The Los Angeles Chargers have named Mark Tamar as the team's first-ever vice president of fan experience and retained Los Angeles-based event producer Marianne Herman as an events consultant.
Tamar, who joins the Chargers with more than 25 years of experience in the field – the last five as managing director of fan development and game presentation for the Seahawks – has been a driving force behind Seattle's highly-regarded game entertainment and fan experience initiatives. A veteran of big event entertainment, from the Super Bowl to venue production at the XXVIII Olympic Games in Athens, Tamar has worked in every major North American sports league during his career.
Herman, a freelance producer who previously worked for The Walt Disney Company and as director of events for the Anschutz Entertainment Group, has created live sports and special events for the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, UCLA Bruins, NHL, NBA, NFL and USTA, as well as corporate clients and festivals such as T-Mobile, City National, Coca-Cola and the BET Experience.
"We're excited about these hires for two important reasons," said President of Business Operations A.G. Spanos. "First and foremost, we want to deliver an unparalleled game experience to our fans. To that end, we also want StubHub Center to be a loud, intimidating environment – one that makes the game difficult for our opponents. Throughout their respective careers, both Mark and Marianne have helped create an atmosphere where fans not only feel like they are part of the team, they have an actual impact on the game. Given Mark's long track record of innovation and creativity, coupled with Marianne's history of executing large-scale events in Los Angeles, we know Chargers games at StubHub Center will be fun, exciting and memorable for our fans."
A graduate of UCLA, Tamar began his career in sports entertainment as a producer for the Los Angeles Lakers during the team's late 1980s championship runs before moving across town to lead the game entertainment efforts for the Los Angeles Dodgers over the next decade. He then joined the NHL's Washington Capitals as senior director of game operations. Over the course of his seven-plus years in the nation's capital, Washington won multiple awards for game presentation. Staying in the NHL, Tamar joined the St. Louis Blues as vice president of game entertainment and event marketing in 2007. During his tenure, the Blues received recognition as the best entertainment show in hockey – an award voted on by Tamar's peers. During his subsequent tenure with the Seahawks, Tamar also handled entertainment for the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer, adding new innovations to one of soccer's most rabid fan bases.
While Tamar will be tasked with day-to-day oversight and management of all fan entertainment initiatives, both he and Herman will collaborate on creating best-in-show game and overall event build-outs for the Chargers.
Tamar will start with the Chargers the week of May 29, 2017. Herman began consulting with the team earlier this month.
