Arsenal’s Tom Fox Appointed Aston Villa CEO as Gunners Unveil Replacement

English Premier League team Aston Villa have announced former Arsenal Chief Commercial Officer Tom Fox as their new Chief Executive Officer.

Tom’s background in the broader sports industry, as well as his past five years as Chief Commercial Officer at Arsenal, makes him an ideal fit to lead Villa in the increasingly competitive environment of the Barclays Premier League.

Villa Chairman Randy Lerner said: “I was delighted and even flattered by Tom’s interest in the Villa job. His achievements at Arsenal speak for themselves and, above all, his reputation as a leader and team builder makes him, to my mind, a great fit to take our club forward.”

Tom has built an extensive and hugely impressive résumé in the sports-marketing industry over more than 25 years.

In addition to opening the NBA’s first office in Asia as the Managing Director, Tom has also headed up Sports Marketing for Nike in both Asia and the US and held the same role for PepsiCo’s Gatorade brand before he joined Arsenal in 2009.

“First of all I would be remiss not to thank everyone at the Arsenal for all their support over the past five years. I consider it a huge privilege to have represented the club and to have helped move it forward,” he said.

“Aston Villa has always been an important club in English football and it has a long and rich history of success at the top of the game.

“The chance to work with Randy, Paul Lambert and Robin to help restore the Club to its rightful place in the Premier League is a challenge I’m really energised by and greatly looking forward to.”

Arsenal Appoint New CCO

Arsenal have moved quickly to replace the gap in their commercial team with the promotion of Vinai Venkatesham as its Chief Commercial Officer.

Venkatesham has been with Arsenal for four years since joining from the London 2012 Organising Committee, where he played a key role in raising the £2 billion of private finance required to fund the Games through sponsorship, licensing, hospitality and broadcast deals.  

He is currently Arsenal’s Sales and Marketing Director, where he sits on both the Arsenal Executive team and the board of Arsenal Broadband Limited who own the Club’s media rights.  He will step up into his new role after leading the sale and negotiations of the recent partnership with PUMA and the contract renewal with Emirates.

In this new role, as well as his existing responsibility for Partnerships, Hospitality, Marketing, CRM and Business Strategy, Venkatesham will oversee the Retail and Arsenal Media teams.

Arsenal Chief Executive Officer Ivan Gazidis said: “Tom has played a leading role in our development over the past five seasons and I take it as a great compliment that members of the Arsenal team are sought after for the top jobs in the industry.  I wish Tom all the best in his new position.

“Having worked closely with him over the past four seasons, I am very confident that, in Vinai, we have another top class leader who will continue to drive forward the Club’s off field success.”

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