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Pittsburgh Pirates hire Drew Cloud as Executive Vice President/Chief Sales & Marketing Officer

The Pittsburgh Pirates today announced the hiring of Drew Cloud as Executive Vice President/Chief Sales and Marketing Officer. Cloud, a Pittsburgh native, will serve on the Pirates executive management team and oversee the Club's ticket sales, corporate partnerships and marketing efforts.

Cloud brings almost 20 years of broad experience, having most recently served as Vice President, Team Marketing and Business Operations for the National Basketball Association in New York City. While with the NBA, Cloud consulted on a day-to-day basis with a number of NBA franchises on all aspects of business operations.

Prior to joining the NBA, Cloud spent more than three years as a Vice President at MSG Sports where he led all ticket sales, service and retention for the New York Knicks, New York Rangers and New York Liberty. Cloud moved to New York City from Phoenix, Arizona after working for seven years as the Vice President of Sales and Guest Experience for the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury and US Airways Center. Before joining the Suns, Cloud spent seven years in Tampa, Florida, including three with the Tampa Bay Rays where he held leadership positions in ticket and corporate sales operations.

"Drew Cloud is an extremely bright and innovative executive with broad and varied experience in professional sports," said Frank Coonelly, Pirates President. "As a Pittsburgh native, we are fortunate to be able to add Drew to our team at this very exciting time for the Pirates organization."

Cloud attended Taylor Allderdice High School where he played basketball and baseball, earning All City honors during his senior season. Cloud earned both his Bachelors in Sports Management and Masters in Athletic Administration from Ohio University. Cloud's mother, Barbara Cloud, was a long-time columnist for the Pittsburgh Press and Post-Gazette.

"I am very excited to be joining the Pirates organization. Professionally, it is a tremendous opportunity to join a strong executive leadership team for a Pirates organization that has an extremely passionate fan base," said Cloud. "Personally, I am proud to have an opportunity to contribute to a team and a community I grew up with. My mother raised me with a passion and love for the city and the people of Pittsburgh. Having a chance to represent this team in this city is pretty remarkable for me. My wife and two daughters are excited to be part of the Pittsburgh community as well. They're already out shopping for their black and gold."

Cloud replaces Lou DePaoli, who last summer joined the New York Mets front office as the Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer.

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