Marathe’s career is the epitome of the American Dream. He is the self-made success story, the boy that started out running a pizza restaurant who now heads one of the most famous franchises in sport. He is a family man who has endured personal heartache, a businessman who has built an empire and made his name and his fortune.
His heart will always be in San Francisco but his head will now be in Glasgow as well as Yorkshire. Marathe became the first public face of the Rangers takeover story when news first emerged of a move that sees 49ers Enterprises and Andrew Cavenagh, an American health tycoon, herald in a new era at Ibrox. That deal was announced on Friday as supporters greeted their new owners with a sense of enthusiasm and excitement.
Marathe is not, though, one who seeks the spotlight or who engages in self-aggrandisement. That is not his style as a man or a man-manager.
“At 49ers Enterprises, we have built a track record of sporting and business success, but our driving motivation is our deep connection to the clubs and communities we serve," Marathe said after his appointment as vice-chairman at Ibrox. "We are excited to join Andrew and our other consortium of investors in a new era for this iconic club, and we are determined to build something that supporters can be proud of for years to come.”
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Marathe spoke to the media following Leeds United’s crowning in the Championship and affirmed his belief in Daniel Farke to take the club back into the Premier League. It was one of few interviews given over the course of the campaign and marked a different approach from the Andrea Radrizzani era, when public utterances emanated from Elland Road with regularity.
Marathe wants his teams to do their talking on the pitch. He does his around the negotiating table and it was in that sphere where he became an influential and respected figure within the 49ers and the NFL. A position at Ibrox, and as one of the most high-profile names in Scottish football, now awaits the American.
He still uses those same core qualities – leadership, accountability and grit and determination – that he learned when he was at the forefront of the family restaurant as a seventh grader. Barely tall enough to see over the cash register, the son of an engineer and a homemaker learned the value of perseverance and the importance of providing for your family. Now a father of two daughters, he combines his high-powered positions with charity work at causes that are close to his heart following loss of his sister to an eating disorder.
The death of Shilpa, aged just 31, came in a period of career highs for Marathe. He compartmentalised his life, blocking out the pain and suffering at home to become a force of nature in the world of sports business. He was in a marriage that would end prematurely while he was striking deals that would see Levi’s Stadium rise from the ground and host Superbowl 50.
Marathe now speaks openly about the challenges of mental health and sits on the board of two non-profits - The Body Positive and Project HEAL – that raise awareness of eating disorders. He is also board chairman of the Sequoia Hospital Foundation, where both of his daughters were born, and holds a position as a faculty member of Stanford's Graduate School of Business. It is there that he has lectured on management and on a course titled 'Negotiation Dynamics in Sports, Entertainment and Media'.
(Paraag Marathe is chairman of Leeds United)
There are few men better placed to offer insight and expertise into the financial side of sport. A career on the field was once the dream and he played baseball and football, the European version, during his high school days. He had an epiphany watching Jerry Maguire and realised that life as an agent or general manager could be just as rewarding.
Resumes and cover letters were sent to more than 70 offices, and the one response opened the door for Marathe as IMG offered him a route down a path that he has never looked back on. A move to Bain and Company saw him enter the world of professional sport and his association with the 49ers is now months away from a milestone.
“I've covered the 49ers as a reporter for about 25 seasons, and he arrived about a year after I did, in the 49ers front office, on the business side,” Cam Inman, a journalist and author on the 49ers told the Rangers Review. “And he came as a very astute, innovative mind that helped introduce data analysis to the organisation's way of thinking. But he really made his mark in those initial years with his ability to manage the 49ers financial situation with the players and the salary cap.
“And he really won over the ownership with his ability and his great business sense. I mean, he's a very shrewd contract negotiator. So, I've never been on the other side of a contract negotiation, but I've heard from the agents how hard he can be. I’ve witnessed it over two decades.”
The biggest deal in the 49ers history - a five-year, $265 million agreement - was reached in recent weeks with Brock Purdy, the quarterback who took them to the Super Bowl LVIII last season. The defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs was the third the 49ers have suffered during Marathe’s professional association with the team.
