San Francisco 49ers Chief Operating Officer Paraag Marathe has been elected to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl Board of Directors.
The announcement was made by Gary Cavalli, Executive Director of the game since its inception in 2002.
"Paraag Marathe is one of the top young executives in professional sports," Cavalli said. "He brings us a wealth of experience and expertise in a number of areas, including football operations, finance, and sponsorship. We're delighted to have Paraag on our Board.
"With the Bowl moving to the new stadium in Santa Clara in 2014, Paraag's election to the Board is also a fitting reaffirmation of our partnership with the 49ers."
Mr. Marathe has been COO for the NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers since February of 2011. Now entering his 13th season with the team, he was previously the team's Executive Vice President of Football and Business Operations.
Marathe has been at the forefront of the 49ers business operations efforts that have resulted in two significant upcoming developments.
First is the construction of the New Santa Clara Stadium, which the 49ers will call their home come the 2014 NFL season. The stadium is currently 35% completed, and is located adjacent to the 49ers Executive Offices on Centennial Boulevard in the South Bay city.
Second is the transition of the Bay Area's bowl game to the new facility in December 2014. The Bowl's hierarchy and the 49ers last November announced the new venue for the contest, to be played in the state-of-the-art 68,500-seat football configuration. The new Santa Clara Stadium looks to host Super Bowl L or Super Bowl LI in either 2016 or 2017.
"I was very excited when the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl signed on to play at the new Santa Clara stadium starting in 2014, and am even more thrilled to take a more active role in the future of the game," Marathe said.
"This region has a great tradition of football and the new stadium is the perfect venue to showcase not only the NFL stars of today, but also the stars of tomorrow. I would like to thank Gary Cavalli and all the board members for asking me to be a part of this great game."
A Saratoga, CA native, Marathe received his bachelor's degree with high honors from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and his MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business.
