Major League Baseball announced today that Karin Timpone has been named Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer. Reporting to MLB Chief Operations and Strategy Officer Chris Marinak, Timpone will lead the league’s global marketing efforts and collaborate with executives across all revenue, product, and operations units as well as the 30 MLB Clubs. Timpone, who will also oversee MLB Events and Design Services departments, brings a broad range of experience in helping global brands connect with new audiences, deepen customer loyalty and innovate with next generation technology, such as blockchain.

Prior to joining MLB this week, Timpone has held senior positions leading high-profile brands including Marriott International, The Walt Disney Company, Yahoo!, and Universal Studios with an emphasis in digital, marketing and customer experience. Timpone has been recognized in Adweek’s roster of Top 50 in Media and Technology, and has been featured among the world’s most influential CMOs by Forbes, Business Insider, and Ad Age.

“As Major League Baseball continues to invest in its marketing resources, Karin brings outstanding experience and accomplishments with a track record as a digital pioneer and marketing leader of major global brands,” said Marinak. “Karin’s background at the cross-section of entertainment, media, digital, and marketing is a perfect fit to help deepen the connection MLB has with its fans while growing our fan base both domestically and internationally.”

As the Global Marketing Officer for Marriott International, Timpone led the creation of the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program, tripling the membership base to over 140 million. She played a key role in Marriott’s merger with Starwood to integrate its portfolio of 30 brands and introduced state-of-the-art global social media command centers, an initiative that was recognized at Cannes Lions with Gold and Silver awards in the category of Creative Data.

As a Senior Vice President at The Walt Disney Company, Timpone led product strategy and marketing for Disney’s suite of digital media products, including the creation of the company’s first live-streaming mobile apps, launched years ahead of current market trends.

Prior to Disney, Timpone was at Yahoo! where she was Head of Marketing, Yahoo! Media Group and Head of Consumer/Customer Innovation. Timpone also worked for Universal Studios as a Senior Vice President and previously for its parent company, The Seagram Company Ltd.

Timpone has a Master of Arts in Media Ecology from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Bryn Mawr College. She attended UCLA Anderson School of Management and has completed certification in FinTech from Harvard University and Blockchain certification from MIT Sloan.

Timpone serves as Independent Director on the board of Atlas Obscura, and was Global Chair of the Mobile Marketing Association where she continues to support the association as Chair Emeritus.