The Washington Commanders took their time in searching for a team president and announced this week that they hired Mark Clouse for that position. To take this new job, Clouse resigned as the president and CEO of the Campbell’s Company, popularly known as the Campbell Soup Company, and international food conglomerate.
Clouse, through his education at West Point with a degree in economics, was a former college athlete and played basketball for Army. He said that the only challenge that could pry him away from the Campbell Company was a position like the President of the Commanders, and Josh Harris, Managing Partner of the Washington Commanders, made it happen.
“In Mark, we have found a dynamic leader with a stellar track record of guiding organizations to excellence, building brands that connect deeply with consumers, and ultimately delivering best in-class experiences and lasting memories.”
— Harris said about the hire of Clouse
“Mark shares our commitment to using the power of the Commanders franchise to bring people together. As a military veteran and accomplished business builder, he has a proven ability to strengthen both the organizations he leads, and the communities he serves. I am confident in Mark’s dedication to building a championship-caliber organization and to support football operations in our drive for excellence on the field.”
At Campbell, Clouse had led a transformation in that company which then reshaped the company’s strategy and portfolio to fuel growth. Under his leadership, Campbell’s built a high-performing culture with industry-leading employee engagement and delivered consistently strong business results. They did all of that while making a lasting impact on Campbell’s communities.
With Clouse comes leadership. His 30+ years in roles as a leader is what he brings to Commanders organization that has brought in leaders in every segment. He began his career in the U.S. Army, serving for six-and-a-half years as a helicopter pilot and rising to the rank of captain by the end of his service. Following his military service, Clouse joined Kraft Foods, holding a variety of management positions over a 15-year stint with that company. Afterwards, Clouse was named President of North America at Mondelēz in 2012 and later served as Chief Commercial Officer, overseeing the company’s commercial growth plan. He was then named CEO of Pinnacle Foods, driving significant growth for that company.
In January of 2019, Clouse was named Campbell’s president and CEO, a company with nearly 15,000 employees and a market cap of $12.6 billion, and a fair market value well above that. Compare that to the Commanders, a team that Forbes estimates is worth $6.3 billion. That is nearly $4 billion less than the Dallas Cowboys according to Forbes. There was a time that the Washington football franchise was worth the most in the NFL. So Clouse has room to get the business side back to where it once was. A winning product certainly helps, but winning back the fans that the team lost is going to be a challenge for Clouse as well as bringing back sponsors, and growing revenue.
The Dallas Cowboys had an average attendance of 93,594 per game in the 2023 NFL season, the highest of all 32 teams in the league compared to the Commanders at 63,950 in the first year of the Harris ownership . Over the years, Washington has removed seating from the stadium as attendance plummeted to the lowest in the NFL. We all remember the years that Washington had a season-ticket waiting list and were sold-out every game. It was considered the toughest ticket in the NFL. Ah, the good times. The great news is that the old FedEx Field was selling more tickets to fans of the visiting teams for some games, and now at the newly named Northwest Stadium, the stadium is getting occupied by more Commanders’ fans.
While some would say that the stadium was only about 4,000 a game from full capacity last year, the stadium also has standing-room only tickets that can sell it beyond the seating capacity of 67,617. The stadium is tracking this year at 63,320 average per game. That is still third to last in the NFL. Clouse will have to get those numbers up.
“I am incredibly grateful to Josh Harris and the Washington Commanders ownership group for the opportunity to lead this iconic franchise into a new chapter of growth.”
“The Commanders’ passionate fanbase, which has stood by this team for decades, deserves nothing less than our unwavering commitment to excellence. I look forward to supporting ownership, as well as Adam Peters and Dan Quinn, in doing everything in our power to build a championship-caliber organization.”
There is no pro sports or NFL experience on Clouse’s résumé, and has no deep ties to Washington, D.C. except for business relationships and the fact that D.C. is home to the military. Obviously, Harris is banking on Clouse’s leadership background, and his successes to adapting to new industries.
Coincidentally, the broader Harris-Blitzer sports ownership group (HBSE) did a sponsorship deal for all of their teams with Campbell’s back in October per the Sports Business Journal and a press release from HBSE. That sponsorship covers the Commanders, Philadelphia 76ers, NJ Devils, Joe Gibbs Racing, and the Prudential Center.
“This is a truly unique marketing partnership that will enable us to activate our portfolio of leadership brands across some of the most high-profile, storied franchises in sports.”
— Clouse said back in October about the Campbell and HBSE sponsorship deal
Per disclosures to shareholders, Clouse’s total compensation from Campbell was potentially $11,699,822 in 2023. The word “potentially” means that he might not achieve the full value of that compensation due to the valuation of stock awards. Of course he could make more with substantial appreciation of the stock price.
At best, there are guesses as to what team executives make in the NFL because their salaries are not publicly disclosed. Generally, players get paid the big bucks, and front office people make fractions of what a middle-of-the-road quarterback would make. There are some exceptions to the norm as Bleacher Report discusses in their compensation article. It is quite possible that Clouse took a pay-cut for a job that only 32 people in the world have — and in actuality, not all NFL teams have a separate team president. For instance, Jerry Jones of the Cowboys is the owner, president, and GM of his team.
While Clouse will be running the business side for the Commanders, he will also be interacting with ownership as well as General Manager Adam Peters and other executives in the organization. With his background in leadership, revenue and profit acceleration, corporate valuation, and brand-building in consumer goods, this could all translate well to improving the fan experience — because happy fans, generally, spend more money on their team.
Also, an obvious goal is to get the Washington football franchise back to its glory before they sunk to the bottom of the NFL in the fan experience under the previous owner. Clouse will also be integral in working with ownership on the next stadium for the team.
So far, Harris has hit on most of his notable hires with the Commanders, and there are high hopes that Clouse will be a star for the business side like what Peters has done on the team-side of the Commanders.
