SBJ Unpacks: Lew Sherr brings U.S. Open growth playbook to Mets

Tonight in Unpacks: While at the USTA, Lew Sherr ushered in a new era of business success for the U.S. Open. Owner Steve Cohen hopes that Sherr can refer to that playbook to bring similar success to the Mets, reports SBJ’s Mike Mazzeo in this early look at next week’s magazine.

Also tonight:

• Bernadette McGlade reflects on college sports career
• 23XI turning hot start into commercial momentum
• NFL may open up preseason games to streamers
• Op-ed: The quiet factors shaping the future of sports for girls

Listen to SBJ’s most popular podcast, Morning Buzzcast, where Austin Karp, Alex Silverman, Bret McCormick and David Broughton wrap up SBJ’s Business of Soccer event with FIFA selling out its global sponsorships for the World Cup, Arthur Blank’s insights on MLS and NWSL growth, what happens after the tournament and more.

The U.S. Open championship trophy Lew Sherr received when he left the United States Tennis Association sits behind his desk at Citi Field.

Nearby hangs a poster from the 2025 U.S. Open mixed doubles championship, a reimagined event that drew a star-studded field and delivered strong fan engagement and commercial results.

The mementos reflect Sherr’s 15 years at the USTA, for which he helped transform the U.S. Open into one of the most lucrative annual events in global sports.

During Sherr’s tenure as chief revenue officer (2010-22) and later CEO and executive director (2022-25), tournament revenue doubled to more than $500 million annually. Attendance topped 1 million fans in 2024.

He played a pivotal role in securing a 12-year, $2 billion media rights renewal with ESPN and implementing plans for the $800 million renovation of Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The opportunity to replicate that growth as president of business operations for the New York Mets proved too appealing to pass up. Now, Sherr says, the most important item in his office is the 2026 schedule, with an autographed photo of the 1986 World Series title team close by providing inspiration.

“I wasn’t looking to leave for another role, but this is a transformational opportunity, and perhaps my proximity being here in New York made that point even more evident to me,” Sherr told Sports Business Journal, citing the team’s iconic history, passionate fan base, investment from ownership and impending $8.1 billion Metropolitan Park casino development project as extremely attractive.

“But what drew me here more than anything else is this is one of those rare opportunities professionally where all the ingredients were in place for incredible growth and sustained success. I also feel like I left the USTA in a good position, and that was important to me.”

When Mets owner Steve Cohen sought a replacement for M. Scott Havens, who announced he was stepping down in May amid what Cohen called “differing perspectives on long-term strategy,” he only needed to look across Roosevelt Avenue.

During those visits, Cohen and Sherr built a relationship, often discussing how the U.S. Open evolved into a business powerhouse.

“[Steve] is one of the most intellectually curious individuals you’ll ever meet,” Sherr said. “We had a series of conversations over quite a lengthy window, just exchanging ideas around the U.S. Open business, which I think afforded us both an opportunity to maybe get to know one another in a way that provided a level of comfort that perhaps you don’t typically see in these kinds of situations that might have a more traditional search.”

The Mets are coming off a season in which they established Citi Field records for ballpark-related revenue ($311.4 million) and attendance (3.18 million fans), and ranked eighth in sponsorship revenue, according to SponsorUnited — providing a strong foundation for Sherr as he looks to expand the club’s business operations.

Cohen was enamored by the U.S. Open’s blue-chip roster of sponsors, first-rate facilities and premium hospitality that has resonated with New York’s corporate market. He hopes to emulate that at Citi Field, with even casual fans feeling as if each game is a special event.

And Cohen believes Sherr’s track record and mindset is exactly what the Mets need, sources familiar with the hiring process said.

“Lew shares my vision for creating an exceptional fan experience at Citi Field and making the Mets an even greater part of New York’s cultural fabric,” Cohen said in a statement.

“I am confident that Lew’s extensive experience and track record of success in driving growth and innovation at organizations across sports, entertainment and media will make him a great addition to our leadership team.”

Sherr downplayed the risk of working under the swift-moving Cohen, who has shown a penchant for overhauling his C-suite when he doesn’t get desired results.

“He has every right to be demanding, but his demands are not unreasonable,” Sherr said. “Every aspect of this role is more exciting to me than it was before I joined. The relationship with ownership has been even better than I could’ve hoped, and I came in with great expectations, too.”

