March 14, 2018 – Hornets Sports & Entertainment (HSE) announced today the promotions of Fred Whitfield to President & Vice Chairman, Pete Guelli to Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer and James Jordan to Executive Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer.
“I’m extremely proud of the strides that we have made as a business under the guidance of our leadership team,” said Hornets Managing Partner Curtis Polk. “Our entire staff has worked very hard to improve every aspect of our business operations from both the team and arena standpoint. The commitment from our fans and partners since our rebrand to the Hornets has been second to none and we are very excited about our organization’s future.”
Under the leadership of the executives above, HSE has seen dramatic growth for both the Hornets franchise and the Spectrum Center’s arena operations in recent years. The leadership team spearheaded the massive rebrand from the Charlotte Bobcats back to the Hornets, recently extended the team’s local television contract with Fox Sports Southeast and has overseen record levels of improvement in all facets of the company’s business.
As the manager of Spectrum Center, HSE has worked with the city of Charlotte to make it the premiere destination for sports and entertainment in the Carolinas. 2017 marked the most successful year in the arena’s history.
In addition to the above promotions, Polk has been named Managing Partner after previously serving as Vice Chairman of HSE since 2010. Whitfield, who reports to Polk, has been with HSE for nearly 12 years, previously serving as President & COO. Guelli joined HSE in 2009 as the organization’s Executive Vice President and Chief Sales & Marketing Officer. Jordan becomes Chief Administrative Officer after serving as Executive Vice President of Operations since 2013. Guelli and Jordan will continue to report to Whitfield in their new roles.