Five years ago, Al Guido and Chip Bowers were competitors. “We just watched everything Al did at Levi’s Stadium (as 49ers COO) and drafted off of them and tried to slingshot past them,” said Bowers, who was CMO of the Golden State Warriors from 2012 to 2018.
Now they’re teammates.
Bowers is set to join consulting firm Elevate Sports Ventures as president. Guido, who is also the 49ers president, is Elevate’s CEO and Chairman. In addition to his time with the Warriors, Bowers was the president of business operations for the Miami Marlins and has logged stops with the Orlando Magic, Seattle SuperSonics, and San Diego Padres.
“His CV speaks for itself,” Guido told Sportico. “I’ve always known that I’ve wanted to hire a president of the company, but it had to be the right person.”
Bowers’ addition comes as Elevate marks two years in business, growing through a period of deep uncertainty in the world of sports sales and marketing.
“We’re all trying to climb out of a hole,” Guido said. “There’s never been a time certainly in my history where we’re all literally dealing with the same challenge.”
Elevate currently has a roster of over 30 clients and a staff of more than 70. The company is also promoting Flavil Hampsten to COO and Shawn Doss to executive vice president of sales and marketing. Its focuses currently range from venue renovations and stadium licenses to corporate hospitality and customer research.
“Chip and I have spoken a lot about what the industry is going to need, and Elevate as a whole is prepared to invest right now,” Guido said. “Buy or build, you’re going to hear a lot from Elevate in the coming months.”