The Mets’ total allocations for 2026 payroll and luxury taxes are projected to climb to nearly $480 million, according to Spotrac. It gives the club a strong base from which to build.

“We have, in many respects, doubled down on what I’d refer to as the core business,” Sherr said. “And the core business, to me, is that unwavering focus on the fan experience, leveraging data to be more effective selling tickets at the right time and being more strategic in our approach to sponsorship. I have sort of repurposed some jobs to make sure that we have all the support we need to drive those initiatives. The other part has probably been trying to establish more of a longer-term, multiyear vision for the organization.”

Metropolitan Park, on 50 acres of Citi Field parking lots, will include a Hard Rock Hotel with a casino, sportsbook, restaurants, bars, a 5,650-seat music venue and a Taste of Queens Food Hall. It also will create 25 acres of public green space, 23,000 union jobs, $1 billion in community benefits and infrastructure improvements, including a revamped, ADA-accessible 7-line train station, according to Metropolitan Park officials.

The development is projected to be finished in June 2030.

Amid construction beginning in the neighborhood, the team has created a dedicated site for fans to personalize their travel plans based on real-time transportation information. Pre-paid parking, $5 promotional codes for the Long Island Railroad and expanded ferry service will be available.

“While we’re excited about the transformation of the district, we’re also being thoughtful that it doesn’t impact our fan experience in a negative way,” Sherr said.

While Sherr noted the project is its own entity and the team is not involved in the details of the construction process, he noted his role will involve how the Mets operate within the district, which could see 10 million people coming through annually, and how that could buoy their business, while also thinking about their obligations to nearby residents and being a great partner.

“To be a part of Steve’s vision for what this area could be is incredible,” he said. “Having spent 15 years as part of this district, it’s so much bigger and more expansive and more exciting than anyone could have imagined.”

Chief Operating Officer Samantha Engelhardt described Sherr’s leadership style as focused on empowerment.

“He takes a really thoughtful approach to culture and developing people and making sure that his team is set up for success,” Engelhardt said.

Bernadette McGlade slipped quietly into the front row of the press conference room at Bon Secours Wellness Arena for a brief moment of calm.

McGlade says she hasn’t given her looming retirement much thought. But as fans began spilling into the lower bowls of the arena in Greenville, S.C., the darkened space offered the perfect place for contemplation.

“Just walking in here and bumping into just a handful of former colleagues that were on the basketball committee and folks I worked with at the ACC, I will miss that,” said McGlade, who at the end of this academic year will conclude a 45-year college athletics career that spanned from Georgia Tech to the ACC and Atlantic 10.

To understand McGlade’s impact on college sports takes more than a single story. That she held three administrative jobs over almost five decades tells at least part of the tale.

McGlade quickly climbed the ranks following a six-year tenure in Atlanta, where at age 23 she’d been hired as Georgia Tech’s first women’s basketball coach.

Georgia Tech Athletic Director Homer Rice eventually brought her on to his administrative staff full time, working alongside men’s basketball coach Bobby Cremins and baseball coach Jim Morris — the “young guns,” as they were dubbed internally.

Those in the conference office took notice.

ACC Commissioner John Swofford believed women’s basketball was an area for growth, but the league lacked the infrastructure to continue bolstering the product.

McGlade, he thought, was the perfect candidate to oversee the sport, with a caveat: Her sister, Agnes, had become the head coach at Georgia Tech.

“I sort of knew that Bernie was the person I thought would just fit that job perfectly, because of her basketball background and her administrative background at Georgia Tech,” Swofford told Sports Business Journal. “But the question mark was, ‘How could that work when her sister would be the head coach of one of our teams?’

“I just got on the phone and called all of our coaches individually in our other schools. [I asked] one question — ‘I’m very interested in hiring Bernie, and how would you feel about that in terms of her in that position at the conference office, Agnes being one of the coaches in the league that you compete against?’ Literally every single one of ’em had almost [the same] thought. They said, ‘Bernie would be fantastic. You should hire her.’

“From my perspective, I think that says an awfully lot about Bernie in terms of the trust and respect that they had for her.”

McGlade will tell you she never fixated on becoming a commissioner. She turned down the Atlantic 10 before being approached a second time. But amid interviews with the presidents, she assured those decision-makers that if hired, she would stay in the role long term.

“One of the presidents asked me, ‘You’re coming from the ACC. If you take this job, are you going to stay for longer than two years?’” McGlade recounted. “I just said, ‘Well, I hope so, and if I don’t, it’s going to be because you fired me.”

