​Minnesota United is making a transition at the top.Chief Executive Office Shari Ballard will step down from her role at the end of the 2026 season and Christina Hennington will become the Loons’ next CEO, the club said Tuesday.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHennington has climbed the organizational chart at Target over the last 22 years and was its Chief Strategy and Growth Officer since 2024. She will be introduced at a news conference at Allianz Field on Thursday.Ballard led MNUFC for five of the club’s initial 10 seasons in MLS, winning the league’s executive of the year award in 2025. She helped the team set business records, including a club record for total revenues and finalizing a new jersey sleeve sponsorships.On the sporting side, Ballard oversaw the firing of longtime manager Adrian Heath in 2023 and the hiring of Khaled El-Ahmand as Chief Soccer Officer and head coaches Eric Ramsay and Cameron Knowles. The change brought the Loons back to the MLS Cup Playoffs under Ramsay in 2024 and ’25.Ballard exits as MLS nears a schedule flip from the current spring-to-fall slate to a fall-to-spring season in 2027. The new format will make the regular season span Minnesota’s harsh winter and could potentially threaten the Loons’ deep season-ticket and sponsorship bases.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBallard told the Pioneer Press on Tuesday her retirement, when she wants to spend more time with friends and family, was planned since she joined MNUFC in 2021 and the decision to do it now or after the schedule flipped in 18 months was a “judgment call” between primary club owner Bill McGuire and Ballard.“It was driven, in part, by finding and really liking Christina and her availability now,” Ballard said. “… I think Bill and I both decided we have the right person and having the person in on the front end is probably better then having them come in in the middle of it or on the back end.”Ballard came to MNUFC after a 26-year career at Best Buy and the Loons explored whether they wanted another leader from business or sports.“I find myself feeling like I need to say all female retail leaders are not fungible,” Ballard said with a laugh. “We are different people. But in part of the process, we did talk explicitly with the ownership group about what kind of profile we wanted.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“We talked about a profile that’s somewhat similar to mine in terms of not really coming from soccer or having soccer-specific experience, but somebody that had broader organizational experience and was aligned from a leadership and values perspective in terms of what the actual role of a CEO is.”The Loons said Hennington “will bring extensive experience guiding transformation, building enduring brands and creating meaningful experiences for customers and communities.”Ballard got tears in her eyes when asked about the successes the club had under her watch. She mentioned the intimacy in