![]() ![]() The NFL’s international division, while nascent, touches every part of the business. He overcame pandemic challenges and deep skepticism from many teams to launch the international marketing program, which started with 18 of 32 teams applying to join. “I was incredibly challenged at the league office and loved my work there,” said Leech, “but this was an opportunity too good to pass up.”Īs chief operating officer of NFL International before joining the Broncos, Leech worked in a strategically important division that also brought him into near-daily contact with numerous clubs as the league’s international home marketing area program came into focus. Born: Portland Age: 46 Family: Wife Tamara, daughters Brianna and Simone Master’s, higher education administration, Indiana University. Education: Bachelor’s degree, public policy/international affairs, Princeton. NCAA: Managing Director, Championships and Alliances Director, baseball and football Director of membership services. But Penner, the team’s CEO, started searching for candidates over the summer (without using a search firm) once the group won the bidding for the Broncos, and league contacts suggested Leech was worth a look.ĭamani Leech President Denver Broncos Past roles: NFL: COO, International Senior VP/football strategy and business development. Leech was not looking for a new position, either in general or with a team. Leech, 46, stepped into the spotlight when he was hired by the Broncos in August, the first major decision made by the new ownership group led by Rob Walton, Carrie Walton Penner and Greg Penner, which came just days after NFL owners formally approved their record-setting $4.65 billion purchase of the franchise. There’s not a lot of places you can hide.” There’s a tremendous amount of responsibility that comes with that. “And they feel a certain type of way about you, particularly if you’re not meeting their expectations. “You live, work and play in a community full of your customers, and they know who you are,” Leech said. But it comes with a significant cost - external relations are more important, detail oriented, and fraught for teams than in almost any other business. Those extraordinary emotional ties fans have to their favorite NFL team is an asset most executives outside of sports could never imagine. “The emotional tie to one particular team is really impressive.” “Now my focus is on the Denver Broncos, and what’s happening with our team, and our fans, and whether all 75,000 fans are engaged, and we’re hugging and high-fiving at the end of that game,” said Leech, who knew something of that intensity as a three-time all-conference defensive back at Princeton. In that moment, nothing mattered but one win, one team and all its elated, screaming fans. ![]() 25, he was at Empower Field at Mile High, when Denver scored a late touchdown on “Sunday Night Football” and desperately held on for an improbable 11-10 win over the favored San Francisco 49ers. Yet it didn’t take Leech long to gain a newfound appreciation for the definition of success that comes with his new role. And he spent seven years as an executive at the NFL’s Park Avenue headquarters, during which time he drove a big expansion of the league’s international division, always with an eye on the broadest strategic issues. For instance, part of his 17 years at the NCAA were spent overseeing the College World Series, where he had to figure out myriad details to make a multi-team championship event run smoothly. He was familiar with long days, big projects and intense pressure. Courtesy of Denver Broncosīefore becoming the president of the Denver Broncos this summer, Damani Leech had spent more than two decades working in sports. Leech served as the NFL’s chief operating officer, international, before taking over in Denver. ![]()
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