Over her 17 years in charge, the league has had its share of accomplishments. McGlade’s deftness in television negotiations saw the conference’s media deal grow from a regional agreement worth “a couple hundred thousand dollars” to the millions it’s now worth annually. That also coincided with shifting men’s basketball games from Wednesday/Saturday to Tuesday/Friday to improve exposure.

McGlade, too, helped the league bring in VCU, George Mason, Davidson and Loyola Chicago over the last 15 years; moved the conference office from Newport News, Va., to Washington, D.C.; and oversaw the Atlantic 10’s 50th anniversary celebration last year.

Nationally, McGlade’s profile included serving on the NCAA men’s basketball selection committee, as president of the Collegiate Commissioners Association and other work on the Division I Council and women’s basketball oversight committee.

“Conferences look drastically different than they did when we went into the Atlantic 10 in 2012,” VCU Athletic Director Ed McLaughlin told SBJ. “And unless you have a leader who’s confident in what he or she’s doing in terms of the product, and has a really good beat on what is happening nationally [you can’t succeed]. … She has credibility and gravitas from a national perspective, and that’s helped our league.”

As first-round action closed in Greenville, McGlade again found herself in the press room, watching as VCU celebrated an upset win over UNC. For one more day, her league would fight on into March.

Someday soon she’ll sit back and reflect on the memories. Now? The NCAA men’s basketball tournament remained front of mind.

McGlade planned to be there every step of the way.

Three questions with Atlantic 10 Commissioner Bernadette McGlade

What is your biggest concern for college sports as you retire?

“My one hope is that the transfer portal situation can get just readjusted. It’s not going to go away. I think student athletes should have the ability to transfer, be immediately eligible for sure one time during their career. But I think after that, I think there should be kind of a ‘stay in place for a year before you’re eligible.’”

What was it like to move the conference office from Newport News, Va., to Washington, D.C.?

“You know how hard it’s just to move your family in one house. Try moving an operation with 15 people and their families and all of that, and the physicals and the legal things and the taxes and all that. It’s a heavy lift. But it was important to the presidents council. They wanted me to get that finished, and I did.”

What’s it been like experiencing your last NCAA men’s basketball tournament as commissioner?

“I’ll miss the people and I’ll miss the opportunity to have a credential, be back of the house and bump into everyone. But it’s been a great run and I have nothing but appreciation for my three stops between Georgia Tech, the ACC and A-10.”

23XI Racing says a sizzling start to the year on the track is about to dovetail with big commercial moves, like a Bubba Wallace meal deal at Hardee’s and growing hopes of a team shoe deal with Nike’s Air Jordan brand.

After six points races of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, 23XI is the biggest story in the sport, having won four of those events including the Daytona 500 in February. That comes just months after securing a major settlement off the track in an antitrust lawsuit versus NASCAR Holdings alongside fellow team Front Row Motorsports.

Team co-owner Michael Jordan has been at every race the team has won so far, and his Jordan Brand is partnering more deeply with the 5-year-old 23XI. Among other recent developments, Jordan Brand gave 23XI’s pit crew members specialized shoes to wear this season after years of development, created a limited-edition shirt and social media ad around the team’s historic start to the season when it won the first three points events, featured a scene of the Daytona 500 trophy celebration in an ad for the Brazilian national soccer team, and collaborated with 23XI and Toyota on a basketball game activation and Daytona 500 watch party at San Diego State Univ.

The team lost McDonald’s as a sponsor over the offseason, but quickly replaced it with Hardee’s. Team President Steve Lauletta said the brand plans to activate the deal heavily including an upcoming meal and television ad around Wallace.

Lauletta also made a notable hire recently, bringing on board former NWSL CRO Mitch Poll as VP/Marketing. Lauletta said it’s part of his goal to make 23XI the face of the sport. “I wanted to bring someone here that can take experience from other areas of the sports business, which (Poll) has, and kind of bring in a new perspective of, ‘How do you take a brand that now means something and is proven a little bit and amplify that to the next level?’”

