Rob Manfred

Robert D. Manfred, Jr. was elected as the 10^th Commissioner in the history of Major League Baseball on August 14, 2014 by vote of the 30 Major League Clubs. He officially became the sport¡¯s leader on January 25, 2015. Manfred is in his third term as Commissioner, which will conclude following the 2028 season.

Since Manfred began as Commissioner, two labor agreements have continued MLB¡¯s streak of uninterrupted play on the field since 1995, an unprecedented span of at least 31 consecutive regular seasons. In a landmark transaction in 2017, The Walt Disney Company acquired a 75% stake in BAMTech, a leading technology platform and video streaming company created by MLB. In 2023, Manfred guided MLB¡¯s revolutionary on-field rule changes, which resulted in the sport¡¯s best time of game since 1985, its most stolen bases since 1987, a +9.6% increase in league-wide attendance, and widespread praise across the sports and media industries. The fan-driven steps dramatically improved pace of play, increased action, and led to more athleticism on the field. The 2023 season produced the sport¡¯s best year-over-year attendance increase since 1993, and MLB finished 2024 with over 71.3 million in attendance, an 11% increase over 2022. In ¡¯24, MLB posted its best time of game (2:36) since 1984 (2:35) and its most stolen bases in a season since 1915. MLB games in 2024 were 34 minutes shorter compared to 2021.

Manfred has overseen the development of closer relationships with youth baseball and softball organizations and has allocated new resources toward improving MLB¡¯s presence in the amateur ranks. Under his leadership in 2015, MLB launched its signature PLAY BALL youth engagement program, which has resulted in meaningful increases in baseball and softball participation, per the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA). Baseball and softball again combined to be the most participated sport in the United States among kids ages 6 to 12 with more than 6.5 million participants. In the first five years after the start of PLAY BALL, casual participation in baseball increased by nearly 90%.

Manfred has prioritized sustaining the game¡¯s international growth, including through global events like the 2023 World Baseball Classic. In 2016, MLB returned to Cuba for the first time since 1999 as the Tampa Bay Rays played an historic exhibition game vs. the Cuban National Team on March 22^nd at Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana, jointly attended by President Barack Obama and Cuban President Ra¨²l Castro. In 2018, MLB staged regular season games in Puerto Rico and Mexico. In 2019, MLB opened its regular season in Japan, played multiple series in Mexico, and held an historic June series in London, which were the sport¡¯s inaugural games in Europe. In 2024, MLB played its first-ever regular season games in South Korea. The Seoul Series marked one of four trips outside of the U.S. and Canada during 2024, MLB¡¯s largest international slate in history.

MLB has also taken the game to non-traditional domestic locations with groundbreaking events in recent seasons at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, home of the Little League World Series; and in Omaha, Nebraska, home of the NCAA¡¯s Men¡¯s College World Series. In August 2021 and again in August 2022, MLB held a regular season game at the famed Field of Dreams site in Iowa, celebrating the beloved baseball film. The 2021 White Sox-Yankees contest was MLB¡¯s most-watched regular season game since 1998. The day after Juneteenth in 2024, MLB held a tribute to the Negro Leagues by playing a game at Birmingham, Alabama¡¯s legendary Rickwood Field, where Willie Mays played as a teenager. The game at Rickwood Field also became the forum where MLB celebrated the Hall of Famer¡¯s life upon Willie¡¯s passing two days before the game. The Sports Business Journal selected MLB at Rickwood Field as its ¡°Best New Event¡± of 2024.

In 2020, Manfred oversaw the successful completion of a season impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, prioritizing health and safety in its operations and creativity on and off the field. MLB became the first sports league to start and finish a season during a pandemic, and by doing so in its home markets, baseball became a powerful visual example of a responsible return to the workplace for fans across the country. The 2020 season included a streak of 59 consecutive days without a positive test among players; a positivity rate of 0.05% among Major League players and staff; and a schedule with 99.8% of its 900 games played, missing only two games that had no Postseason ramifications.

Prior to being elected Commissioner, Manfred had served as MLB¡¯s Chief Operating Officer since 2013, managing the Commissioner¡¯s Office in New York on behalf of Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. From 1998-2013, Manfred served as Executive Vice President, overseeing labor relations, economics and league affairs and directing all collective bargaining with the MLBPA. Competitive balance has been a hallmark of MLB the last two decades, as there have been 16 different World Series Champions in the last 24 seasons, the most variety of champions in professional sports during that span. In addition, no Club has repeated as a World Champion since 2000, an active streak that is the longest in the history of not only MLB, but all professional sports. Manfred also represented MLB on all upgrades to the game¡¯s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, the toughest in American professional sports.

Under Manfred¡¯s leadership, MLB has formed core partnerships with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the Jackie Robinson Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer. In 2020, Manfred corrected a longtime mistake in the game¡¯s history by bringing the statistics and records of the Negro Leagues into MLB¡¯s historical record, which became official in 2024 following an independent review by a committee of experts. The move expands the visibility of the achievements of Negro Leagues ballplayers and allows future generations to learn about this pivotal chapter and its meaning to the sport more easily.

Manfred has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Sports Lawyers Association and the Partnership for Clean Competition. He currently serves on the Board of DREAM, a nonprofit that uses the power of teams to inspire youth to recognize their potential. In April 2016, Manfred received the Judge William B. Groat Award from his alma mater, honoring outstanding professional achievement and service to Cornell¡¯s ILR. In November 2017, Manfred received the Jacob K. Javits Lifetime Achievement Award from the Greater New York Chapter of the ALS Association for MLB¡¯s efforts against Lou Gehrig¡¯s Disease. In 2021, Manfred established MLB¡¯s new annual Lou Gehrig Day to continue the game¡¯s support in the fight against ALS.

Manfred attended Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York and is a 1980 graduate of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) at Cornell University. In 1983, he received his law degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was an articles editor of the Harvard Law Review. Manfred was a part of the Labor and Employment Law Section of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP, and became a partner in the firm in 1992.

Manfred, a native of Rome, New York who was born in 1958, has been married to his wife Colleen since 1982. They have four adult children and seven grandchildren.