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Meet The Mavericks Front Office Staff

Lamar Hunt, Jr.

Lamar Hunt, Jr.

Team Owner
Lamar Hunt, Jr. is the founder of the Loretto Companies, LLC, a real estate development company and the Loretto Foundation, LLC, a private charitable organization. Both companies are based in the greater Kansas City area. Lamar is a member of the founding family of the Kansas City Chiefs and is also the owner of the Kansas City Mavericks, a franchise member of the ECHL, and owner of the Kansas City Scouts, a Tier II junior hockey team in the NAHL south division. He serves on the board of directors of Hunt Midwest Enterprises, a real estate development company based in Kansas City, MO. Lamar also serves on the board of directors of the Bright Futures Fund, Dynamic Catholic, and as Chair of the Board of Trustees for St. Michael the Archangel High School in Lee’s Summit, MO. Lamar and his wife Rita, parents of nine children and grandparents of eight grandchildren, are passionate about supporting Catholic education and advocating for the unborn in our community.
James Arkell

James Arkell

Team Owner
As COO of Loretto Holdings, Arkell has been involved with the team since it was acquired by Loretto Sports Ventures in 2014. Arkell has recently taken a more active role in day-to-day operations of the Mavericks to grow the sport of hockey in Kansas City and lift the Mavericks brand as the premiere hockey team in Kansas City. As a Kansas City native, Arkell has strong ties to the community and is very active in both the non-profit world and the business community on both sides of the state line.
Mike Cukyne

Mike Cukyne

Team President

Mike Cukyne enters his third season as Mavericks President in 2022-23. In his role, Cukyne oversees the day-to-day business operations of the team and Mavericks front office staff. Cukyne came to the Mavericks from the Kansas City Chiefs where he served as a Vice President from 2018-21 and was a member of the organization as the club won multiple AFC Championships and appeared in two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl LIV. Cukyne led all content efforts for the Chiefs including the team’s media, marketing, production, digital and social platforms and game operations. Entering the professional sports world from the media business, Cukyne spent 22 years with the Meredith Corporation in a variety of progressive roles, culminating as the Vice President and General Manager of KCTV5, Kansas City’s CBS affiliate, as well as Vice President of Digital Media for Meredith's 18 television stations across the country. A graduate of the University of Missouri, Cukyne currently resides in Overland Park, Kan., with his wife and two children.

Josh LeMaster

Josh LeMaster

Director of Finance and Administration

Josh LeMaster begins his second season as the Mavericks Director of Finance and Administration. LeMaster came from the Kansas City Royals, where he spent five years as the team’s Senior Accountant and Account Manager. A Huxley, Iowa, native, LeMaster is an Iowa State graduate and a member of the Iowa Air National Guard, where he has been a Master Sergeant for 15 years. LeMaster resides in Kearney, Mo., with his wife, Katie, and two children.

Ticket Staff

Nick Perkins

Nick Perkins

Director of Data Analytics & Ticket Ops

Nick Perkins enters his fourth season with the Mavericks after his recent promotion to Director of Data Analytics and Ticket Operations. He originally joined the Mavericks in the 2020-21 season as the team’s Game Operations Intern before transitioning to a role in ticket sales in 2021-22. Perkins graduated from the University of Kansas in Fall 2020 with a degree in Sport Management and a business minor. He completed a graduate degree in Sport Management from KU in Spring 2022. A Minnesota native, he currently resides in Lee's Summit, Mo.

Alex Rowe

Alex Rowe

Director of Ticket Sales

Rowe begins his first season as the Mavericks Director of Ticket sales in 2023-24. He joined the Mavericks in the 2020-21 season as an Operations Intern and transitioned to the ticket staff prior to the 2021-22 season. A University of Kansas graduate, Rowe is a lifelong Kansas City sports fan and currently resides in Leawood, Kan.

Anthony Cooper

Anthony Cooper

Account Executive

A Blue Springs, Mo., native, Anthony Cooper begins his second season as an Account Executive for the Mavericks. Cooper interned with the Kansas City Monarchs during the 2022 American Association of Professional Baseball Season and is a University of Central Missouri graduate.

Declan Murray

Declan Murray

Account Executive
Declan Murray joined the Mavericks in February 2023 after spending time with the NAIA as an eligibility representative. A Rockhurst University graduate, Murray started his career as an intern with Sporting Kansas City in 2021-22. Originally from St. Louis, Mo., Murray moved to Cincinnati, Ohio at an early age. A club soccer player in his youth, Murray enjoys playing pickup soccer in his spare time.
Michael Bledsoe

Michael Bledsoe

Account Executive

Michael Bledsoe is entering his first season as an Account Executive for the Kansas City Mavericks. He is a 2022 University of Central Missouri graduate – majoring in sport management with a double minor in business administration and digital media production. A Blue Springs, Mo., native, Bledsoe was a stadium operations intern for the Kansas City Monarchs in 2022.

