Dean L. Howes Jr. (born October 7, 1952) is an American businessman in the field of sports management. He was the first commissioner of Major League Rugby which began its inaugural season in 2018. A former partner in SCP Worldwide, Howes was previously chief executive of

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 2 ...

, a member of Major League Soccer. Howes was also, with SCP Worldwide, a managing partner of National Hockey League franchise

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

Early career

Howes began with pharmaceutical company

Bristol-Myers Squibb The Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMS) is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in New York City, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consistently ranks on the ''Fortune'' 500 list of the lar ...

(BMS) in a 19-year business career spanning New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, rising to the position of Senior Director of Business Development. He left BMS in 1997 to become CEO and founding executive of Professional Teams Physicians. The company grew to represent over a thousand sports medicine practitioners around the country, across professional teams in the NBA,

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

, NFL,

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

and

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Sports management

Howes became a partner in SCP Worldwide (Sports Capital Partners), a New York City-based sports, entertainment and media company founded in 2002. Howes and SCP Worldwide were managing partners of National Hockey League (NHL) team

and their home arena the Savvis Center (since renamed the

Scottrade Center The Enterprise Center is an 18,096-seat arena located in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Its primary tenant is the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League, but it is also used for other functions, such as NCAA basketball, N ...

). He was appointed chief executive of the

soccer franchise, a Major League Soccer (MLS) team owned by SCP playing in Salt Lake City, Utah. He later served as the vice-chairman and oversaw the construction of

Rio Tinto Stadium America First Field (formerly Rio Tinto Stadium and referred to as The RioT) is an American soccer-specific stadium in Sandy, Utah, that serves as home stadium for Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. The stadium opened on October 9, 2008, ...

, the 20,000-seat home of Real Salt Lake in

Sandy, Utah Sandy is a city in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, located in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. The population of Sandy was 87,461 at the 2010 census, making it the sixth-largest city in Utah. The population is currently estimated ...

. Howes played a role in making Real Salt Lake the first U.S. professional sports team to sell the naming rights to the front of their jerseys. This sparked a trend throughout the MLS, in which now all teams have followed suit with front jersey sponsors. In 2014, Howes partnered with Findlay Entertainment in their bid to bring another major sports franchise to the Las Vegas market. He joined the executive management team of Rugby Utah in 2016, before being appointed as the commissioner of Major League Rugby ahead of the competition's inaugural 2018 season.

Community service

Howes has served on the board of directors for the Salt Lake chapter of community organisation

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

. He was a

mission president Mission president is a priesthood leadership position in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). A mission president presides over a geographic area known as a mission and the missionaries serving in the mission. Depending o ...

and ecclesiastical leader of about 200 of the

LDS Church The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The c ...

missionaries in central

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

between 2010 and 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howes, Dean 1952 births Living people Major League Soccer executives Real Salt Lake non-playing staff American soccer chairmen and investors