Chris Marinak
Chief Operations & Strategy Officer
Chris Marinak joined Major League Baseball in 2008 and manages Major League Baseball¡¯s operations and strategy functions, reporting directly to Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr. In this role, Marinak is responsible for MLB¡¯s fan-facing digital technology across MLB.com, the MLB and MiLB Apps, MLB.TV, and Statcast. Marinak is also responsible for MLB¡¯s ticketing operation, including the MLB Ballpark App and MLB¡¯s Tickets.com business that support sales of over 100 million tickets per year to Major and Minor League Baseball games, and over 200 clients outside of baseball.
Marinak leads the league¡¯s growth and innovation efforts, including MLB¡¯s strategy function responsible for growing the global reach of the game, working with the game¡¯s Competition Committee on strategic baseball initiatives, and creating the Major League playing schedule. He also manages MLB¡¯s global event portfolio including the annual All-Star Game, the World Series, and MLB¡¯s World Tour games in locations including London, Tokyo, Seoul, and Mexico City. As part of this role, Marinak is responsible for the World Baseball Classic, which most recently in 2023 set all-time records for attendance, viewership, and social media engagement.
A former member of MLB¡¯s Labor Relations Department, Marinak was a key part of the league¡¯s bargaining team for two consecutive collective labor agreements. The alumnus of the University of Virginia, where he pitched for the Cavaliers baseball team, attended Harvard Business School. Marinak is a member of the Sports Business Journal¡¯s Forty Under 40 Hall of Fame.