’Caps hire veteran Italian league executive Pannes as new CEO

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Whitecaps have taken another step toward healing the bruises the Major League Soccer team took both on and off the field last season.

The club announced Tuesday it has hired Mark Pannes, who has over 30 years in sports management, as the Whitecaps’ chief executive officer.

“I think there is a remarkable amount of upside here,” Pannes said Tuesday. “You have committed ownership, you have a stable and sophisticated senior staff.

“We are not constrained by a 25,000-seat building.”

In his new role Pannes will oversee all business aspects of the club. The Whitecaps had operated several years without a CEO.

Jeff Mallett, the Whitecaps’ co-owner and executive chair said structure and leadership is the foundation for any successful enterprise.

During his 30 years Pannes has had experience working with Italian Serie A club AS Roma and the NBA’s New York Knicks.

“I’ve labelled him as a student of the game, or the business of sport,” said Mallett. “This is what he’s done, and this is what he’s going to do.

“We like the diversity. The Roma is a great to have, he’s touched some football. He knows what a boot room smells like. Also . . . he cut his teeth for 10 years at Madison Square Garden. That’s a good place to get your first decade under your belt.”

Pannes, who was born in Boston but moved to Austin, Texas, when he was 17, was attracted to the Whitecaps because of the city and the league.

“I’m a big believer in marquee clubs and marquee cities,” he said.