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As a child, he grew up in the Bay Area and was a regular at games from the age of six. Three titles in the 1980s were followed by two in the first half of the following decade but the wait for the next Vince Lombardi Trophy continues. The axe swung and took out most of those around Marathe after the turn of the millennium and he rose while three general managers and six coaches fell.
Billy Beane, the subject of the book and movie Moneyball, was such a fan of Marathe in his first dealings with him that he wanted to hire him. He soon realised that the more likely scenario was that Marathe would give him a job. During a period of criticism from 49ers fans, Beane considered phoning in a radio talk show and disguising his voice to lend his support. In those moments, Marathe stayed true to what he calls his ‘north star’ and that ability to block out the noise will be valuable in Glasgow.
Marathe was an American of Indian heritage making his way in a sport that was predominantly white and black. His use of data and analytics upset as many as it impressed. Marathe took the body shots and kept moving forward and his rise to president of 49ers Enterprises and executive vice president of football operations is testament to his work and his relationship with the York family.
Those years of near misses on the field have come as the 49ers have become a behemoth business and expanded their interests beyond the NFL. The investment in Leeds United has now paid off and Marathe will be the chairman of a Premier League club next season.
There are parallels between the respective situations at Elland Road and Ibrox and many Rangers supporters will have the same question that United fans did when 49ers Enterprises completed their purchase of Radrizzani’s shareholding in a £170million deal two years ago.
Why did the 49ers want to buy Leeds? And why do they want to get involved in Rangers? For Inman, the answer is relatively straightforward. Indeed, it feeds into what makes Marathe tick. Quite simply, he loves to win.
“The passion in his voice for that, for developing Leeds back into a Premier League football club, you could easily see how excited and passionate he was for the challenge ahead,” Inman said as he recalled a press box meeting and conversation with Marathe.
(Paraag Marathe is an influential figure at Levi's Stadium)
“I caught a glimpse of it the other week when he was getting interviewed in the Leeds parade, and I'm like ‘that's exactly what any athlete feels’. You know, after you work so hard to develop a championship team, and then once you get there, it's just overjoyed and exuberance.
“The 49ers have made it to the Super Bowl three times in the last 25 years of Paraag on board, and they've yet to win. So to see Leeds break through and have a parade of any kind, I'm sure that tickled Paraag and his family and anybody associated with 49ers Enterprises. It’s a success story in that they identified Leeds as the English football club that they wanted to target and take over, and it's worked out brilliantly for them.”
That process started by getting the old band back together. Marathe hired executives who had been instrumental figures for him in San Francisco and convinced them to make the move to Yorkshire. He is not on the ground there every day – he, of course, simply cannot be given his commitments – but he has empowered the team he has assembled, holding them accountable while giving them the space to work. He commutes when he can and was a regular in-person watcher of Farke's side this term.
There will be few occasions when Marathe is not the smartest guy in the room. He has conviction in his methods but is open to others and he speaks about allowing the best idea to win, regardless of where or who it has come from.
The lightbulb moment to form 49ers Enterprises came in Silicon Valley, the heart of exploration and innovation in America. Leeds became the first football club to benefit and Rangers will now tap into resources that could be even more valuable than dollars.
Plans for a redevelopment and expansion of Elland Road caught the imagination of supporters in Glasgow. In an interview earlier this year, Marathe detailed how major clubs are ‘no longer run as lemonade stands’ and every pound spent will be put to productive use. There is room for improvement in every facet from sports science to commercial, ticketing to retail, and the success a couple of hundred miles south gives hope for a fanbase that needs something to believe in and get behind.
“I think it's been a case of having the right people in the right places,” Joe Donnohue, the Leeds United correspondent for the Yorkshire Evening Post, told the Rangers Review about the 49ers blueprint. “Angus Kinnear, who has just gone to Everton, was the only one who stayed on.
"The director of football left, there was a new manager coming in that was the 49ers’ choice and Marathe himself became chairman. It felt a lot like the adults were back in charge when the 49ers came in properly and he was the face of it. He seems pretty content shouldering that responsibility.
"He has a very astute business profile, he has this background in sports analytics. So I think people were impressed with how he sold himself when he first came in at Leeds. He speaks well, he is very polished, very slick, knows the right time to say something and the right time to not.
