8 minute read
Game Changer
KRISTI COLEMAN IS BREAKING BARRIERS AND REDEFINING LEADERSHIP FOR THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS.
BY LAUREN FILIPPINI (ALPHA CHI, BUTLER UNIVERSITY), MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
On September 22, 2024, millions witnessed NFL history as the Carolina Panthers and the Las Vegas Raiders faced off, marking the first time teams with female presidents competed. One of those women was Alpha Chi Omega sister Kristi Coleman.
Kristi, an initiate of the Theta Lambda chapter at Clemson University, became Panthers president in February 2022, only the second woman in history to work as an NFL team president. Sandra Douglass Morgan was named Raiders president in July 2022. Kristi and Sandra are currently the only two women presidents among the 32 NFL teams.
“Going into that moment, I didn’t think anything of it, but then it hit me that this is really important,” Kristi says. “It’s really important for young girls to see – and young boys to see – that they can be in these roles. If you see it, you can believe it, and then you can be it.”
And Kristi adds with a smile, “We did win that game, by the way.”
In 2024, Kristi was promoted to chief executive officer of Tepper Sports & Entertainment, continuing as president of the Panthers and now also overseeing all business operations of the company, which owns and operates the Panthers, Major League Soccer’s Charlotte Football Club and Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
WORKING HER WAY TO THE TOP
“Everyone always asks me, ‘Did you play sports?’” Kristi says. “I did play in high school, [but] I didn’t play when I went to Clemson.” Instead, Kristi describes her path to the top of an NFL team as “serendipitous.”
After graduating from Clemson with an undergraduate degree in accounting and then a master’s degree in professional accounting, Kristi moved to Charlotte to work as an auditor for Deloitte. Her first client in that role was the Panthers, and she spent months at the stadium skillfully performing her job.
In 2014, the Panthers hired Kristi as controller and director of finance, and then while she was on maternity leave in 2019, she was offered the promotion to vice president and chief financial officer. Kristi kept rising up the ranks. In 2022, she was promoted again to be the Panthers’ president, followed by her latest promotion in 2024 to chief executive officer of Tepper Sports & Entertainment.
In the press release announcing her role as CEO, David Tepper, the owner and executive chairman of Tepper Sports & Entertainment, shared, “Drawing on more than a decade of experience at this organization, Kristi is a proven leader with the insight and expertise to guide us through this pivotal moment in our evolution.”
In her expanded role, Kristi is responsible for carrying out Tepper Sports & Entertainment’s strategic goal of enhancing organizational effectiveness and collaboration through streamlining operations so that the company can grow in competitive sports and entertainment.
Kristi says she couldn’t have predicted this path for herself, but by being in the “right place at the right time,” as well as through her dedication and skill, she is making a difference for the teams, the fans and the community at large.
“It’s just been a dream I didn’t know I had,” Kristi says, “but it’s been pretty amazing.”
A LOOK INTO LIFE AS THE CEO
While her days are varied – from game days to meetings to community outreach – the one constant in Kristi’s schedule is dropping her kids off at school each morning. “That’s non-negotiable,” she says.
After drop-off, Kristi heads to either Atrium Health Performance Park, where Charlotte FC is headquartered, or Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers. In managing the business operations, she oversees everything from ticketing to media to community engagement. She says, “Every day is different, but exciting.”
Kristi’s new CEO role puts Charlotte’s professional soccer team business operations under her purview, and she’s loved embracing the soccer culture in the city. “At any soccer event we have, it seems like people show up and show out, so I’m really proud of that,” she says. “The soccer community has been accepting of me and this role in our team. It’s been fantastic.”
Kristi says it might surprise people to know that she doesn’t select the players for the soccer or football teams. “I liaise with Dan Morgan, who is our general manager on the football side, and Zoran Krneta, who is our sporting director on the soccer side – so we meet and we talk a lot. But I’m not running their side of things. I think people are often surprised in sports that there is a whole business side associated with it.”
When Kristi began her role as Panthers president, she took the time to introduce herself to staff and continues to do so as CEO, noting that she’s rarely at her desk. She explains, “I think it’s really important to know the staff. Everyone should feel valued and feel part of the team.”
It’s one of her leadership qualities. Another is to lead with kindness.
“First and foremost, you have to be kind,” Kristi says. “People will want to work for you, work with you, work in collaboration with you if you’re kind to them.” She adds that leaders should also be passionate about what they do. “I love what I do. I love the people that are here and that want to be a part of this organization.”
CREATING A LASTING LEGACY
That history-making match-up between the NFL’s female presidents was an important moment for Kristi in recognizing the example she’s setting as a woman in the sports industry. However, she says she doesn’t really think about that on the day-to-day.
“I don’t walk into a room and say, ‘I’m the only female.’ You just walk in and do your job right,” she explains.
Doing her job right has resulted in Kristi playing a major role in several milestones for Tepper Sports & Entertainment. The latest accomplishment she is extremely proud of is the approval of an $800-million renovation plan for Bank of America Stadium, approved by the Charlotte City Council in June 2024 as a public-private partnership with Tepper Sports & Entertainment. With a planned completion in five to six years, the renovations will include modernized infrastructure, new seating, improved accessibility, community gathering spaces and more – enhancing the experience for Panthers fans as well as concert-goers and attendees at a variety of other entertainment events hosted at the stadium.
“It was our team collectively and the community collectively locking arms together for this,” she says. “I’m so proud of so many people in that process because it’s really going to be great for the city and the region.”
As CEO, Kristi is passionate about community initiatives, such as advocating for girl’s flag football to become a varsity sport in North Carolina and South Carolina. And building the fan experience is a key part of her role. Kristi saw that in action when the Panthers played a regular season game against the New York Giants in Munich, Germany in 2024. Kristi and her team put in massive efforts behind the scenes to set up a great fan experience.
“We didn’t just show up and play in Germany. We spent years building different programs,” she explains, pointing to flag football clinics, legendary players visiting the country and many more initiatives to build local fan engagement. “It really was a ‘pinch-me’ moment because it was so cool to see the culmination of all our hard work. … It was so incredible when we got there and people chose to put on Carolina Panthers jerseys.”
Kristi can’t help but add, “And we also won the game, so that always helps.”
For an Alpha Chi Omega collegian who wants to follow in Kristi’s footsteps, she shares some advice: “In college, I would tell her to participate and be as active as she can. Network and meet as many people as possible. And continue to be kind to people because people want to be around people who are nice to them. And you have to do well in school, too, so I would say you have to study and work hard.”
Kristi also says her experience of going through sorority recruitment had a lasting impact. “That whole experience is, I think, so important because you put yourself in a situation where you’re a little bit uncomfortable … but that’s what life is! It’s putting yourself out there and being uncomfortable and making it through those situations,” she says. “Then coming out of it surrounded by a great group of women who support you and love you … and then you give that back.”
