Nashville Soccer Club Promotes Lindsey Paola to Chief Business Officer as Ian Ayre Becomes Vice Chairman

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MLS Nashville SC

Nashville Soccer Club Promotes Lindsey Paola to Chief Business Officer as Ian Ayre Becomes Vice Chairman

January 9, 2025 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Nashville SC News Release


NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Nashville Soccer Club announced today the promotion of current Chief Operating Officer Lindsey Paola to the position of Chief Business Officer as Ian Ayre transitions into the organization's Vice Chairman. Lindsey and Ayre assumed their new roles on Jan. 1, with both reporting directly to Majority Owner and Chairman John Ingram.

"Ian's transition ensures that he will continue to play an integral role with the club while recognizing what Lindsey means to the club as well," said Ingram. "Lindsey is more than deserving and I know that our future is bright with her proven leadership and approach to culture at Nashville SC."

As Vice Chairman, Ayre will serve as an advisor to Ingram, Lindsey, and General Manager Mike Jacobs. As part of his ongoing responsibilities, Ayre will maintain oversight of the club's annual budgets, and lead special projects as determined by the club's Chairman, including team investments and fundraising/capital raises. The former Nashville SC and Liverpool FC CEO will continue to supervise soccer operations and player personnel, as he will also represent the club at both Major League Soccer and MLS NEXT Pro Board of Governors meetings.

"Since first meeting John in 2018, I could see that his vision and commitment to building a Major League Soccer Club was unwavering," added Ayre. "It has been my absolute pleasure to lead the building of the club over the last seven years, but more importantly assembling an outstanding team of people who make the club so special and deliver so much of the hard work." - (additional remarks in the quote repository)

As Chief Business Officer, Lindsey joins an elite group of female executives acting in such capacity across MLS clubs (List included in the media resources). In this new role, Lindsey will continue to drive culture for the organization as she oversees the day-to-day business operations for Nashville SC and Huntsville City FC, the club's MLS NEXT Pro club. In a pivotal time for soccer in North America, Lindsey will also lead the strategic development and growth of the club as the region welcomes the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup™ and the 2026 FIFA World Cup to our city and country.

"I am excited and honored to step into the role of Chief Business Officer at Nashville SC, where I will continue to focus on nurturing our culture and championing our people while driving our shared goals and vision," said Lindsey. "The next few years are pivotal for our club and soccer in our region as we welcome the FIFA Club World Cup to GEODIS Park in 2025 and expand our offerings with more concerts and major events. Having the right pieces and infrastructure is crucial, and I am inspired by the dedication, talent and collaboration of our team. Most importantly, I am very grateful to John and Ian for their trust in me. Having worked closely with Ian for the past seven years, I look forward to expanding our partnership in this new structure, drawing on his extensive experience to develop our strategies and enhance our success."

QUOTE REPOSITORY

John Ingram, Majority Owner and Chairman of Nashville SC: "Ian's transition ensures that he will continue to play an integral role with the club while recognizing what Lindsey means to the club as well. Lindsey is more than deserving and I know that our future is bright with her proven leadership and approach to culture at Nashville SC."

Ian Ayre, Vice Chairman with Nashville SC: "Since first meeting John [Ingram] in 2018, I could see that his vision and commitment to building a Major League Soccer Club was unwavering. It has been my absolute pleasure to lead the building of the club over the last seven years, but more importantly assembling an outstanding team of people who make the club so special and deliver so much of the hard work.

"Lindsey has proven to be an ambitious, collaborative and hugely talented executive and highly capable of managing the business operations of the club. Having worked alongside her for the last seven years, I have seen Lindsey's growth and commitment first-hand and am excited for this promotion and the next chapter for the business of the club under her management and leadership.

"I have absolute confidence in Lindsey & Mike Jacobs, who along with the rest of the senior management team can take up the mantle to continue this epic journey for Nashville SC.

"The opportunity to remain involved in the future of the club for the long term, is a true honor for me and particularly special given how much I have grown to love the club and the city of Nashville."

