USA Track & Field today named former Dale Earnhardt Inc. exec Max Siegel its CEO, ending a 19-month search for a new leader. The organization has been without a CEO since Doug Logan left in September '10. Siegel will earn a base salary of $500,000 with an option for bonuses. USATF Chair Stephanie Hightower said, “We cast a wide net nationally and internationally in the sports and entertainment arena. We’re fortunate enough that Max decided, based on his commitment and passion as a board member and consultant, that he could bring some leadership and help position our sport for the future.”
Siegel said, "We need to be a lot more coordinated and focused on our overall organizational objective is. We need to build our brand, communicate the organization’s contribution and explain to the relevant commercial partner why investing in our organization impacts the organization and the track and field industry."
By hiring Siegel, USATF board becomes the second major Olympic organization to name one of its former board members to its top job. The USOC board did the same in '09 when it named board member Stephanie Streeter interim CEO.
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Siegel's work on USATF sales and marketing to date focused on improving relationships with existing sponsors, improving its marketing materials and done an inventory of its assets. His agency has not sold any major sponsorships since taking over sales efforts in October '11. Siegel said, "We did a deep dive into the organization and came up with an organizational rebrand for the collateral materials and marketing materials."
The selection of Siegel ends a 19-month period without permanent leadership at USATF. The organization's board aimed to name a new CEO last spring. It interviewed three finalists for the job, including N.Y. Road Runners President & CEO Mary Wittenberg and Univ. of Oregon track coach Vin Lananna, but the organization failed to agree to terms with the people it interviewed and abandoned its search. At the time, the organization struggled to find someone who was willing to move to Indianapolis to take the job. That was not an issue for Siegel, who is an Indianapolis resident.
