Orioles announce changes to business side

While it's been quiet on the baseball side this afternoon, with no news from the Orioles regarding players joining or leaving the 40-man roster, announcements were made on changes to the business side.

T.J. Brightman has been hired as senior vice president and chief revenue officer. Jennifer Grondahl received a promotion to senior vice president of community development and communications, and Greg Bader has been promoted to senior vice president of administration and experience.

They join Lisa Tolson, who was named senior vice president of human resources prior to the season, as the senior management team in charge of the club's day-to-day business operations.

The Brightman hiring and Gondahl's promotion had been reported last week, though the titles were unknown.

Brightman used to work for the Orioles as vice president of corporate sales and sponsorships until leaving in 2005. He spent 19 months with them prior to joining the Bel Air-based public relations firm A Bright Idea LLC as the head of its new sports marketing division.

The sides reconnected when the Orioles began using Brightman as a consultant in 2012.

Brightman's new responsibilities include ticket and corporate sales for Baltimore and Sarasota, Fla. revenue operations.

Here's more on Brightman from the team-issued press release:

"With a focus on bringing visitors to downtown Baltimore from throughout Maryland and the surrounding area, Brightman brings outside industry expertise and the business acumen to drive tourism and create local economic impact. As the Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, Brightman's background in media and sports industry revenue generation will allow him to employ fresh strategies to attract new fans and retain existing ones, helping Oriole Park at Camden Yards build on the nearly 75 million fans who have passed through its gates. In his new role with the Orioles, Brightman's extensive sports marketing background and passion for the team fuels his focus on revenue generation."

Grondahl previously had served as director of corporate and community affairs, joining the Florida operations group in February 2018. She's now tasked with building and maintaining relationships with partners, community leaders, civic organizations, fans and the media.

The new release adds that Grondahl will "infuse a community outreach and communication focus in every aspect of the organization, building upon the Orioles' existing community presence to create positive impact locally. Over the last two years, Grondahl expanded corporate and community partnerships for the Orioles' Sarasota operation, which generates more than $92 million in annual economic impact, as certified by Sarasota County and the State of Florida.

"Grondahl has overseen community programs such as the 'Eat, Train, Live Like the PrO's' Health & Fitness Challenge, taught to more than 4,500 children annually in all Sarasota County public middle schools, and Athletes & Artists Play for Kids fundraisers, benefitting students in music and arts education. She holds 16 years of marketing, public relations, fundraising and event management experience, both as an entrepreneur and leading teams in the private and nonprofit sectors."

Bader has been in the Orioles organization for 25 years, most recently heading its communications and marketing efforts.

Per the release: Bader will focus on "identifying and executing new concepts to blend with recent additions such as the Birdland Memberships program, Kids Cheer Free initiative, the upgraded Eutaw Street facade and Boog's BBQ brand, new local cuisine options, and other special events and theme nights. Bader will focus heavily on continuing the progress made while overseeing areas such as the fan experience, ballpark operations, customer service and brand marketing."

"Our partnership group is delighted to announce the further development of our senior management team," executive vice president John Angelos said in a statement.

"This diverse group of executives is the rare combination of veteran entertainment, sports, and business leaders, including both long-time Orioles staff members and professionals recruited from private industry, each of whom wanted to be a part of what we are building at Camden Yards. This is an exciting time for the club and for Baltimore, and the future of both the hometown team and our community is in very good hands."