/practice facility and renovations for NRG Stadium. Houston Texans
Texans President Mike Tomon has restructured his C-suite, streamlining his direct reports, giving four veteran execs more duties and bringing on a new revenue lead. The moves come days before the team tries to make the franchise’s first AFC Championship game and coincides with a looming real estate development push.
Tomon said the moves are designed to help the Texans business operate effectively in two worlds simultaneously: The present day, and the near-and-medium term, which could include a new team HQ/practice facility and major NRG Stadium renovations.
“We’re making sure our organization moves in the same way our consumers do, to make sure we’re positioned to give solutions to the market in a very easy way. That was a focus,” Tomon said. “It’s also about making sure we’re structured to capture the value we bring right now, but also on the long term -- how do you think about nurturing the market, communicating with the market, and giving them something that makes sense for them in the short and long term?”
Tomon has overseen up to 13 direct reports since owner Cal McNair installed him in the role one year ago, but he’ll now just have five. Here’s a rundown going forward:
Former EVP/Business Affairs and General Counsel Greg Kondritz is now Chief Administrative Officer. An employee since 2004, Kondritz will continue to run legal and add HR and government affairs, a division that will be critical to the club’s efforts to renovate or replace Harris County-owned NRG Stadium and negotiate a new lease.
Former SVP/Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Marilan Logan is now simply Chief Financial Officer. She will now oversee IT and business analytics along with finance. She’s been with the team since inception in 1999.
Former SVP/Operations & Event Management Juan Rodriguez is now Chief Venue Officer. He will now oversee operations and logistics, planning, facility operations, guest experience, event experience and Lone Star & Sports & Entertainment, the team’s affiliated marketing company. He’s been with the team since 2021.
Former SVP/Marketing, Communications & Ticketing Doug Vosik is now CMO and will run marketing, creative/entertainment, community, digital media, broadcast and communications. He’s been there since 2022.
Scott Shepherd is the new CRO announced on Monday. Formerly a Legends Global colleague to Tomon, Shepherd comes in as a new layer above SVP/Commercial Development Jerry Angel and SVP/Partnerships & Luxe Brian George.
The Commanders' new stadium, scheduled to open in 2030, is one of several covered NFL venues in the works. Washington Commanders and HKS
Call it an inflection point 99 years in the making. Nearly a century after the 1932 NFL Championship became the first football game played indoors, a majority of the NFL schedule will be played indoors* in the 2031 season if all current stadium plans come to fruition, my colleague Bret McCormick and I realized.
We don’t know yet whether the Broncos or the Chiefs would officially be the 17th team to host an indoor home game, but both say their goal is to open new enclosed venues that season. Those would be the 15th and 16th indoor stadiums out of 30, and the 16th and 17th teams out of 32 (the Chargers and Rams share the roofed SoFi Stadium; the Jets and Giants share the outdoor MetLife Stadium).
Today, 11 teams play in 10 stadiums that are covered. But six outdoor teams have announced fully financed plans to shift into the enclosed column: Tennessee (2027), Jacksonville (2028), Cleveland (2029), Washington (2030) and Denver and K.C. (2031). We’re not even counting the Bears, who fully intend to build a dome but are struggling with the financing and are still looking for a site, or the Eagles, who have suggested they’re heading down that path.
Most of the business implications of this evolution are obvious: Year-round climate control opens the door to hosting Super Bowls, Final Fours and a 12-month calendar of major events. But it’s got ramifications throughout the business of NFL teams: No-show rates are lower for indoor stadiums, especially in the second half of the season, NFL SVP/Club Business Development Bobby Gallo says. Game presentation indoors can be more ambitious and creative (think light shows), he added. Other experts note that the pace of infrastructure wear-and-tear is much slower indoors, with ramifications for maintenance staffing and capital expenditures. Less weather risk means far more revenue certainty, though as we know that doesn’t always mean no weather risk.
Incidentally, the Bills are bucking this trend in a big way. Look to next Monday’s Sports Business Journal’s cover stories by McCormick and me for much more on that.
*To get ahead of some emails: We’re using “indoors” to mean any place with a roof, even though some of these venues have roofs but not necessarily four sides. Also, we’re counting retractable roofs because teams with that option tend to keep them closed a vast majority of the time.
