On January 22, the Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre RailRiders officially announced John Adams as the team's new president.
Adams, 40, is a native of Renovo, Pennsylvania, and returns his baseball roots with this new role.
"I'm excited about this tremendous opportunity," Adams said. "The RailRiders have been one of the top tier organizations, both on and off the field. I'd like to thank David Abrams, Bob Mills, the entire local ownership group and the New York Yankees for trusting me to take this team to the next level and beyond."
Adams graduated from Lock Haven University in 2001 and began work in Minor League Baseball in 2002 with the Trenton Thunder as a Production and Promotions Manager. While with Trenton, Adams helped lead the Thunder to the Larry McPhail Award in 2003; an honor given to the club with the top promotional efforts across the industry.
Adams moved to the Arena Football League later that year, beginning work with the Philadelphia Soul as their Director of Game Operations. In 2006, he was promoted to Assistant General Manager, helping oversee the entire operation. After a season as the Lancaster Barnstormers Assistant General Manager, Adams returned to the Arena Football League. He was the Cleveland Gladiators Director of Marketing for one season and became that franchise's General Manager in 2008, helping reboot the entire operation.
In August 2010, Adams was appointed as the Philadelphia Soul's Team President. During his tenure, the Soul became a model franchise in the AFL, growing cash revenues by nearly 80% through improved ticket sales strategies, creating new revenue streams and cultivating productive relationships within the community. The Soul had a six-year stint within the AFL as one of the top two revenue-producing organizations, including being the top franchise overall three times.
His staff was twice named the best in the AFL during his tenure and he personally made several "Top 40 under 40" lists in the region. Additionally, Adams was the 2015 AFL Executive of the Year.
In 2018, he made the transition to President of Trifecta Sports and Entertainment, helping use the model from his previous position to help launch a new franchise in Albany, while still overseeing the Soul.
After successfully integrating this plan and leading two top-grossing organizations, Adams was named as the President and Chief Operating Officer of the Arena Football League; a role he held through November of last year. During that time, he led the restructure and transformation of the league to a single entity model, implementing a change management process for both the AFL Corporate Headquarters, its teams and the
relationship between the two.
"On behalf of the ownership group," said David Abrams, Co-Managing Owner of the RailRiders, "we are ecstatic to add someone of John's caliber to lead our front office. It's not often you find someone with his diverse background and proven track record of success to lead your franchise into such an incredible year. We know John will thrive and that, in turn, our operation will shine in this year of stars at PNC Field."
