Earlier today, the Earthquakes confirmed that President Dave Kaval will be stepping down from his role with the club in order to focus solely on his duties as President of the Oakland Athletics. In his place, the Earthquakes have brought on former English Premier League executive Tom Fox as his replacement. Here are three things to know about the new Quakes President:
1. EPL Experience. Fox recently spent two seasons as CEO of English club Aston Villa. Prior to joining Villa, Fox oversaw Arsenal’s sponsorship and marketing team as the chief commercial officer, helping the North London club expand its global media outreach and negotiate record partnership deals. Most notably, Fox led efforts to secure the second-largest kit deal in the league with Puma, as well as renewing a jersey sponsorship with Emirates.
2. Made in America. Though Fox spent his most recent years abroad, he forged the bulk of his career in his native United States. After graduating from Miami University at Ohio, Fox began his career as an assistant brand manager with Quaker Oats before transitioning to Worldwide Sports Marketing as a group manager. Fox then joined the NBA where he worked in partnership development before being promoted to the role of vice president and managing director of NBA Asia, Ltd., helping the league open its first office in Hong Kong in 1995 and then Tokyo in 1996.
After his time with the NBA, Fox ran Nike's Asian sports marketing business before joining the company's US operations as sports marketing director. In 1999, Fox joined PepsiCo and held the same role with company’s Gatorade brand before becoming a principal at Wesserman Media Group. He then joined Arsenal in August of 2009.
3. The Chosen One. The Quakes’ executive staff consulted with Nolan Partners in selecting Fox as Kaval’s successor. Nolan Partners is the same search firm that found general manager Jesse Fioranelli, who joined the Earthquakes in February earlier this year.
Fox will be formally presented to members of the media on Tuesday, June 6 at 11 a.m. at Avaya Stadium. You can catch live updates from the presentation by following the Quakes’ Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat accounts.
