David Jenkins is in his 22nd season with the Browns and leads the team’s daily business operations and long-term vision, directing all organizational goals related to the business, including financial management, revenue generation, marketing, stadium operations, government relations and administration. He is also leading the team’s future stadium planning process in effort to create a viable, long-term solution for Northeast Ohio. This effort has resulted in collaboration with public officials to secure a public-private partnership to support a new domed Huntington Bank Field in Brook Park that improves the fan experience, attracts large-scale events and drives economic activity to the region. Additionally, Jenkins oversees the CrossCountry Mortgage Campus expansion project in Berea, which broke ground in June of 2025 on a mixed-use development adjacent to the team’s practice facility.
In addition to his responsibilities with the Browns, Jenkins also serves as the President of Haslam Sports Group (HSG). He played a pivotal role in the Haslam and Johnson families’ creation of HSG, after they acquired the investor-operator rights to Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew, which officially transferred to HSG and partner Dr. Pete Edwards on Jan. 1, 2019. Jenkins was highly involved throughout each stage of an expedited franchise transition that kept the original MLS franchise in its rightful home city.
After acquiring operating rights to the Crew, HSG leadership directed the successful construction of Lower.com Field – a finalist for SportsBusiness Journals’ 2022 “Sports Facility of the Year” award – and OhioHealth Performance Center, a new training facility for the team. Lower.com Field is undergoing an expansion of premium areas, set to be complete in 2026. Under HSG, the Crew also raised the MLS Cup in 2020 and 2023, their second and third league titles in club history.
Jenkins also helped the family secure a controlling interest in the Milwaukee Bucks, as the NBA Board of Governors approved an HSG ownership share purchase in 2023, giving the family-run conglomerate ownership stakes in three of the five major North American professional sports leagues. The Bucks investment also includes control and operation of Fiserv Forum; the Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin Sports Science Center, the team’s training center, the Wisconsin Herd, the Bucks G League affiliate; and Bucks Gaming, the team’s 2K League affiliate.
HSG’s mission is to engage and unite communities through premier sports and entertainment experiences. It strives to create world-class organizations that achieve sustainable success, provide a best-in-class fan experience, and give back to their region while serving as stewards of true community assets. Jenkins vets all HSG sports and entertainment investment opportunities and leads the strategic evaluation across all entities to ensure operational alignment while creating crossorganizational efficiencies. HSG’s current portfolio includes the Cleveland Browns, operating rights to the Columbus Crew, a controlling interest in the Milwaukee Bucks and current investments in the WNBA, Misfits Gaming Group, StatusPro, Jackpot.com, Wicket, ChargeFUZE, ManCan, Adelphi Bank, Aston Martin Racing, Courtside VC, TMRW Sports, Homage and Dude Perfect.
Jenkins acted as one of the Browns’ primary advocates, along with Dee and Jimmy Haslam, Whitney and J.W. Johnson and Haslam Sports Group executives, to bring the NFL Draft to Northeast Ohio. On May 22, 2019, Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL announced that Cleveland would host the 2021 NFL Draft, in partnership with the City of Cleveland, Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and Destination Cleveland. Hosted April 29-May 1, Huntington Bank Field and the lakefront served as the main hub for the 2021 NFL Draft in Cleveland, one of the country’s largest events responsibly held with comprehensive COVID-19 protocols since the start of the pandemic. The event welcomed approximately 160,000 NFL and Browns fans in-person, including the league’s NFL Draft Experience within Huntington Bank Field, and averaged 6.1 million viewers across TV and digital platforms, making it the third most-watched Draft in league history.
Prior to being elevated to President, Jenkins spent seven seasons as the organization’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. He joined the Browns in October 2004 as a financial and business analyst, Jenkins also held positions as the club’s director of finance (2006), vice president of finance (2007-10), senior vice president of finance & administration (2010-12) and Chief Financial Officer (2012-2018). In 2007, he was the team’s representative at the National Football League’s management training program at Stanford University and was a participant in the Leadership Cleveland Class of 2009.
Jenkins began his professional career at Arthur Andersen LLP, where he served as a senior auditor from 1997-2002. He also worked in business development and auditing at KPMG LLP, Proviti Inc. and STERIS Corporation prior to joining the Browns.
Jenkins, who is on Baldwin Wallace University’s Board of Trustees, is a member of the board of directors for the Cleveland Browns Foundation, the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, and Cleveland Development Advisors, and previously contributed as a board member of the MetroHealth Foundation, Cuyahoga Community College Foundation, Achievement Centers for Children, Greater Cleveland Food Bank, the Berea Chamber of Commerce and Lakewood Catholic Academy. While with the Browns, he also served as an adjunct professor at his alma mater, Baldwin Wallace University, where he taught a class on finance in the sports industry.
A 2018 Cleveland Crain’s Business C-Suite COO honoree, Jenkins is a native of East Rochester, N.Y. and earned his B.S. in business administration from Baldwin Wallace in 1997. He now resides in Strongsville with his wife, Ada. The couple has two sons, Tony and Sonny.