NFL EVP Troy Vincent sees the 2028 Summer Olympics as a chance for the U.S. to show "we're better than that" in light of what he feels is the nation's recent behavior. getty images
NFL EVP Troy Vincent called the LA28 Olympics an important opportunity to combat what he believes is the United States’ poor global reputation, which he said once caused him to stay in his hotel room during a foreign trip.
Vincent’s remarks came Tuesday during a panel discussion on sports diplomacy at The Stimson Center, a foreign affairs think tank in Washington, D.C. Vincent did not mention any politician specifically, but he did refer to “how the world truly perceives us coming out of our current conditions” and how important it is to put our best possible foot forward while in the Olympic spotlight. (These specific comments start around 43:28 in the video.)
“We’ve got this global reputation that makes you — and I did it — stay in your hotel room, because you’re embarrassed,” Vincent said. “You don’t know what to say to people, because that’s my country. And this is how we’re acting, and we’re better than that. I know the people that’s in this room, we’re better than that.”
He continued: “So I think about that L.A. piece, and go, ‘Man, how are we going to show up?’ We’ve got one chance because it may not ever come back.”
The panel, which also included NFLPA Chief Player Officer Don Davis, mostly centered on sports’ capability to bridge cultures and communicate messages that governments cannot. They emphasized how athletes can authentically build bonds with other cultures that overcome, or at least mitigate, geopolitical tensions.
“It’s such a deep source of power for the United States that we have these athletes, these leagues, that are watched all over the world,” said Evan Cooper, a Stimson Center research analyst. “The way that the U.S. engages the world positively, the way that we shape perceptions about the United States abroad in a positive manner is so often through sport.”
Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti gave a rare press conference this week after he fired John Harbaugh. Getty Images
’Tis the season for ownership media availabilities and other appearances, which are rare enough everywhere except Dallas to constitute news no matter what they say. Three NFL owners who are looking for new head coaches all caught my eye this week:
In Miami, Stephen Ross explained his succession plans for the Dolphins with newfound clarity at the Bloomberg Newsmakers event. Ross’ daughters Jennifer and Kimberly are his officially designated successors, and son-in-law and Relevant CEO Daniel Sillman will run the team in that case. I reported back in 2022 that Bruce Beal was out as successor and the Ross family was in, but there’d been little new on this subject in the 3.5 years since then. Given Ross’ age and the Dolphins’ desirability as an asset, a lot of people had been wondering about the succession plan.
In Pittsburgh, Art Rooney II staked out a philosophical position against rebuilding. He said he’s “not sure why you waste a year of your life not trying to contend” and “I think you try every year.” This might sound like naivety to analysts and fans who believe a total teardown is preferable to continuing the Steelers’ remarkably consistent run of just-barely-above-average seasons. But on some level I respect his position, and part of me agrees. Can any of us afford to give up for a year? Philosophically, how often does one actually improve by losing? Regardless of its merits, it was an enlightening remark from Rooney for people who try to understand his business.
In Baltimore, Steve Bisciotti did his first press conference in seven years (!) and seemed reasonable, funny and flexible, but also clear about his autonomy over the team. Pat McAfee was right: Bisciotti needs to be on a microphone more.
In all three cases, I thought the owners came off well. I know why most owners don’t talk to the media very often, and of course, it’s their prerogative not to. But if anyone wants my advice, most of them are probably overstating the downside risk and underestimating how much fans and business partners appreciate the transparency.
The NFL finished with its best Wild Card round viewership since 2016, reports SBJ’s Austin Karp. The six games across Fox, CBS, Prime Video, NBC and ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 averaged 31.9 million viewers, which is up 13% from last season. Karp also digs into Wild Card weekend on this week’s SBJ Sports Media Podcast.
The 33rd Team, a football intelligence and tech company founded by former Jets and Dolphins front office executive Mike Tannenbaum, raised a new growth investment round. Executives did not disclose a sum other than calling it an “eight-figure” Series B.
Tom Brady said Commanders QB Jayden Daniels was participating in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic, an exhibition event to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in March, along with revealing team names, notes SBJ’s Chris Smith.
SBJ facilities reporter Bret McCormick’s watchlist for 2026 includes a number of NFL projects, be they stadiums or mixed-use team HQ developments.
