Michael Crowley is the former president of the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball. He served as president of the Athletics from September 1998 until November 2016, which is the longest in Oakland Athletics’ history. He was succeeded by Dave Kaval. A limited partner in the Athletics ownership group, Crowley was responsible for the overall day-to-day functioning of the Athletics' organization both on the business and baseball sides of the operation, working directly with former owner and managing partner Lew Wolff. Crowley developed a business model with goals and objectives designed to provide an affordable entertainment product on the field, as well as delivering the absolute highest levels of customer service to fans attending games at the O.co Coliseum. Consistently in the lowest payroll tier, the franchise appeared in the playoffs eight times in 18 years while Crowley served as president. Crowley recognized the importance of using the sports platform to bring attention to a women’s cause. In 1999, Crowley and his wife, Kathy, ignited a movement as one of the first major league sports franchises to recognize a women’s cause. Since 1999, the A’s annual Breast Cancer Awareness Day has raised almost $1.7 million for breast cancer research and education. Each year hundreds of survivors also participate in the on-field celebration of life and hope ceremony. This movement is now a common occurrence throughout Major League Baseball and the National Football League.
Michael Crowley directed the acquisition and operations of soccer for the Major League Soccer franchise relaunch in the San Jose market. He served as the team’s president from the re-launch in 2007 to October 2010 and then spent seven seasons with the Earthquakes as the managing director. Michael Crowley currently is a member of the San Jose Earthquakes Board of Directors. The club expanded significantly on the business side under Crowley, including the construction of state-of-the-art soccer-only facility Avaya Stadium in the Bay Area. Games were first played at Buck Shaw Stadium at Santa Clara University before Avaya opened in 2015. The club has hosted games at Stanford Stadium seven years in a row, each drawing massive crowds - including sellouts each of the last four years. The Earthquakes also played in the inaugural event at the San Francisco 49ers’ new venue, Levi’s Stadium, on August 2, 2014. That event drew a crowd of 48,765. Crowley was instrumental in developing a partnership with Tottenham Hotspur and during the 2010 season helping to bring the English Premiership club to San Jose for a friendly on July 17, 2010, a match that drew a sellout crowd as well as a national television audience on ESPN. Under Crowley’s leadership in 2009, the Earthquakes signed a multi-million-dollar jersey sponsorship deal with Amway. He also played a key role in bringing the Night of Champions doubleheader to San Francisco, a doubleheader featuring the Earthquakes and Columbus Crew followed by FC Barcelona and Chivas de Guadalajara at Candlestick Park with 61,572 fans attending.
