Swampscott’s Kline learning to like Dolphins instead of Patriots

Growing up in Swampscott, Todd Kline was – of course – a Patriots fan. But, that allegiance quickly changed this month. On March 2, Kline took over as senior vice president and chief commercial officer of the Miami Dolphins.

“It’s really easy in our business to root when you live and breathe it every single day,” said Kline, 38, a 1995 graduate of Swampscott High. “It’s really easy to quickly become a Dolphins fan.

“Obviously, it’s hard not to respect and appreciate what the Patriots have done, really, and more impressively their success off the field. What they’ve done with Patriot Place and with growing their revenues off the field, to me that’s almost as impressive as their accomplishments on. So, now I have the opportunity to put my imprint on that with a team in the division.”

With an added bonus.

“I look at it as get a guaranteed one trip home every year,” he said. “It’s really fun to have that connection to all my friends at home. And I guess root against the team that I grew up a fan of.”

In his new position, Kline will be responsible for all sponsorship revenue, including media sales and event revenues. Prior to working with the Dolphins, he was the senior vice president of partnership and media sales for the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) for seven years in Los Angeles and senior corporate marketing manager with the NFL Players Association before that.

“I had this sort of a general premise that I really just enjoy business and sports and at some point stumbled onto the fact that there is a sports business,” said Kline, a graduate of the University of Maryland and The Johns Hopkins University.

“There was a group of us who figured out that we can, if we put our minds to it, we can figure out a way to do it. I got some exposure to the NFL business when I worked at the NFL Players Association and really just kind of fell in love with it and the power of the league and the action and the emotion of being there on Sundays. I spent seven years at AEG and we owned a third of the (NBA’s Los Angeles) Lakers, won two Stanley Cups with the (NHL’s Los Angeles) Kings, and believe me those are some amazing and fun nights. But there’s something truly special about the NFL in America right now.”

The group Kline referred to includes Peter Woodfork, MLB’s senior vice president of baseball operations, ESPN football analyst Todd McShay, and Swampscott High baseball coach Jason Calichman – all good friends and members of the same class at Swampscott High.

After seven years on the West Coast, Kline – whose mother lives in Salem and father lives in Lynn – is glad to be back on the East Coast.

“The big benefit is being back in the time zone,” he said. “I’m hoping this gives me more chance to see family and friends.”

Maureen Mullen can be reached at mmullen@itemlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MaureenAMullen.