Mark Miles (sports executive)

Mark Miles (born September 2, 1953) is an American sports executive and the current CEO of IndyCar and Penske Entertainment.

Miles was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1953, one of five children.

His father worked for Eli Lilly and Company and his mother was a teacher.

He attended Broad Ripple High School and graduated from North Central High School.

Miles attended Wabash College where he studied political science and was a member of the tennis team.

As a college student, Miles accepted a job working for the re-election campaign of Indianapolis mayor Richard Lugar, responsible for mobilizing young voters.

In 1980, Miles served as campaign manager for Dan Quayle's successful campaign for U. S. Senate, defeating three-term incumbent Democrat Birch Bayh with 54% of the vote.

Miles then served as Quayle's chief of staff for less than one year.

He later recalled, "I failed, I think, as Dan’s chief of staff. I was not really equipped. I didn’t really know the legislative process, I didn’t know other members and their staffs. And I didn’t really want to be there."

He returned to Indianapolis and started a direct mail company.

In 1984, Miles led Indianapolis' bid to host the 1987 Pan American Games.

He was in charge of the organizing committee called Pan American Ten/Indianapolis (PAX/I).

He led eighteen operating divisions, 300 paid staff, and 37,000 volunteers.

Between 1985 and 1990, Miles served as president and Tournament Director of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships.

What began as the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, Miles made the decision to change the surface to Deco-Turf II, the same surface as the US Open.

The tournament was moved close to the U.S. Open and positioned as a warm-up event for the Grand Slam tournament.

Top-seeded players like Boris Becker, John McEnroe, and Pete Sampras won in the early years and the tournament won 10 consecutive Association of Tennis Professionals Tournament of the Year awards.

Miles was instrumental in leading the committees which landed Indianapolis the 1987 Pan-American Games and Super Bowl XLVI.

The Pan Am Games brought about $175 million (1988 USD, $355.1 million 2016 USD) to Indianapolis's economy.

Hosting the Games cost about $30 million.

Indianapolis was the first Pan American Games host city to break even financially.

Hosting the games also attracted many sports organizations to consider Indianapolis as a site for their headquarters, most notably the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Beginning in 1988, Miles served as executive director of corporate relations for Eli Lilly & Company.

He was also the former President of the Association of Tennis Professionals between 1990 and 2005.

Miles' success leading the Indianapolis Tennis Championships led to his hiring as the CEO of the Association of Tennis Professionals in 1990.

During his leadership, the ATP saw growth with sponsorships and international expansion.

The ATP increased yearly revenues to over $2 billion, and established a highly successful retirement fund for tennis professionals.

Miles' leadership was questioned by some in early 1999 as a drug controversy ensnared professional tennis.

Petr Korda was suspended as he tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid Nandrolone.

Jim Courier alleged that Blood doping was common, especially among European players.

Amid this, Thomas Muster criticized Miles for what he considered "very weak" leadership on the drug issue.

In April 1999, Miles negotiated a deal to sell the television and sponsorship rights of the ATP's nine major events to ISL Worldwide, a Zurich-based sports marketing agency for the sum of $1.2 billion.

In May 2001, ISL declared bankruptcy and left the ATP in financial danger.

They were forced to lay off 15% of their staff and saw the decline in prize money for tournaments.

The ATP faced a doping crisis when they were forced to overturn a suspension for Bohdan Ulihrach when an investigation found its trainers had unknowingly administered players with supplements containing the banned steroid nandrolone between August 2002 and May 2003.

The ATP was criticized by the World Anti-Doping Agency, claiming that the internal investigation done by the ATP was biased and not a proper investigation.

Miles and the ATP fostered an acrimonious relationship with the controversial world number one player, Lleyton Hewitt.

In summer 2002, the ATP fined Hewitt $103,000 when he refused to do a required television interview with ESPN before a first round match in Cincinnati.

The fine was reduced to $35,000 on appeal.

In 2003, Miles faced a tough year as the head of the ATP.