Andrew Cavenagh and Gretar Steinsson are key figures in the Rangers takeoverAndrew Cavenagh and Gretar Steinsson are key figures in the Rangers takeover (Image: SNS Group)
"They’ve hired people in the right roles. I would say the executive structure at Leeds before the 49ers had full control was maybe a bit light. You had people doing multiple roles that maybe they weren't suited to, that wasn't where their expertise was.”
Morrie Eisenberg was one of those who moved across the Atlantic. Initially appointed as chief operating officer in October 2023, he was promoted to chief business officer last month. Eisenberg was a key figure behind the Levi’s Stadium development. Robbie Evans was also involved in that project and he moved to the role of managing director as Marathe referenced the ‘significant sporting and business achievements’ at Elland Road.
The hope for Rangers is that Marathe is able to reflect on similar positives this time next term. A promise has already been made to invest every penny possible in Farke’s squad over the summer. While similar bold proclamations are not expected at Ibrox, there will be, and must be, an extensive recruitment process to assemble a squad for the incoming manager to work with.
Marathe will naturally be involved in those discussions. He is not someone who sees himself as a one-man show, though. Kevin Thelwell, the newly appointed sporting director, and 49ers technical director Gretar Steinsson sit under Marathe in the organisational chart but will have their own sign off zones and approval lines.
“I would say that they know that there's a lot they have to learn about entering a new side of the business,” Inman said. “You know, when they were moving into English football and you're negotiating players, contracts, it's much different than America. And that actually is something that's right up Paraag’s alley, where he will find something new and he may try to find different ways to approach it.
“When I heard that, after they advanced to the Premier League with Leeds, that they wouldn't spare any expense, that they were going to be paying a lot of money, I would think that's a good thing, knowing that they're willing to make an investment to see their investment through. They're not going to just be happy to be part of the game.
“I mean, Paraag’s extremely business savvy. He's like your typical overachieving sports executive that's on an ascent and is maximizing all of his talents the best he can. And that's benefiting the 49ers Enterprises and Leeds right now.”
In his formative years, Marathe filled out his applications for business schools with the same answer. Asked about his aspirations, he stated he wanted a chance to run a sports team. He has added a third club to his resume and roster.
Marathe spoke about the possible investment in Rangers in February as he addressed the Financial Times Business of Football Summit. A Leeds United scarf was draped over the bookshelf behind his desk. It remains to be seen if Rangers grab his heart to the same extent.
The involvement at Ibrox is different to the one at Elland Road in that the 49ers will not be the only players at the table. The takeover deal with Cavenagh will see 51 per cent of the shares acquired through the series of purchases from existing investors and an upcoming rights issue to allow funds to be put directly into the club.
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As outlined by the Rangers Review in March, Cavenagh has a love for the beautiful game himself. The businessman – the co-founder and executive chairman of ParetoHealth - was a goalkeeper during his time at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and he does not use the term ‘soccer’ when speaking about the sport he has become a main player in. Like Marathe, he will operate and have influence in the background rather than be front and centre at Ibrox.
The new owners will arrive with a new outlook. Supporters need not fear about the Americanisation of Rangers, though. If they seek comfort, they just need to look across the border.
“I think that was one of the things that fans maybe were a little bit sceptical about,” Donnohue said. “We don't want American owners who are going to come in and give it the ‘Woo, yeah, we’re the 49ers’ and that sort of stuff. They haven't done that at all. And I think that's really resonated with Leeds fans.
“They’ve not come in and done what Tom Wagner has done at Birmingham. Yes, they've been very successful on the pitch, but I think you can imagine that there might be a bit of, I don't know, there's a bit of cringe there, if you know what I mean?
“The 49ers have not been like that whatsoever. They've been very much more just business savvy. Yes, they are American, but they know this game. They’ve got the right people, trusted advisors in place to basically steer Leeds in the right direction.
“It’s not about them. They work like it's about you guys, it's about the fans, it's about the team, and we'll just keep a steady hand on the tiller.”
There could be no steadier a hand than that of Marathe. Four decades after he took orders and counted change at the Round Table Pizza parlour, he is about to have a slice of the action of Scottish football. Somehow, he will find the time for Rangers.