Killebrew, who also served as Commissioner of Major League Rugby, will lead the organization’s revenue strategy
Dallas, May 28, 2024 – Former Dallas Mavericks EVP/CRO and Major League Rugby Commissioner George Killebrew has been named Chief Revenue Officer of the United Pickleball Association (UPA), the holding company of the Carvana PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball.
As CRO, Killebrew will oversee the Sponsorship Sales team, On-Site Revenue team (ticket sales and amateur registrations) and the Sponsorship Activation team. He has been consulting with the PPA Tour since October 2023, but formalizes his role with UPA moving forward.
“I have been consulting with the PPA Tour and its leadership since October, and I am blown away by the potential in this fast-growing sport,” said Killebrew. Already, we are experiencing double digit growth in our revenue areas, and we are just at the very beginning. This Is an incredible American and global sports story unfolding right in front of our eyes and I am delighted to accept the role of CRO to work with Founder and CEO Connor Pardoe and his leadership team. I, too, am addicted to the sport along with the 40 million people that are also now playing the game.”
“George brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in spearheading business opportunities in both established and emerging sports,” said Carvana PPA Tour Founder and CEO Connor Pardoe. “His work to this point has been instrumental in guiding a path forward, and his continued involvement in a permanent position will be exceedingly valuable in helping grow the UPA and pickleball as a whole.”
At the Mavericks, Killebrew led the tickets sales group, sponsorship team and sponsor activation group, and consistently earned top honors and awards from the NBA for excellence throughout his career. Under his leadership, the Mavericks were consistently ranked in the top tier of revenue generation within the NBA. He served as one of Mark Cuban’s chief business officers for 20 years.
As Commissioner of Major League Rugby, Killebrew led efforts to add new expansion teams, increased sponsorships from only barter deals to more than $1 million in his first year and secured an all-encompassing TV contract with Fox Sports, ensuring the MLR Finals would be aired on FOX National and an additional 24 matches each season on FS1 and FS2. Most importantly, through Killebrew’s efforts alongside MLR Ownership, and USA Rugby, the United States won the bid to host the Men’s and Women’s Rugby World Cup for the very first time.
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