TurnkeyZRG Leading Chief Commercial Officer Searches for the University of Kentucky and the Indianapolis Colts

October 13, 2026 – College athletics is moving into a new era as the business of sports continues to evolve, making commercial leadership increasingly important and creating new opportunities for experienced executives. As universities and professional teams place greater emphasis on revenue growth, partnerships, fan engagement, and brand strategy, the chief commercial officer role is becoming increasingly central to their business operations. TurnkeyZRG was recently retained by the University of Kentucky and the Indianapolis Colts to find chief commercial officers.

The University of Kentucky seeking a chief commercial officer to help maximize opportunities across one of the most recognized brands in collegiate sports. This role will oversee strategic revenue initiatives, corporate partnerships, and business development efforts as the athletics landscape continues to evolve. This leader will serve as the senior commercial and external-facing executive for UK Athletics, holding one integrated scope of responsibility across commercial strategy and external operations.

The successful candidate will combine entrepreneurial thinking with relationship-building expertise to create innovative pathways for growth. Those applying should have 10+ years of progressive experience in commercial leadership, marketing, or external affairs roles, preferably in collegiate athletics, professional sports, or related industries. They will have a proven track record in revenue generation, sponsorship/partnership execution, and brand/marketing strategy. In addition, they will have experience operating across or in coordination with a separate corporate/commercial entity (e.g., a university athletics commercial subsidiary or multimedia rights company.

The University of Kentucky athletics program competes in the Southeastern Conference and sponsors a broad range of men’s and women’s varsity sports. Based in Lexington, the program operates as part of the university and supports student-athletes across nationally recognized programs, including basketball, football, baseball, volleyball, track and field, and other sports. Its athletics operations also include areas such as ticketing, sponsorships, media rights, facilities, donor engagement, and fan development, making commercial strategy an important part of the department’s overall business model.

Indianapolis Colts Search

The Colts are searching for a chief commercial officer to lead revenue generation, partnership strategy, and long-term business growth. This executive will help shape the future of the organization by identifying innovative opportunities across sponsorships, premium experiences, and commercial operations. For leaders with a track record of driving growth and building meaningful partnerships, this is a chance to make an impact on and off the field.

This role is accountable for aligning the Colts’ commercial operation with ownership’s strategic vision of maximizing short- and long-term value, growing stakeholder engagement, strengthening brand affinity, and delivering a best-in-class professional sports brand and experience for fans, partners, employees, and the community.

The ideal candidate is a proven commercial operator and enterprise leader who can scale complex revenue businesses, lead large cross-functional teams, build trusted relationships, make data-informed decisions, and translate strategy into measurable execution. This individual must model the Colts’ mission, values, and leadership expectations while fostering a collaborative culture of trust, curiosity, selflessness, accountability, tenacity, courage, and passion.

The Colts plays its home games at Lucas Oil Stadium and operates across football, business, marketing, sponsorship, ticketing, media, community relations, and fan engagement. As with other NFL franchises, the Colts’ commercial operations are focused on generating revenue, building corporate partnerships, expanding the team’s brand, and strengthening relationships with fans and the broader business community.

Founded in 1996, TurnkeyZRG is a specialized talent recruitment/executive search firm filling C-level, senior-level and mid-management-level positions throughout sports, media and entertainment. Over the past 25 years, the firm has filled more than 1,400 positions. TurnkeyZRG helps teams, leagues, stadiums, arenas, theaters, college athletic departments, events, sponsors, agencies, media companies, private equity companies and other clients identify, recruit, and hire the best management talent.

Len Perna is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Turnkey. He has 30-plus years’ experience in the sports and entertainment industry, with senior-level management experience in sales, event marketing and management, sponsorships, venue feasibility and development, facility operations, licensing, and legal affairs. Since founding Turnkey, Mr. Perna has managed over 1,400 executive searches.

Chad Chatlos, managing director, college & coaching practice, specializes in senior executive searches across the sports industry with a focus on diverse roles in the ever–changing landscape of Intercollegiate Athletics. He has completed multiple Power Five commissioner searches for the ACC, Pac-12, Big 10 and Big 12. Mr. Chatlos has also placed multiple Power 5 head football coaches and played a pivotal role in the NCAA president search. Prior to joining TurnkeyZRG, Mr. Chatlos started and ran the sports & entertainment practice at Ventura Partners. With more than 15 years of experience in sports marketing and event management, he has property, agency, and corporate experience in the business of sports. Throughout his career, Mr. Chatlos has completed searches for the NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, multiple National Governing Bodies, and several brands as well.

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media

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