Major League Baseball promotes Uzma Rawn Dowler to Chief Marketing Officer
Major League Baseball announced today that Uzma Rawn Dowler has been promoted to Chief Marketing Officer starting in January 2025 and reporting to MLB Deputy Commissioner, Business and Media, Noah Garden, in her new role. Rawn will now lead MLB¡¯s global marketing efforts partnering with league executives across all operations, revenue and technology departments and the 30 MLB Clubs to help present Baseball to its fans, grow the sport, and reach new audiences.
The 2024 Championship Season marked Rawn¡¯s 10th at MLB, where she most recently held the title of Senior Vice President, Global Corporate Partnerships. She will continue to oversee the global corporate partnerships team reporting into MLB Network President and MLB Executive Vice President, Sponsorship Sales, Bill Morningstar. Rawn brings nearly 20 years of experience working hand-in-hand with Fortune 500 companies and sports teams to achieve their marketing goals ¨C first at the National Basketball Association (NBA) before Premier Partnerships and MLB.
¡°Uzma has been an invaluable resource for our industry and this expanded role is a natural evolution for her to make even larger contributions in helping to grow the sport,¡± said Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr. ¡°Uzma already helps Baseball reach new, diverse audiences through her collaborations with our corporate partners where she provides marketing solutions for some of the biggest brands in the world. Now, combined with her energetic personality, never-ending commitment to the game and cross-industry relationships, Uzma can help bring Baseball closer to our fans and partners alike ¨C both in the U.S. and around the world.¡±
Throughout her 10 seasons at MLB, Rawn has worked closely with marketing counterparts at such blue chip brands that sponsor MLB as Adobe, Budweiser, Capital One, Chevrolet, Corona, Gatorade, GEICO, Google, Mastercard and T-Mobile as they¡¯ve strategically engaged with the league and advertised to the massive audiences delivered by Major League Baseball¡¯s multi-media platforms and media partners.
Prior to her tenure at MLB, Rawn worked at Premier Partnerships where she was responsible for new business development and growth. In that role, Rawn secured sponsorship agreements for MLB and NBA teams, the AFL and landmark New York properties like Grand Central Terminal and the Intrepid Museum. Starting in 2006, Rawn spent four years at the National Basketball Association in the league¡¯s Team Marketing & Business Operations group where she advised teams within the NBA, WNBA and NBA D-League on marketing, sponsorship sales strategy and activation best practice initiatives to drive growth and team revenues.
In 2024 and 2020, Sports Business Journal named Rawn to its prestigious Forty Under 40 classes, and in 2015 Rawn was a Forbes Magazine 30 Under 30 in Sports honoree. SportsPro and the Ivy Sports Symposium also named Rawn to their 10 NEXT Class of 2013, which recognized 10 outstanding sports executives under the age of 30.
Outside of MLB, Rawn continues to support the local community in North Carolina where she was raised. In addition to personal contributions, she has helped to raise funds to build and open a new mosque in the community. Rawn previously sat on the Board of Directors for the John Starks Foundation where she helped the organization focus on minimizing the financial burdens that college students experience. A graduate of Ithaca College with a degree in Sport Management, Rawn resides in New York with her husband and three young children.