South Council Luncheon Speaker
Harold Craw, Executive Vice President/General Manager, Jacksonville Suns
Harold Craw was named the General Manager of the Jacksonville Suns on Sept. 17, 2015, when Fast Forward Sports Group, LLC, led by Ken Babby, officially took ownership of the Southern League club. In 2017, Craw became the first African-American to win Executive of the Year for any league in Minor League Baseball. He was voted the 2017 Southern League Jimmy Bragan Executive of the Year by the general managers of the league member clubs.
After helping the franchise draw nationwide attention following their Nov. 2, 2016 rebrand, Craw oversaw an incredible 23 percent increase in attendance for the inaugural Jumbo Shrimp season in 2017, the largest increase for any Double-A club. The success carried over to the following campaign, as the July 3, 2018 crowd of 11,762 was the largest at the Baseball Grounds in 10 years and the four crowds over 8,700 were the four largest in the Southern League in 2018. The Jumbo Shrimp's average attendance of 5,037 in 2018 also marked the first time in eight years that Jacksonville has averaged at least 5,000 fans in consecutive seasons.With 18 seasons of Minor League Baseball experience, Craw oversees marketing and sales, community engagement, game-day experience, and all other operational aspects of the organization at the dawn of a new era of affordable family fun at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
A native of Chattanooga, Tenn., Craw graduated from Emory and Henry College (Va.) with a Bachelor's Degree in Physical Education, and he earned a Master's Degree in Sport Management from East Tennessee State University in 2001. He started his Minor League Baseball career in 2002 with the Johnson City (Tenn.) Cardinals as its Director of Stadium Operations. Craw spent more than 10 seasons with the Charleston (S.C.) River Dogs from 2003 to 2012, twice being recognized by the South Atlantic League as Sales Executive of the Year and for community relations. Craw was the General Manager of the Quad Cities River Bandits and a Senior Corporate Sales Executive, and later Assistant General Manager, of the Chattanooga Lookouts before being hired by Fast Forward Sports Group to lead the Suns.
In each community he has lived, Craw has been an active volunteer, including co-founding and co-chairing the Charleston RBI Baseball League and mentoring middle school youth through Jacksonville's Duval County Public Schools 5000 Role Models program. He and his wife, Angie, live in Jacksonville with their daughters, Cameron and Jasmine.
