Chelsea, the English Premier League soccer club, have announced the departure of Chris Jurasek as chief executive after 15 months in the role and named Jason Gannon as his successor.
Gannon, currently the club’s chief operating officer (COO), has been promoted to president and COO and will take over Jurasek’s duties.
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Chelsea said in a planned move, Jurasek, who joined as CEO in May 2023 from Clearlake Capital, the co-controlling owners of the team, will transition back to being an operating executive with the US private equity firm.
During his 15-month tenure, Jurasek oversaw all business areas at Chelsea. He had effectively taken over from Tom Glick who left his role as president of business after 10 months.
Gannon, a senior executive with more than 15 years’ experience in sporting organisations, will now take responsibility for all the business areas of the club and report directly to the board.
He joined the club as COO in October last year.
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By GlobalDataBefore joining Chelsea, Gannon was the managing director of SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park in Los Angeles as part of the Kroenke organisation, in which he served in various executive, operational and legal capacities.
Chelsea’s co-controlling owners Todd Boehly, Behdad Eghbali and José E. Feliciano said: “Jason’s unique combination of talent, experience and strategic vision will drive the club forward as we work to achieve our ambitions on and off the pitch.”
Gannon will immediately be tasked with securing a new front-of-shirt sponsor for Chelsea as the West London side has begun the season without a primary partner for the second straight year.
He will be working closely with Casper Stylsvig who joined Chelsea as chief revenue officer from Italian giants AC Milan late last year.
In recent weeks, the club has brought a new sleeve sponsor (Fever) and training kit sponsor (BingX) on board.
As part of a senior management reshuffle, Chelsea have also announced that James Bonington, the club’s general counsel, has been promoted to chief legal and corporate affairs officer, and James Murray, chief of staff and head of business operations, has been promoted to chief strategy officer and head of business operations.
Bonington completed a decade at Chelsea earlier this year having joined the club from the Football Association in 2014, while Murray moved to the club from AC Milan last year.
