Bob Bowman joined Major League Baseball Advanced Media LP (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball, as its first President and Chief Executive Officer in 2000 following 2 years of work in the Internet space. MLBAM was created in June 2000 when the owners of the 30 professional baseball teams voted to follow the recommendation of Commissioner Selig and centralize all of Baseball’s Internet and Interactive Media operations under one roof. MLBAM operates the official League site, www.MLB.com, as well as each of the 30 individual team sites. It also develops, deploys and distributes the highest grossing iOS app—AtBat, as well as manages live video content for dozens of clients. In 2012, MLBAM will capture, encode and distribute nearly 18,000 live video events. MLB.com is an award winning multi-media business at the forefront of the digital revolution.
Prior to joining MLBAM, Mr. Bowman was President and Chief Operating Officer of ITT Corporation one of the world’s largest and pre-eminent conglomerates. He joined ITT in 1991 as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ITT Sheraton, the Boston-based global hotel network. In 1992 he was named Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the parent company before being named President and Chief Operating Officer in 1995. Following the trivestiture of the Company’s business divisions in 1995, Mr. Bowman successfully oversaw the growth and operations of the $8 billion conglomerate until its merger with Starwood Hotels and Resorts in 1998. During his tenure, Mr. Bowman and the senior management team at ITT created more than $25 billion of value for the company’s shareholders.
Before joining ITT he served as Treasurer for the State of Michigan from 1983 to 1991. The youngest State Treasurer in the nation at the time of his appointment, during his eight year term the State’s pension system grew from $6 billion to $19 billion in asset value, and improved the State’s credit rating from BBB to AA.
Immediately prior to his appointment in Michigan, Mr. Bowman also worked as a municipal finance investment banker with Goldman Sachs & Company, and from 1979 to 1981 he served in the US Department of the Treasury as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Domestic Finance. In that role, he worked on both the New York City Loan Guarantee Act, as well, in 1980, on the Chrysler Loan Guarantee Act.
A native of Milwaukee, Mr. Bowman graduated from Harvard College in 1977, and received his M.B.A. from The Wharton School in 1979. He serves as President of the Michigan Education Trust and is a member of the Board of Directors of Take-Two Interactive Corp., and ViaSat, Inc.
