Good morning. Are you ready for Super Bowl Sunday’s face-off between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans? Christine Dorfler, EVP and CFO of the National Football League (NFL), has been preparing for the sports world’s marquee event too—and for most of her life in some respects.
Dorfler joined the NFL as CFO in May 2023 following a 21-year career at NBCUniversal. She was most recently the CFO of NBC Sports. Before that, she was the CFO of the NBC and Telemundo-owned television stations. I asked Dorfler why she made the switch to the NFL.
“While I had a terrific career at NBCUniversal and it will always be a special place to me, I could not pass up an opportunity to be the CFO of the best sports league in the world,” she said. “I love the way that the game excites and unites people. This is a dream job for me, and I am thrilled, honored, and proud to be a part of the NFL.”
As finance chief of the NFL, leading the strategy for long-term growth, she reports to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Dorfler works with the senior leadership team along with its 32 clubs and business partners. Regarding Super Bowl LIX, her primary role is to ensure that her colleagues in the league office and at the two competing clubs have the support to successfully deliver the game on Sunday and all of the events leading up to it, she explained.
The event definitely draws an audience. An estimated 123.7 million viewers watched the Super Bowl last year, making it the largest audience for a single-network telecast, according to Nielsen. And this year, a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl costs about $7 million, with some brands paying closer to $8 million.
“There is a massive amount of financial planning and preparation that leads up to game day involving investment, forecasting, scenario modeling, reporting, analysis, and the ability to stay flexible as unexpected things come up,” Dorfler said. “I am proud of the NFL finance team that supports this effort.”
Sports and leadership
Dorfler is a CFO who knows a lot about leadership and teamwork both off and on the field. At Villanova University, she was a four-year starter on the Division I Women’s Lacrosse team. A 2023 Deloitte report found that 85% of women surveyed who played sports said the skills they developed were important to success in their professional careers. And the findings were even higher among women in leadership roles (91%) and women who make $100,000 or more (93%).
Dorfler shared three ways participating in sports prepared her for leadership roles:
—Developing grit and resilience. “Those characteristics have helped me tremendously in my career and are the first two things I look for when hiring someone,” she said.
—Learning how to lose without being defeated. “Over the course of a long career, you will inevitably have setbacks or won’t get the job or promotion that you want,” she explained. “I learned that you have to dig deep, let the loss fire you up, and work harder for the next opportunity.”
—Being teachable. “I am always listening, learning, and trying to get better,” she said.
Dorfler, a U.S. Army veteran who served as a military intelligence officer, also told me the best piece of career advice she’s received: “Do the things that scare you a little because that’s how you grow.”
Is she pulling for the Chiefs or the Eagles? She wouldn’t say. All Dorfler would share is that she’s rooting for an “exciting, competitive game that delivers a fantastic experience to our fans in the stadium and watching all over the world,” she said.
Have a good weekend.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Leaderboard
Fortune 500 Power Moves
Ford Motor Company (No. 17), announced on Wednesday that Sherry House, who has served as vice president of finance since June, will become Ford’s chief financial officer as planned effective Feb. 6. House succeeds John Lawler, who will continue to serve as Ford’s vice chair.
Salesforce (No. 123) announced on Wednesday that Robin Washington will become president and chief operating and financial officer (COFO), a newly-created position, effective March 21. Washington’s decades of experience include serving as EVP and CFO of Gilead Sciences, CFO of Hyperion Solutions, and chief accounting officer of PeopleSoft. She has been a member of the Salesforce board since 2013, and lead independent director since 2022.
Every Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column tracks Fortune 500 company C-suite shifts—see the most recent edition.
More notable moves this week:
Christopher A. McGinnis was appointed CFO of GoodRx (Nasdaq: GDRX), a prescription savings platform in the U.S. McGinnis brings 30 years of financial experience to the role. He will join GoodRx following his role as CEO of CitizensRx. Before that, McGinnis held executive roles at Lumeris/Essence Healthcare, serving as its CFO and EVP of operations.
Ahmed Misbah was promoted to CFO of Swvl Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: SWVL), a global technology-enabled mass transit solutions provider. Since June 2021, Misbah has served as group finance manager, head of finance, and director of finance. Before Swvl, he worked as a senior associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC in the United Arab Emirates.
Wissam Jabre was appointed EVP and CFO of NetApp (Nasdaq: NTAP), a data management and storage company, effective March 10. He will succeed Mike Berry, who served as the company’s finance chief for the last five years. Jabre arrives from data storage company Western Digital, where he was EVP and CFO.
Kyle Spina was promoted to CFO of OFS Credit Company (Nasdaq: OCCI), which primarily invests in collateralized loans obligations and debt securities, effective March 31. He will replace Jeff Cerny, who announced his retirement but will remain on the company’s board of directors. Spina has served as the company’s chief accounting officer since April 2023.
Kazi Hasan was appointed CFO of OPAL Fuels Inc. (Nasdaq:OPAL), effective Feb. 3. Hasan succeeds Scott Contino, who has served as interim CFO. Before joining OPAL Fuels, Hasan served as a senior advisor at Fluence Energy and as EVP and CFO at Puget Sound Energy and Cleco.
Matthew Pulisic was appointed CFO at Genelux Corporation (Nasdaq:GNLX), a late clinical-stage immuno-oncology company. Most recently, Pulisic served as VP of finance at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals. He began his career at Amgen, a publicly traded commercial biotechnology company, eventually becoming finance director of Amgen Worldwide and head of capital finance.
Big Deal
Amazon posted a record-breaking $20 billion in profits during the fourth quarter of 2024, almost double its $10.6 billion from the same quarter the prior year. “Amazon’s profit is suddenly going through the roof, fueling CEO Andy Jassy’s $100 billion AI spending spree to fight Google and Microsoft,” is a new Fortune article by Jason Del Rey that delves into the tech giant’s latest pursuits.
“Amazon is once again looking like the version of itself that many of its rivals should fear,” Del Rey writes. “And with that profit engine revved up and feeding an enormous cash buffer, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is doubling down in the industry’s AI infrastructure arms race.”
Going deeper
Here are four Fortune weekend reads:
“Ferrari reportedly threatens to blacklist super-rich buyers who customize their cars with ‘strange’ designs” by Ryan Hogg
“Can this tech billionaire save the media from an AI apocalypse?” by Alyson Shontell
“Deal scoop: Ultimus Fund Solutions and HedgeServ are seeking buyers” by Luisa Beltran
“What time of day you feel your best and worst, according to research” by Ani Freedman
Overheard
“I can say confidently that if you are someone who wants to create change, as I was in 2013 and I still am now, there is hope. The world is constantly evolving, and the strategies we used in one era won’t work in another.”
—Tracy Chou, founder of Block Party, writes in a Fortune opinion piece.