Tony Tavares

Tony Tavares

• School Roger Williams College

• Born October 17, 1949 in Fall River, MA USA

Biographical Information

Tony Tavares served as president of both the Anaheim Angels and the Montréal Expos.

An accountant by trade, he first became involved in sports as the controller of the Providence Civic Center in Providence, RI then became president of Spectator Management Group, a company specialized in managing sports venues, principally hockey arenas. From there he was hired by the Disney Corporation to manage their new expansion franchise in the National Hockey League, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, in 1993. The successful launch of the franchise led to his appointment as team president of the Angels on May 15, 1996, after Disney purchased the California Angels, who were renamed the next year. He ran the two franchises simultaneously for a spell as head of "Disney Sports Enterprises". He resigned from the position on January 4, 2002, as Disney was readying the sale of the baseball team to Arturo Moreno, a sale that was completed the following year. During his time, he worked in the conversation of Anaheim Stadium to a baseball-only facility and served on various American League committees.

Tavares remained employed in baseball, after leaving the Angels as Commissioner Bud Selig named him president of the Expos on February 12 that same year. MLB had landed into Major League Baseball's lap as part of the maneuverings that made Jeffrey Loria the owner of the Florida Marlins. Originally, MLB had wanted the team to be contracted but when that plan failed due to resistance from the Minnesota Twins, they had to scramble to put together a front office from scratch with spring training about to get under way. His mission was to prepare the team for sale to a new owner, preferably in a new city. This mission ended up taking three years, and involved MLB deciding on relocation to Washington, DC after the 2004 season even though a new ownership group had not been identified. The team, now the Washington Nationals, was finally sold to Ted Lerner in 2006, after which Tavares was able to resign. His time in Montreal coincided with the controversial decision to have the team play some of its home games in San Juan, Puerto Rico in both 2003 and 2004. In spite of the team being hampered by operating on a shoestring budget, it managed to be very competitive in both 2002 and 2003, finishing second the first year and then keeping pace with the Marlins until late September the second year (the Marlins eventually won the wild card and a surprising World Series championship). However the lack of investment finally bore fruit in 2004, when the Expos could no longer keep pace with opponents who were there to compete, not just to be placeholders.

After baseball, Tavares returned to sports management as CEO of Sports Properties Acquisition Corporation. He continued to be involved in the NHL, as a senior executive with the Dallas Stars when they were in the process of being sold, and then with the Phoenix Coyotes when they were attempting to get out of bankruptcy.