Jason Rowley, who has been the General Counsel for the Phoenix Suns for nearly four years, has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer.
Rowley will report directly to the recently named President of the Business and Non-basketball Operations of the franchise, Brad Casper.
“Rowley’s work warranted his promotion to Chief Operating Officer,” said Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver. “He will provide important continuity and leadership.”
Rowley assumes the role of COO after four seasons as the club’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel, responsible for all legal matters pertaining to the organization’s basketball, business and arena operations.
Prior to joining the Suns, Rowley was corporate counsel for Van Tuyl Group, the nation’s largest privately held automotive retailer. He began his legal career in 2001 with the law firm of Snell & Wilmer in Phoenix.
Casper, meanwhile, most recently served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Henkel Consumer Goods, Inc., a $1.7 billion North American business based in Scottsdale, Ariz. Sarver said that Casper’s “expertise in organizational development, marketing and branding, coupled with his passion for the Suns, will be an enormous asset for our organization, our marketing partners, and our fans. His dedicated involvement in the Arizona community exemplifies and extends our organization’s commitment to the city and state.”
Suns Vice Chairman Sam Garvin added that Casper “has a deep understanding of sports marketing through his previous experiences sponsoring Team USA Hockey, Major League Baseball, and the NBA, as well as being a marketing partner with the Suns after his arrival in the Valley.”
Lon Babby will continue in his role as President of Basketball Operations.
The shakeup in the Suns’ executive offices occurred, at least in part, because of the departure of president and chief executive Rick Welts in September for personal reasons. Four months prior to resigning from his position, Welts announced he was gay, becoming the first senior sports executive to make such an acknowledgement.
