Peter Land Is Retiring From Dick’s Sporting Goods
Stephen Garner
Senior Editor
Dick’s Sporting Goods chief communications and sustainability officer Peter Land is retiring after three years with the company.
Land joined the sports retailer in July 2020 and was responsible for all internal and external communications, including media relations; government affairs; headquarters, field and executive communications; consumer communications; crisis communications; financial communications; and corporate event management. He also worked to develop Dick’s corporate ESG strategy.
In a LinkedIn post on Wednesday, Land said that he had been thinking about stepping back and focusing on other things – like academia (he has been an adjunct professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business for the last 23 years), non-profit work, and family and friends – for a while. After his exit, Land said he plans to continue to teach, serve on several non-profit boards and do some sports marketing consulting.
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“I’ve been so, so fortunate in my career — truly blessed to have had the opportunity to work with incredible colleagues, for amazing bosses, and alongside true visionaries like David Stern, Richard Edelman, Indra Nooyi and Ed Stack,” Land wrote. “There are too many people to thank here but you know who you are. Onward!”
Dick’s declined to comment on Land’s exit.
Prior to joining Dick’s, Land was a partner at Finsbury, a consulting firm specializing in corporate reputation, crisis management and capital markets. Before joining Finsbury, he was global head of corporate communications at AOL, and prior to that, he held senior communications positions at PepsiCo.
Throughout his career, Land also held senior leadership roles at Kraft Foods in Europe, Breeders’ Cup, the NBA and Edelman. He began his career as a reporter and editor with “The Washington Post.”
In April, Land joined FN at our annual CEO Summit in Miami to speak about how Dick’s was making a difference in sustainability through partnership. During the event, Land offered an example of how the retailer has worked on sustainable solutions in partnership with its landlords.
“In many malls from a waste diversion standpoint, at the end of the day plastic and cardboard will be carted away way from each store. We were talking to some of landlords a couple years ago and I said, ‘That’s not the most practical from a sustainability standpoint. Why don’t we have one track and stop at all the stores?’” Land said at the time. “That’s good for all the different stores that are in the mall and it’s also good from a waste diversion standpoint because it saves energy from having 12 trucks to just one truck.”
Land added that this spirit of partnership extends to the brands it sells. “We’re actually super fortunate because a lot of our brand partners are really far along on their journey. Many so many of our partners are huge into their sustainability journey,” Land said. “We want to work with them, and if it’s important for them to promote their sustainable products, then we are inclined to do that.”
