Director of Team Business & Operations

Job Description

Major League Pickleball is seeking a dynamic and entrepreneurial Director of Team Business & Operations to support and elevate revenue-generating opportunities for MLP teams. This individual will serve as a strategic partner to team owners, general managers, and key stakeholders - helping to identify, implement, and scale business strategy and operations that drive team-level revenue growth, efficiency, and market awareness. This person will also act as a bridge/liaison between the League and its 22 teams, ensuring alignment on league-wide policy and goals while fostering all relationships at the team level.

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate directly with MLP team owners and GMs to uncover new revenue streams through creative sponsorship, event activations, strategic partnerships, fan engagement opportunities, youth programs, and more.
• Facilitate knowledge sharing and cross-team collaboration by documenting and circulating successful revenue strategies, best practices, and case studies from around the league.
• Maintain proactive and transparent communication with all 22 MLP teams, fostering strong relationships built on trust and reliability
• Act as a key operational resource for teams, ensuring all teams have the tools, insights, and operational support needed to run efficiently and profitably.
• Work closely with MLP’s finance and operations teams to ensure team invoicing, revenue reporting, and sponsorship agreements are aligned with league expectations.
• Work closely with the Pickleball Central team to manage team consignment operations, including approvals, logistics to and from events, and inventory tracking.
• Maintain and update centralized Resource Guide (rules, case studies, programs, policy, etc.) to empower teams with consistent operational and business insights.
• Develop guides and “playbooks” with UPA departments (i.e. marketing, ticketing, sponsorship, etc.) for how teams can maximize reach in their local, regional, and national markets, with their existing partners, and create overall awareness strategy
• Facilitate introductions between teams and potential brand partners, ensuring teams have the resources to pitch and close deals effectively.
• Host regular meetings to share best practices around revenue generation, fan engagement, ticket marketing, social media strategy and overall operational efficiencies
• Create a framework for ongoing sharing between teams, and implementing successful strategies for respective best practices that can be replicated across markets/teams
• Act as a liaison between teams, the League, and any external resources that may elevate / drive collaborative growth

Should be willing to travel to at least 50% of MLP events, including Mid-Season Tournament and all Playoff events