CASINO ROYALE: Now a three-car team in NASCAR, 23XI has found its form this season not only through Tyler Reddick, who has won all of the four races and is leading the Cup standings, but also with fellow driver Wallace, who is third in points. Jordan’s presence at the races and the team’s success have led to sizable mainstream media coverage of the sport, including 2.7 billion media impressions across 76 countries, 23% more than that of the 2025 Daytona 500 winner, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, according to Cision data 23XI shared with SBJ. That’s included a national feature by CBS News with host Gayle King, who spent time with the team at Phoenix Raceway in March, and coverage of the team’s shoe choices by footwear news sites.

Other team sponsors include Xfinity, Chumba Casino, Toyota, Robinhood, Monster Energy and Columbia sportswear. The recent collaborations with Jordan Brand “will now start to amplify the conversations of ‘(can we do) capsule collections featuring 23XI that could be sold at retail?’ and all those talks happen with all of our partners to try to use that leverage,” Lauletta said. Asked if a 23XI edition shoe sold at stores could eventually happen, he said, “We’d love to see that.”

Chumba Casino, part of the VGW Group online gaming company, has been the primary sponsor for two of Reddick’s four wins this season including Daytona, and it was on Wallace’s car when he won the Brickyard 400 last year, giving the company in less than a year major exposure. VGW is now looking at incorporating some of 23XI’s intellectual property into its games and advertising some of its other free-to-play online games in NASCAR, on top of taking some of Chumba’s top customers to races for hospitality experiences.

During the Daytona 500 weekend, all 23XI entries earned at least $1.5M in quality media value, according to Nielsen data 23XI shared with SBJ. The team gained 22,800 social media followers during February, the most of any team in the garage, and was involved with 530 million views and 10.8 million engagements on social media during the week after the Daytona 500, according to Ripple Analytics.

POLL POSITION: Poll, who started with the team in February, also has prior stints at Learfield IMG College, the NFL and the USOC, according to his LinkedIn page. Poll, who knew Lauletta from his NFL days when Lauletta was working for Miller Brewing Co., hopes to apply his expertise from outside racing to NASCAR. He called out social media and digital storytelling and finding ways to explain the sport better to casual fans. He said getting fans out to the racetrack will be particularly important to helping the fanbase grow.

NFL teams would be permitted to sell preseason game TV rights and original shows to streamers under a plan heading to owners for approval at next week’s league meeting, sources said. This is seen as a marginal but intriguing new asset for teams in the highly centralized NFL media ecosystem, where the league controls most everything of value. The NFL last season saw its best preseason viewership since 2018, averaging 2.2 million viewers a game for national broadcasts.

Today, most teams have relationships with local TV network affiliates, who typically enjoy “official partner” status and the exclusive broadcast of preseason games locally. This would expand possible buyers of those rights to include streamers, in the same fashion that Prime Video streams 21 Yankees games only in the NYC region. These NFL local TV rights tend to be priced in the low millions, sources say, though the biggest teams can do better.

Separately, these proposed rules also would allow teams to, in essence, buy the right from the NFL to distribute their preseason games beyond their home markets, sources said. Details, including how the fees would be determined, may be more forthcoming after an ownership vote. Sources also said they’ll be eager to hear more details on the new right to sell nongame productions, like coaches’ shows, to streamers, and whether the specific rules undermine the potential value.

All of these questions have been under the microscope amid a lengthy review of the NFL’s “internet resolution” and other policies that govern how teams and the league make money on the Internet, which has been ongoing since at least 2024 and is now complete, waiting for final owners’ approval.

The internet resolution dictates what intellectual property belongs to the NFL and what belongs to teams, and under what circumstances each entity can monetize it online. These rules often veer into extraordinary minutiae, but collectively, they are very important — they are the actual black-and-white text that determines, in practice, the extent to which the NFL is truly 32 separate businesses versus a single entity.

Of course, the league has built a nearly $25 billion business with a highly centralized model, and nobody is suggesting that goes away. But team revenues have not increased as quickly as league revenue has, and some believe that can be addressed by giving teams more rights without undermining league initiatives. The existing internet resolution is scheduled to expire March 31, so some kind of league vote is required. I expect to have more details of the changes after the vote.

“It’s been updated over the last couple decades, but with the continued shift to digital, they are even more opportunities for clubs to expand their digital businesses better engage their fans and develop new partners,” an NFL spokesperson said. “The changes being recommended are intended to do just that and a natural step as we continue to evolve our entire business to reflect the landscape we’re operating in.”

