The Columbus Crew announced on Saturday that they have hired veteran sports industry executive Andy Loughnane as the club’s President of Business Operations.
An original staff member during the Columbus Blue Jackets’ inaugural campaign and an executive at Columbus-based Glimcher Realty Trust, Loughnane’s sports and entertainment background encompasses leadership roles with three major league sports franchises in corporate partnership sales and management positions prior to joining the Crew.
While with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Loughnane sold sponsorship and media assets during the launch of the franchise. In addition to his experience with the Blue Jackets and Detroit Pistons – where he oversaw all sponsorship and media sales initiatives for the NBA club, The Palace of Auburn Hills, DTE Energy Music Theatre and Meadow Brook Music Festival – Loughnane also worked for the Detroit Red Wings during the franchise’s back-to-back Stanley Cup runs in 1996-1997 and 1997-1998.
“We are excited to welcome Andy Loughnane to the Columbus Crew as the next executive leader of our business operations,” Crew Chairman and Investor-Operator Anthony Precourt said in a statemet. “In Andy we gain a smart, entrepreneurial and driven executive whose commercial experience will be a wonderful complement to Gregg Berhalter, our expert within our competition and technical areas.
“We believe we’ve added another critical piece to the growth and evolution of our club culture.”
