Dodgers Executive Lon Rosen Moves to Lakers as President of Business Operations
Lon Rosen, the long-serving executive vice president and chief marketing officer of the dodgers, has been named the Los Angeles Lakers' president of business operations. The hire matters now as the franchise undergoes an ownership transition and prepares for a near-term reshaping of its business leadership.
Development details
The Lakers have tapped Rosen to replace Tim Harris, who will leave his post at the end of the season after a decades-long tenure with the franchise. Rosen has held his role with the Dodgers since 2012 and is credited with overseeing sustained year-to-year revenue growth and leading the club in attendance during much of his time there.
upon taking the Lakers role, Rosen thanked the team’s leadership and outlined his priorities: doing right by employees and partners while ensuring the club provides an unparalleled experience for fans locally and internationally. He also specifically acknowledged the Lakers' governor and the general manager and said he looked forward to working with the front-office team to implement his objectives.
Context and pressure points: Dodgers link
The move follows a shift in the Lakers’ ownership structure after the franchise was sold for a record $10 billion valuation. The new majority owner already controls the Dodgers, and the hire signals an early effort to align the Lakers’ business apparatus with a model that executive leadership views as successful. Rosen’s background includes an early career stint with the Lakers as an intern in the 1980s and later roles in sports business that preceded his long tenure with the Dodgers.
The sale itself followed internal debate within the family that had long controlled the team; the team’s governor has said she believed her father would have approved the transaction. New ownership has already begun making changes intended to replicate operational success seen in downtown Los Angeles, and Rosen’s arrival is presented by the organization as part of that strategic reorientation.
Immediate impact
The most immediate effects will be on the Lakers’ business operations staff, commercial partners and fan-facing initiatives. Rosen’s stated focus on employees, partners and the fan experience positions the role to touch sponsorships, revenue strategy, venue experience and marketing. The incoming president explicitly thanked both the general manager and the team governor, underscoring that those executives will remain central figures in the organization’s decision-making for the near future.
For fans and corporate partners, the hire suggests continuity in some leadership layers even as ownership shifts. It also creates a direct personnel bridge from one local major-sports organization to another, reinforcing expectations of closer collaboration or shared practices between the two franchises.
Forward outlook
Tim Harris’ departure at season’s end sets a clear, confirmed milestone in the transition; the team has signaled that Rosen will assume responsibilities tied to that timeline. The organization has also indicated plans for additional front-office staffing changes in the coming months, with an explicit aim of modeling parts of the Lakers’ business structure on the approach used by the Dodgers.
What makes this notable is the direct movement of a long-tenured Dodgers executive into a top Lakers business role in the wake of a record-setting sale. The timing matters because it places the business leadership transition squarely within the same calendar as the ownership handoff, creating an early test of whether operational strategies from one franchise can be adapted successfully to another. Confirmed next steps are the end-of-season transition for Harris and the continued integration of Rosen into the Lakers’ front office; further staffing moves have been presented as forthcoming and will be the next milestones to watch as the club executes its stated plan.
