Promoted to new position from COO.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: The San Francisco 49ers have promoted Paraag Marathe to be their new team president, replacing Gideon Yu, who is stepping down from the position.
In a statement released by the National Football League (NFL) team last week, 49ers CEO Jed York said, “As we move closer to the opening of Levi’s Stadium [which will reportedly cost somewhere around $1.2 billion], our organization will continue to evolve and grow. Gideon, Paraag and Al [Guido] have been instrumental in making the new stadium a reality, and I couldn’t be more excited about the future of our management team and the 49ers organization. Paraag and Al have developed a tremendous working relationship and I am deeply confident in their leadership.”
Marathe is currently the team’s Chief Operating Officer, a position which will now be filled by Guido, who is the senior vice-president of global sales for Legends Premium Sales, a sales maximization firm that specializes in assisting sports franchises.
The 49ers are coming off a successful but somewhat disappointing 2013 season. After making the Super Bowl at the end of the 2012 NFL season, they lost the game to the Baltimore Ravens. Heavily favored to make it back to the big game, they ultimately lose the National Football Conference (NFC) Championship game on January 19 to the divisional rivals, the Seattle Seahawks. Marathe will hopefully be a critical part of bringing the 49ers back to Super Bowl glory.
A native of Saratoga, California, he earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, then earned his MBA from Stanford. He was the COO of the organization for the past three years, during which time his job duties included overseeing business operations, marketing, ticketing, player contract negotiations, and the salary cap.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com