The challenge in youth sports today isn’t getting kids to start playing — it’s keeping them playing. Girls continue to leave sports at higher rates than boys, and the reasons why are rarely about talent levels or lack of motivation. More often, it comes down to whether the environment builds confidence, belonging, and fun. This isn’t just important for girls but also essential for the future of youth sports and the role sports play in shaping the next generation of leaders in business, communities and beyond.

For many girls, staying in sports isn’t about talent or long-term ambition. It’s shaped in the small moments: The first practice where they question if they belong, the teammate who makes them feel included or the coach who values effort over perfection and helps empower them to keep showing up. As a former player and coach across youth, collegiate and Olympic Development programs, I’ve seen firsthand how these early experiences shape whether girls stay in the game. Those moments quietly determine whether sports become a foundation for confidence and growth, or something they leave behind too soon.

To better understand these dynamics, we conducted a survey of more than 1,500 parents of daughters age 3 to 15 who participated in our programs over the past three years. The goal was to better understand what families experience and actually value. Across age groups and sports, the message was consistent: Girls are more likely to stay involved when the environment feels welcoming, supportive and grounded in connection rather than pressure.

Belonging emerged as a foundational factor, and parents shared that familiarity — whether knowing a teammate, coach, or feeling comfortable — often matters more than skill development. When girls feel at ease, they are more willing to take risks, make mistakes, and keep showing up. When that sense of belonging is missing, even strong programs with good intentions struggle to overcome it.

Confidence is a critical driver of retention. Ninety-two percent of parents ranked confidence among their top three priorities for their daughters in sports, and six in 10 said it was the single most important outcome they hoped their daughters would gain. By contrast, winning ranked last for both parents (0%) and girls (3%). Fun, not winning, emerged as the top driver of participation and retention for girls.

Many parents emphasized the need for truly beginner-friendly entry points, where learning is built in and early challenges are seen as part of the journey. As youth sports have increasingly moved toward earlier specialization and heightened intensity, the chance to play without pressure has narrowed. For girls, these environments can feel especially high stakes.

Coaches play a pivotal role in shaping these experiences. Eighty-three percent of parents prioritized positive, encouraging coaches as essential to their daughters’ sports experience. Encouragement, patience, and emotional awareness directly influence how young athletes understand effort, failure and confidence. A supportive coach can define whether a girl continues in sports or steps away.

There are also broader cultural dynamics to consider. Many girls carry heightened concerns about judgment, comparison, and whether they are good enough. Parents want environments where their daughters can take chances, make mistakes and grow without feeling constantly evaluated. These conditions lay the foundation for confidence and resilience to develop over time.

The future of girls’ sports will depend less on rigid structures and more on the quality of the environments surrounding young athletes. Belonging, encouragement and thoughtful entry points are central to long-term engagement. The encouraging reality is that these shifts are within reach. They do not require sweeping reform but intentional choices by leagues, coaches and communities to prioritize growth over pressure. When girls feel supported and included, they stay in sports longer and carry that confidence well beyond the season.

Because for many girls, staying in the game starts with something simple: Feeling like they belong.

Madison Gates is vice president of marketing at youth sports provider i9 Sports.

• The NFL hired Claudia Teran, a former in-house lawyer for Snap and the Fox Corp., as its new deputy general counsel and SVP, writes SBJ’s Ben Fischer.
• FIFA CBO Romy Gai said Thursday at the SBJ Business of Soccer conference that the governing body sold all 16 of the global sponsorship packages available for the 2026 World Cup, reports SBJ’s Alex Silverman.
• A recent tour of Centennial Yards showed a development on pace to benefit hugely from Atlanta’s FIFA Men’s World Cup hosting this summer, writes SBJ’s Bret McCormick.
• Tiger Woods’ return brought TGL its second most-watched match ever Tuesday night, with the Jupiter Links-L.A. Golf Club match averaging 989,000 viewers on ESPN, notes SBJ’s Josh Carpenter.
• Carpenter also notes that one of the pivotal moments of the 2025 Masters tournament went unnoticed by broadcast cameras at the time but is uncovered in the new Amazon Prime Video documentary on Rory McIlroy’s win that debuts next week.
• YES Network will air a commercial for its first broadcast of the 2026 season featuring Larry David and Yankees play-by-play announcer Michael Kay in a spot that could be right out of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” notes SBJ’s Mike Mazzeo.
• In this week’s Talent Pool agency roundup, SBJ’s Irving Mejia-Hilario reports that former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin signed with Sandy Montag and Alex Flanagan of the Montag Group for representation.