• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, November 27, 2007

One of sports marketing's most influential executives ever--Anheuser-Busch's Tony Ponturo--is relocating from the company's St. Louis headquarters to the doorstep of Madison Avenue.

Ponturo, the beer marketer's vice president-global media and sports marketing, will make the shift to New York next year, according to a report in Sports Business Journal. His duties will be unchanged.

The timing of the move is curious; Ponturo has been with the company for several decades, although he is only 54. In an e-mail to SBJ, he said: "It's the same job and title, but moving to New York, headquarters to major media and sports leagues: An analogy would be the company moving one of its generals to the front lines, where the action is."

Much of Ponturo's clout stems from A-B's massive budget, which is devoted to sports broadcasts and other marketing ventures, including annually running the most in-game Super Bowl spots.

More recently, Ponturo has sought to bypass media gatekeepers and go directly to the consumer by launching branded-content site, Bud.tv, to mixed success.