Max Siegel is a transformational sports and entertainment executive, attorney, entrepreneur and author whose career has been defined by building organizations, creating enterprise value and expanding opportunity across some of the most influential platforms in sports and entertainment.
Over more than three decades, Siegel has worked at virtually every level of the sports and entertainment industries—as a practicing attorney, sports agent, senior entertainment executive, team owner, entrepreneur and sports administrator. His career provides a distinctive 360-degree perspective on the business of sports, entertainment, culture and organizational leadership.
Since May 1, 2012, Siegel has served as Chief Executive Officer of USA Track & Field (USATF), the national governing body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. Under his leadership, USATF has achieved historic athletic, financial and organizational success and has undergone significant commercial transformation.
Since becoming CEO, Siegel has generated more than $700 million in revenue for USATF, while expanding the organization’s commercial platform, increasing investment in athletes and high-performance programs, strengthening strategic partnerships and developing new events, media properties and business initiatives designed to grow the sport.
Under Siegel’s leadership, USATF secured a landmark long-term partnership with Nike and successfully led the effort to bring the World Athletics Championships to the United States for the first time. In 2024, World Athletics recognized USATF as its Member Federation of the Year. Siegel has also championed increased athlete financial support, prize money, sport science and high-performance resources while strengthening USATF’s commercial infrastructure and positioning the organization for continued growth through the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games and beyond.
Siegel’s understanding of the Olympic and national governing body ecosystem began long before he became a sports administrator. As a practicing attorney with Baker & Daniels, he represented major national governing bodies and sports organizations, including USA Swimming, USA Gymnastics, U.S. Ski & Snowboard and USRowing. That experience gave him an uncommon perspective on the legal, governance, commercial and operational complexities facing organizations responsible for administering sport at the national and international levels.
His legal and sports representation career also included work with elite professional athletes, including Hall of Famers Reggie White and Tony Gwynn. As both an attorney and sports agent, Siegel advised athletes on business, contractual and career matters, giving him an athlete-centered perspective that would later influence his approach to sports administration and executive leadership.
Siegel subsequently built a significant career in the global entertainment industry, holding senior leadership positions within the Sony/BMG music system. He served as Senior Vice President of Tommy Boy and Sony Music, in addition to serving as President of Zomba Gospel, Tommy Boy Gospel and Verity Records. His broader executive responsibilities extended well beyond gospel music, encompassing talent development, marketing, content, distribution and commercial strategy across the music industry. He helped build culturally influential entertainment properties and led businesses recognized for strong creative and financial performance, establishing a leadership model that connected culture with disciplined business execution.
He later brought that experience to motorsports as President of Global Operations for Dale Earnhardt Inc., overseeing business operations and commercial activities for one of NASCAR’s most recognizable organizations.
Siegel subsequently founded and owned Rev Racing, which operated NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity racing program and became an important developmental platform for multicultural and female talent. The program helped develop a generation of drivers and industry professionals who went on to compete at NASCAR’s highest levels, further demonstrating Siegel’s ability to build platforms that combine competitive performance, commercial value and expanded opportunity.
Across his career, Siegel has represented athletes and sports organizations as an attorney, negotiated on behalf of talent as an agent, built entertainment businesses as a corporate executive, operated a professional racing organization as an owner and led one of America’s most prominent Olympic national governing bodies as its chief executive.
That breadth of experience has made transformation a consistent theme of his career: transforming organizations, building brands, developing talent, creating new revenue streams and aligning mission with commercial growth.
Siegel has also served in numerous civic, educational and sports leadership roles. His board service has included USA Track & Field, the USA Swimming Foundation, the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE), Martin University and other national and community organizations. He is also an author, film producer and frequent speaker on leadership, organizational culture, sports business and personal development.
Born in Los Angeles and raised between Los Angeles and Indianapolis, Siegel earned both his undergraduate degree and Juris Doctor from the University of Notre Dame. He made history as the first African American to graduate with honors from Notre Dame Law School. He and his wife, Dr. Jennifer Siegel, reside in Indianapolis and are the parents of three adult children.