The Washington Commanders hired Mark Clouse as their new team president after he spent the last five-plus years as the CEO of Campbell’s, the famed consumer products company that recently forged a sponsorship with the Commanders and other organizations affiliated with majority owner Josh Harris.
Though Clouse does not have a sports business background, it appears that Harris has faith that his experience in the corporate world will translate well to the NFL franchise.
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“He has a proven ability to strengthen both the organizations he leads and the communities he serves,” Harris said in a statement. “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.”
After retiring from the Army in 1996, Clouse built a three-decade career in the food industry, spending 20 years in different roles with Kraft Foods (now Mondelez International), and a few years as the CEO of Pinnacle Foods before that company was acquired by Conagra in 2018. Clouse took the reins of Campbell’s in early 2019, overseeing a period in which the brand looked to broaden its appeal beyond its flagship soup products.
For most pro sports franchises, the team president role has broad oversight over business operations while it’s the general manager who deals with players, coaches, scouts and other athletic personnel. In some cases, the president role may be combined with the GM position, or in the case of the rival Dallas Cowboys, one of the three hats worn by its owner Jerry Jones.
“The Commanders’ passionate fanbase, which has stood by this team for decades, deserves nothing less than our unwavering commitment to excellence,” Clouse said. “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.”
Clouse is filling the role vacated by Jason Wright, who stepped down as president shortly after Josh Harris bought the franchise in 2023. Wright, who was the first Black team president in NFL history as well as the fourth former player to become a team president, took the helm in 2020. He led the franchise’s rebranding from the Washington Football Team to Commanders in 2022. Wright was already planning to leave the team at the end of the 2024 NFL season.
In an interesting twist between his old and new employers, one of Clouse’s last initiatives as Campbell’s CEO was coming to a massive sponsorship agreement with the teams under the Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment umbrella.