M. Scott Havens, the CEO of Bloomberg Media, the consumer media unit of Michael Bloomberg‘s Bloomberg L.P., is moving from a long run in the media industry to the sports world as the new president of business operations for the New York Mets baseball team. According to a press release by the Mets yesterday (Nov. 27), Havens will begin his new role at the start of 2024. His position at Bloomberg will be filled in the interim by Karen Saltster, Bloomberg’s chief financial and operating officer.
Before joining Bloomberg almost ten years ago, Havens held executive roles at various news organizations including Conde Nast, Atlantic Media and Time Inc. In those roles, he especially worked in developing digital strategies for media companies. He said he plans to bring that experience to his new role at the Mets.
“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,” Havens said in a statement yesterday.
The owners of the Mets, hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen and his wife, Alex, said in the same press release Havens will bring a “modern vision and strategic direction” to the organization.
Earlier this year, Havens led Bloomberg’s efforts to have a bigger presence in Hollywood by investing in more original video content. He hired a head of intellectual property partnerships, Cassie Thornton, to negotiate deals with streaming and production companies in Los Angeles for potential scripted and unscripted projects under Bloomberg.
Havens has been with Bloomberg for eight years, holding executive roles in digital and media distribution, user growth and strategic partnerships. He was named CEO at the start of 2022, replacing former CEO Justin Smith who left to found the tech news platform Semafor with Ben Smith, the former editor-and-chief of Buzzfeed and a former New York Times journalist.
