Mark Miles (born September 2, 1953) is an American sports executive and the current CEO of IndyCar and Penske Entertainment.
Miles was instrumental in leading the committees which landed Indianapolis the 1987 Pan American Games and Super Bowl XLVI.
Miles attended Wabash College where he studied political science and was a member of the tennis team.
[2] As a college student, Miles accepted a job working for the re-election campaign of Indianapolis mayor Richard Lugar, responsible for mobilizing young voters.
Miles was briefly at the center of controversy in April 1987 when he led a delegation of Games officials to Cuba to meet with Fidel Castro.
The purpose was to ensure Cuban participation in the games, while Miles' former employer, Senator Dan Quayle, accused him of overstepping constitutional bounds and "attempting to capitalize on the infamy and notoriety of Fidel Castro.
[12][13] Hosting the games also attracted many sports organizations to consider Indianapolis as a site for their headquarters, most notably the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
[18] The ATP increased yearly revenues to over $2 billion, and established a highly successful retirement fund for tennis professionals.
[20] 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.
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.
[24] 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.
It also alleged that the ATP sent a man to Hewitt in Zurich who attempted to get him to sign a document of refusal for drug testing.
[29] Miles asked players to sign a "participation agreement" should the ATP decide to boycott Grand Slams and hold an "alternate event" to the 2003 US Open if demands were not met.
In May 2008, NFL Franchise owners awarded the Super Bowl to Indianapolis, beating the bids of Houston, Texas and Glendale, Arizona.
[40] Miles moved the season finale from October to around Labor Day to avoid competing for attention with the NFL and college football.
[44] In 2024, Miles has been a part of a Penske Entertainment leadership team that has navigated IndyCar through a series of missteps by the organization.