Sales Team

James Hopkins

James Hopkins

Senior Sales Director – Corporate Sponsorship

James Hopkins is in his first season with the Mavericks as the team’s Senior Sales Director of Corporate Sponsorship. With over a decade of sales experience across various industries, he brings a wealth of knowledge to the role and the team. Originally from Chicago, James relocated to the Kansas City area during his formative years, later graduating from the University of Kansas. His lifelong passion for hockey, cultivated through years of playing the sport, fuels his commitment to the growth of both hockey and the success of the Mavericks organization. James currently resides in Kansas City with his wife, Christina.

Tatum Evans

Tatum Evans

Manager of Partnership Activation

Tatum Evans begins her first year with the Mavericks as the team’s Manager of Partnership Activations. Evans is a Kansas City native and a double major graduate from the University of Central Missouri. Upon graduation, Evans returned to her alma mater and also coached high school tennis.  She and her husband ran a successful business from 2010-2020 with offices and connections across the country.  More recently, Evans and her family resided in Las Vegas where she was heavily involved in Las Vegas Youth Hockey and the education community.  Evans now resides in Kansas City with her husband and son.

Joe Benson

Joe Benson

Corporate Sales Executive

Joe Benson is in his second season as a Corporate Sales Executive for the Mavericks after previously working as the Director of Communications and Broadcasting for the Corpus Christi (Texas) IceRays of the NAHL. An Andover, Mass., native, Benson currently resides in Kansas City.

Lauren Kelley

Lauren Kelley

Sales and Marketing Coordinator

A 2023 University of Kansas graduate, Lauren Kelley begins her first season with the Mavericks as the team’s sales and marketing coordinator. At KU, Kelley majored in marketing with a minor in entrepreneurship while also being the Assistant Director of Recruitment in the Xi Chapter of Sigma Kappa. Kelley currently resides in Shawnee, Kan.

Brand and Communications

Zach Welch

Zach Welch

Director of Brand and Public Relations

Zach Welch begins his second season with the Mavericks as the team's Director of Brand and Public Relations. He spent five years interning across the NFL and NBA PR worlds with the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. Welch is a 2015 UMKC graduate and lives in the Plaza area of Kansas City with his wife, Veronica.

Gabrielle Sikora

Gabrielle Sikora

Manager of Production and Content

Gabrielle Sikora is in her second season with the Mavericks in 2023-24. She was born and raised in Michigan and graduated from Central Michigan University in 2021, earning her degree in Broadcast and Cinematic Arts with a focus in journalism, multimedia design and cinema studies. While in school, Sikora broadcast Central Michigan Athletics for ESPN and worked for Bally Sports Detroit.

Kenzie Venneman

Kenzie Venneman

Manager of Digital and Social Media

Kenzie Venneman enters her first season as the Manager of Digital and Social Media for the Mavericks. Venneman is a Pittsburg, Kan., native and a 2023 University of Kansas graduate. She was a 2022-23 Mavericks intern and was the KU women’s club volleyball president. In her free time, Venneman is a personal trainer.

 


 

Annie Buckles

Annie Buckles

Graphic Designer

Annie Buckles begins her first year as the Mavericks graphic designer. A Kansas City, Mo., native, she recently graduated from the University of Kansas. Buckles previously interned for Sporting Kansas City as well as the University of Kansas’ club hockey team.

Game Operations

Alexis Ludovici

Alexis Ludovici

Director of Game Operations

The 2023-24 season marks Ludovici's third season with the Mavericks as the team's Director of Game Operations. She grew up outside of Tampa, Fla., and graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Telecommunications with a specialization in Production. She began her career with the Augusta (S.C.) GreenJackets, the Low-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, as their Multimedia Video and Creative Services Specialist. She worked two full seasons in baseball with many concerts and events in between.

Community Relations

Mick Deaver

Mick Deaver

Manager of Community Relations

Mick Deaver, a University of Missouri graduate, begins his first seasons as the Mavericks Manager of Community Relations. Deaver came to the Mavericks after spending time as the St. Louis Blues Fan Development and Community Relations Intern. A lifelong hockey player, Deaver was involved in a fluke hockey accident at the age of 17, which left him as a C5 quadriplegic. However, with hard work and blessings, Deaver has regained mobility with the use of a walker and crutches and has created his own non-profit 501(c)3 called the BeStrong29 Foundation to help those who have been affected by spinal cord injuries.

Team Store

Lisa Hamilton

Lisa Hamilton

Team Store Manager

With over 20 years of experience in retail management, wholesale apparel sales and visual merchandising, Lisa Hamilton is in her second season as the Mavericks team store manager. Originally from Iowa, Hamilton has returned to the Midwest after spending the previous 20 years living in Arizona. Educated at the University of Iowa and the Art Institute of Chicago, Hamilton currently resides in Grain Valley, Mo.

Job Inquiries

The Mavericks post all job and internship openings here!