Mariners President of Business Operations Catie Griggs to receive award honoring "Best Young Talent" in sports business
Seattle Mariners President of Business Operations Catie Griggs has been named to the Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 Class of 2022.
The annual award recognizes “the best young talent” in sports business. Out of 400 nominees, Griggs and 39 other executives are being highlighted for excellence and innovation in their careers, all before the age of 40. The awards will be presented on November 15 at Chelsea Piers in New York. The Sports Business Journal Forty Under 40 Awards are presented by Anheuser-Busch, MGM Resorts and TurnkeyZRG.
Griggs was appointed Mariners President of Business Operations on July 27, 2021, making her the first woman to hold the senior level executive title in Mariners history, and becoming the highest ranking female business executive in Major League Baseball. In her brief time with the Mariners Griggs has led development of a strategic plan for all organizational business operations in 2022 and beyond focused in for key areas:
- Fans First – Griggs created a new position, Vice President of Fan Experience, to focus on the ROE, “Return on Experience,” for all fans at T-Mobile Park;
- Data Driven Decision Making – Griggs has more than doubled the size of the Mariners Information Technology department to better meet organizational needs of both Baseball and Business operations to scale the systems, platforms, and processes necessary to better leverage data to make smart, timely decisions;
- Recruiting and developing a diverse staff and an inclusive culture;
- Bringing the Mariners brand to life at T-Mobile Park and in the community through the creation of a new Experiential Marketing group, and an emphasis on growing the fan base among the 18-34 age range;
- Driving revenue to support Baseball Operations by expanding the Ticket Sales operation and Corporate Partnerships teams to better leverage our position in the market. The Mariners have achieved double-digit growth in Corporate Partnerships, including signing Swire Coca-Cola to a long-term contract as the Official Fan Refreshment of the Seattle Mariners.
Griggs oversees all business functions of the Mariners front office including Ballpark Operations, Finance & Systems, Legal & Community Impact, Ticketing, Corporate Partnerships, Marketing & Communications and People & Culture. Over the next 16 months, Griggs will lead the Mariners and community planning for the 2023 Major League Baseball All-Star Week events which will be held in Seattle and at T-Mobile Park.
Before she joined the Mariners, Griggs spent the previous four years as the Chief Business Officer of Atlanta United. Under her leadership, since debuting in 2017, Atlanta United led Major League Soccer in average attendance in every season from 2017-2019. And despite COVID restrictions, they led MLS in total and average attendance in 2020 and 2021, as well.
Prior to joining Atlanta United, Griggs was with Futures Sport & Entertainment, a cross-platform global media and sponsorships analytics consultancy that is part of the Interpublic Group of Agencies. She launched the firm’s Americas operations in 2015 and led it to significant growth prior to her departure. She came to Futures Sport & Entertainment after five years at Turner Broadcasting where she served in various roles, including strategy, business operations, strategic partnerships and business development, and media rights negotiations.
A North Carolina native, Griggs received her B.A. (in Government) from Dartmouth College and her MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Catie and her husband, Justin, have two children. They live in North Seattle.