Indians promote two sales aces to assistant general manager

The Indianapolis Indians this week promoted sales ace Joel Zawacki and ticket sales director Matt Guay to assistant general managers.

Zawacki was named assistant general manager–corporate sales and marketing. Previously the organization’s director of corporate sales and marketing, Zawacki began with the team in 2007 as a sponsorship sales coordinator. 

He transformed the Indians’ sponsorship practices to eventually triple the department’s revenue to $3.3 million by 2015 and is responsible for driving all of the team’s advertising and promotional endeavors. 

Zawacki was selected to the Indianapolis Business Journal’s ’40 Under 40’ list earlier this year.

Zawacki will have more inventory to sell next year as the Indians recently announced the coming addition of a massive new video scoreboard and ribbon boards as part of a $2.4 million improvement project at Victory Field this offseason. 

The 32-year-old Michigan City native lives downtown with his wife, Ellen, and son, Jack. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Indianapolis in 2006, where he was a three-year varsity letterman and Great Lakes Valley Conference All-Academic Team selection for the Greyhounds’ baseball program.

Guay, 40, was named assistant general manager–tickets and operations. Guay is in his 18th year with the organization after beginning as a ticket services intern in 1999. Guay received the promotion while serving as the team’s director of tickets and operations. 

Under the Pittsburgh native’s leadership, the Indians’ ticketing staff has become one of the most successful in Minor League Baseball, setting franchise attendance records in 2014 and 2015 before leading all of MiLB this season. 

Guay, a Univeristy of Dayton graduate, lives in Indianapolis’ Fall Creek Place neighborhood with his wife, Emily, and daughter, Audrey.

Indians officials credit Zawacki and Guay with helping the team continue its streak of profitability, which dates back to 1975. In recent years, the Indians have posted annual profits of more than $1 million.

Indians General Manager Randy Lewandowski also announced this week that Tim Hughes and Brad Morris were promoted to senior directors.

Hughes has been promoted to senior director of facilities and Morris is now senior director of business operations. 

Hughes joined the Indians in 1998 and now oversees all of the ballpark’s repair and maintenance projects. In addition, he is the organization’s liaison for all contractor work throughout the facility. Morris started full-time for the Tribe in 1996 after several years as an intern and is responsible for all of the organization’s accounting and day-to-day finances. He at one point recorded a streak of more than 1,500 Tribe home games without an absence.

The Indiana are a AAA Minor League Baseball affiliate of Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates.