Mets hire ex-Bloomberg Media CEO M. Scott Havens to run business operations
More than a year after Sandy Alderson stepped down from his role as team president, the Mets have finally hired someone to run the business side of the club. M. Scott Havens, the former CEO of Bloomberg Media, is set to join the Mets in January as the president of business operations, the club announced Monday.
Havens will report directly to owner Steve Cohen and oversee all senior leadership functions and the day-to-day business operations.
“Bringing someone on board of Scott’s caliber is an exciting development for the Mets organization,” Cohen and his wife Alex said in a statement. “Scott has vast experience leading world-class media and digital technology-led companies such as Bloomberg Media and Time Inc. and he’ll provide a modern vision and strategic direction for our organization.”
Havens will not be working with baseball operations, with the Mets letting David Stearns oversee his own department. This type of front office structure is common among most professional sports organizations and allows for a certain amount of autonomy for each department.
Havens comes to the Mets after holding C-Suite roles with digital media companies. After joining Bloomberg Media in 2015, the company experienced record revenue and audience growth. Prior to Bloomberg, Havens was the senior vice president of Time Inc., the president of The Atlantic and its affiliated publications, and he also held the title of executive director of Conde Nast Business Media.
The Mets will rely on his “strategic vision” and leadership to drive revenue and continue to help build the club’s brand. Cohen has talked about turning the Mets into an iconic brand that is identifiable around the world.
“The opportunity to join the Mets organization is a lifelong dream fulfilled,” Havens said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to build upon the great work under way, accelerating the push to modernize our strategy across the organization, driving new digital and media innovation, and ultimately, to provide our fans with the best experience in sports.”
The Mets have been without a head of business ops for a year. Alderson announced that he would be vacating his role in September 2022, and once the 2022 season was complete, he transitioned into an advisory role. Alderson had two stints with the Mets as a general manager and one as the team president.
Alderson was hired by the Wilpon family to run the baseball operations after the 2010 season, replacing Omar Minaya. In the midst of the club’s fallout from Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, Alderson worked with a limited budget and prioritized player development.
The Mets reached the World Series in 2015 under Alderson’s leadership, but they never came close to returning.
In 2018, Alderson left the organization to undergo cancer treatments and briefly returned to the Oakland Athletics in 2019. However, in a surprising move, Cohen brought back the widely-respected baseball executive after purchasing a controlling interest in the team in 2020. As the team president, Alderson oversaw baseball and business operations, but had to shift his attention to the baseball ops side after the club fired general manager Jared Porter and placed acting GM Zack Scott on administrative leave because of a DWI arrest. Scott was later acquitted.
Alderson was relied on heavily in the early days of the Cohen era to help with the transition. With the hiring of Havens, the transition is complete.