Lindsey Paola, Chief Business Officer with Nashville SC: "I am excited and honored to step into the role of Chief Business Officer at Nashville SC, where I will continue to focus on nurturing our culture and championing our people while driving our shared goals and vision. The next few years are pivotal for our club and soccer in our region as we welcome the FIFA Club World Cup to GEODIS Park in 2025 and expand our offerings with more concerts and major events. Having the right pieces and infrastructure is crucial, and I am inspired by the dedication, talent and collaboration of our team. Most importantly, I am very grateful to John and Ian for their trust in me. Having worked closely with Ian for the past seven years, I look forward to expanding our partnership in this new structure, drawing on his extensive experience to develop our strategies and enhance our success."

EXECUTIVE BIOS

Ian Ayre: Since his arrival in Nashville in 2018, Ayre was tasked with building the entire club from the ground up. In addition to overseeing the club's business and soccer operations, Ayre has been responsible for the development of the club's new and permanent stadium at the Fairgrounds, GEODIS Park. The largest soccer-specific stadium in the United States opened its gates on May 1 st, 2022 in front of a 30,109 sold-out crowd.

Ayre has an extensive level of career experience gained predominantly in the areas of sport, media and technology. Following 10 years of active military service in the British Royal Navy, and professional experience in consumer electronics with Pace Micro Technology, he was involved in the takeover of Huddersfield Town Football Club, serving as Chairman & Chief Executive for the English Football League Championship club.

He transformed the club's commercial revenues and completed the final stages of construction of their new stadium and the revitalization of the playing squad.

Following his time at Huddersfield Town FC, Ian became the founding managing director of Premium TV Ltd, a Digital Sports Media company which secured the digital media rights of all 72 Football League clubs and a host of Premier League teams. Premium TV was later consumed into Perform Group and more recently DAZN.

On leaving Premium TV, Ian returned to Asia to help build the Asian sports marketing organization Total Sports Asia. The business established offices in Malaysia, Japan, UAE, India, Thailand and China. Representing rights holders across multiple sports and selling TV & Digital Media rights across the Asian region, representing organizations such as WWE, USTA and FIFA.

In 2007, Ayre returned to the UK to take up a role with Liverpool Football Club, the club he had supported since his childhood. Over his 10 years at Liverpool he was responsible for rebuilding the club at all levels. After initially securing a record-breaking sponsorship deal for the club, he went on to restructure the entire commercial, operational and football elements of the business as well as overseeing the successful £120m stadium expansion. He was directly responsible for all player transfer negotiations including contract negotiations on over 100 players (acquisitions, sales, loans, extensions) including Phillipe Coutinho, Steven Gerrard, Luis Suárez, Roberto Firminho, Raheem Sterling, Sadio Mané and worked with five leading coaches (Rafa Benítez, Roy Hodgson, Kenny Dalglish, Brendan Rogers and Jürgen Klopp). During his time at Liverpool, Ayre also served on the UEFA Competitions Committee as an elected member and in 2017 was voted Premier League Chief Executive of the year. He stepped down as Chief Executive Officer in February 2017.

Lindsey Paola: Prior to her appointment as COO and following two seasons as the club's Senior Director of Club Administration, Lindsey was promoted to Chief of Staff in 2019 as the club graduated its operations from the USL Championship to Major League Soccer. Lindsey was also responsible for bringing four concerts to GEODIS Park as well as a variety of other non-MLS programming.

Before joining Nashville SC, Lindsey worked in the public sector and the federal government, including Frontier Communications, the United States Department of State and, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. She started her career on the 2004 Bush-Cheney presidential re-election campaign and from there worked on the 55 th Presidential Inaugural Committee. Lindsey then worked in the White House Office of Vice Presidential Advance and the White House Counsel's Office during the Bush-Cheney Administration.

Lindsey holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Communications from The George Washington University and a Master's degree in General Psychology from The Catholic University of America.

LIST OF FEMALE EXECUTIVES ACTING AS CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICERS ACROSS MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER CLUBS

Sara Kate Noftsinger - Atlanta United FC

Natalee Jarrett - Charlotte FC

Danita Johnson - D.C. United

Paula Boggs Muething - FC Cincinnati

Jessica O'Neill - Houston Dynamo FC

Shari Ballard - Minnesota United FC

Lindsey Paola - Nashville SC

Heather Davis - Portland Timbers

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