There has been something of a shakeup in the ownership at Leeds United this week with Andrea Radrizzani selling another part of his stake to the San Francisco 49ers and Paraag Marathe being installed as the new Vice-Chairman.
Fans were very excited about this announcement, but who is Leeds’ new Vice-Chairman?
Paraag Marathe will now have an increased involvement at Leeds going forward, but what can Leeds expect from their new Vice-Chairman? We’re going to take a look at his credentials and his career so far.
Who is Paraag Marathe?
Paraag Marathe has a long history in sports, working with the 49ers NFL franchise for over 20 years, in roles such as team president, COO and now President of 49ers Enterprises and Executive Vice President of Football Operations.
Perhaps his greatest achievement with the 49ers is overseeing the move to the Levi’s Stadium, and experience of working on a project that big could be useful for Leeds as they plan on extending Elland Road to a 50,000 seater in the near future.
Marathe’s sporting pedigree doesn’t stop their either. He’s been on the board at Leeds for a number of years after the 49ers’ initial investment and he’s also the Chairman of USA cricket, and he’s currently working on a project to launch the USA’s first major cricket league.
Marathe certainly knows what it takes to work in the high-octane environment of professional sports.
What will his job be?
Marathe’s official title at Leeds is now Vice-Chairman, but what his day to day role will entail remains to be seen.
If he is heavily involved with the daily running of the club, he seems to be qualified to take Leeds to new heights, and his ability is perhaps best summed up by one NFL agent’s review when speaking to The Athletic in 2019:
“From a professional standpoint, it’s refreshing. He’s super intelligent and straight forward. He does his homework. He’s someone you can trust.”
When Marathe arrived on the scene in San Francisco he revolutionised the team’s approach to analytics
His work with the 49ers involves a lot of the duties you’d expect a Director of Football to carry out, he is the team’s chief contract negotiator and salary cap architect, while overseeing the team’s football analytics department, among other football duties.
Whether or not he’ll get involved with that side of thing at Leeds remains to be seen, but with Victor Orta seemingly very invested in his role at the club, it’s hard to envisage Marathe taking the reins on that front, but an involvement there is certainly possible.
What Marathe does at Leeds on a daily basis remains to be seen, but there is certainly reason to be excited about his appointment as Vice-Chairman.
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