Paraag Marathe is in his 24th year with the 49ers, currently serving as both President of 49ers Enterprises & Executive Vice President of Football Operations.
On the football side, Marathe continues in his long-respected role as the team's chief contract negotiator and salary cap architect, while overseeing the team's football analytics department, among other football duties. He is responsible for the 49ers compliance with the NFL's collective bargaining agreement and works alongside general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan on all aspects of the club's football operations. Marathe also co-chairs the NFL's Future of Football Committee.
Marathe has played an integral role in rebuilding the 49ers current roster, negotiating contract extensions in recent years with a number of key players who were originally brought to the team through the draft, via trade or free agency. These include RB Christian McCaffrey, DL Nick Bosa, DL Javon Hargrave, FB Kyle Juszczyk, TE George Kittle, WR Deebo Samuel, LB Fred Warner and T Trent Williams, along with others. Over the years, Marathe has also consistently kept the club in a competitive salary cap position.
While serving as 49ers team president from 2014-16 and chief operating officer from 2010-13, Marathe oversaw the development of Levi's Stadium and helped bring to life the vision of an unparalleled fan experience at the venue. Using the Bay Area as inspiration, the club focused on bringing technology, sustainability, and culture to the stadium experience. His leadership was critical during the club's transition from Candlestick Park to Levi's Stadium, as he set the vision and hired many of the current executive team members. He also played a critical role on the small team that founded and incubated VenueNext, a technology company that is setting new standards for the live event experience.
Marathe also serves as president of 49ers Enterprises, and leads the group's strategic investment in Leeds United Football Club, along with other sports business ventures. After five years as minority owners, as of July 2023, 49ers Enterprises became the sole owner of the storied English football club, with Marathe at the helm as the Club's chairman. Currently competing in the English Championship, Marathe is overseeing all aspects of the Club, including sporting and business operations, and drives the strategy to fight for promotion back to the Premier League. In June 2024, Marathe and his team announced a landmark front-of-shirt partnership and investment deal with Red Bull, a first-of-its-kind in English football in either category for the energy drink company and global sporting giant. The long-term deal brings in new commercial revenues as well as additional capital investment.
In 2024, Marathe and his team announced a landmark partnership deal with Red Bull, bringing in new commercial revenues as well as additional capital investment.
In 2024, Marathe joined the board of the NFL UK Foundation, the charitable arm of the NFL within the UK. He is spearheading a new collaborative initiative between the NFL UK Foundation, 49ers and Leeds United that brings American football programs to the Leeds community.
Marathe has been a catalyst for cricket's growth in the United States. He previously served as the chairman of USA Cricket from 2018-2023. During that time, he ensured USA Cricket earned recognition by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as the organization's 105th member. He also led the launch of Major League Cricket (MLC), an American T20 league that held its inaugural season in 2023. Bringing America's passion for cricket to a global stage, Marathe led the effort to name the United States a host nation for the 2024 Men's T20 Cricket World Cup.
Leveraging his deep experience working at nearly every level in both the sporting operations and commercial functions of a sports organization, Marathe brings a unique perspective to his work. In recognition of his industry-leading reputation, in 2015 he was selected as a member of the Sports Business Journal's Forty Under 40 class. Marathe is also a two-time recipient (2012 & 2019) of the Fritz Pollard Alliance's Johnnie L. Cochran Salute to Excellence Award, which honors individuals and organizations who display outstanding performances on the field, in front offices and across the United States by exemplifying diversity, courage and meritorious performance.
Outside of sports, Marathe is actively involved in the Bay Area community with organizations and causes that are personally important to him. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for The Body Positive and Project HEAL - nonprofits that are focused on bringing awareness and funding for fighting eating disorders. He is currently serving as board chairman of the Sequoia Hospital Foundation, where both of his daughters were born. Marathe is a faculty member at Stanford's Graduate School of Business, where for the past decade he has been a Lecturer in Management and co-teaches an MBA course on Negotiation Dynamics in Sports, Entertainment and Media.
A native of Saratoga, CA, Marathe's passion for the 49ers was instilled at a very young age. As an avid Bay Area sports fan, he has rarely missed any 49ers games since he was six years old. Marathe's Bay Area roots run deep, having received his bachelor's degree with high honors from the Haas School of Business at the University of California-Berkeley and his MBA from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.
Marathe, his wife, Jennifer, and two daughters, Juniper and Maren, live in Los Altos, CA.
