When the Chargers left for Los Angeles in 2017, Jennifer Bower knew she wanted to stay in San Diego, even though she was the team’s senior manager of marketing partnerships and partnership activations.
“It was an amazing experience,” Bower said. “I was sad they left, but I understand why, and for me, I just never wanted to leave San Diego. I was a big proponent of making my life around where I want to live, and San Diego is so important to me, my husband and now our kids, that we just decided that we were gonna always do our best to stay in San Diego whenever possible.”
Her love for San Diego, and her background in sports and business management experience, now has the Mission Beach resident leading and assisting San Diego Football Club as the chief revenue officer.
Her current role involves overseeing all the revenue from tickets and brand partnerships, such as advertising on team kits. Her department has about 40 people.
“We get butts in seats or connect brands with fans,” Bower said. “That’s sort of us in a nutshell.”
Bower’s sports journey to San Diego’s first Major League Soccer club began with a running background that started in Saskatoon, a city in Saskatchewan, Canada. She started running track around 8 years old, with the help of her dad, who was also a runner, Bower said. She also played soccer growing up.
“My specialty was mid-distance, and I ran the 800 meters, which was super tough, but I’m proud of it,” Bower said. “It was a really hard race to be in track and field. You’re constantly feeling like you wanna throw up every single training session and race, (but) once you can do that, you can do anything, I feel, in life.”
Because she excelled in track, Bower said she received several recruiting letters from various universities in the United States, including San Diego State University, where she got a full scholarship. Bower chose SDSU because of fond memories she had visiting the San Diego Zoo as a child.
“I was always a big fan of the city,” she said. “So once I started getting communication from San Diego State, it became one of the priority schools that I wanted to attend.”
Bower earned a bachelor’s degree in business management there, where she also did an internship in the athletics department to help increase ticket sales for sporting events.
After college and working with the Chargers for 10 years, Bower landed at Fox Sports, which had ties to broadcasting San Diego State games at the time, she said. That led to being hired in 2019 as the vice president of stadium partnership by the sports management company Legends, to manage ticketing, naming rights and founding partnerships for Snapdragon Stadium.
“I knew I wanted to, when the opportunity was right, come over and help launch what was at the time just San Diego MLS, but became San Diego FC, so I was one of the first people to come over with our CEO and a few others,” Bower said.
San Diego FC is hosting World Cup watch parties this summer through the final match on July 19 at Fit Social in Mission Beach, with branded partnerships. It’s an area Bower knows well, since she has lived in and around this beach community multiple times in approximately 26 years living in San Diego, she said. Here are some of the favorite places she recommends.
Jennifer Bower is the chief revenue officer for San Diego Football Club. (Jeff Lewis)
Q: Where is your favorite dining option?
A: World Famous. Love a good view, good food, and can’t beat the vibes of the boardwalk in the summer. I’m a big fan of their lobster salad. I also think there’s very few restaurants that are like right on the beach in Mission Beach, and so to have good solid food and a good atmosphere, I think it goes a long way.
Shoppers at Sun Diego Boardshop in Mission Beach on Friday, June 12, 2026. The store features clothes from multiple surf brands. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Q: What is your favorite small retail business or pop-up vendor to support?
A: Can’t go wrong with the remodeled Sun Diego Boardshop. I just love that there’s a lot of local brands that they’re highlighting and showcasing. Action sports is obviously huge in Southern California, but specifically in San Diego too, and so I just think it’s a good store that has a lot.
Q: Where is your favorite open space?
A: I love running on the boardwalk from the Pacific Beach Pier to south Mission Beach and back. It’s flat, so if you’re running, it’s nice to have that consistency. It’s also fun for people watching, see all the different people and the beautiful beaches.
Q: Where is the best piece of artwork or landmark?
A: I love the local artists and their depictions of PB Pier, the jetty, Mission Bay, Catamaran and all of the other staples Paradise Point, MB Aquatic Center, etc. It’s the people that I think are like the staples. There’s a guy that’s always out there playing his ukulele (in Mission Beach) and he’s like woven everything out of palm leaves. I feel like it’s just the people that make the community, and they’re almost the art, and that they’re reliable, they’re there every time.
Q: Where is your favorite entertainment attraction?
A: Belmont Park. I love the remodel, my kids love swimming at the Plunge, and who doesn’t love a wooden old school roller coaster?