Chris Connolly

Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer
San Diego Padres

Chris Connolly enters his fifth season with the Padres as senior vice president, chief marketing officer. In his current role, Connolly oversees all aspects of the Padres marketing, social media, graphic design, advertising, broadcasting, in-game entertainment and fan engagement.

During his tenure as CMO, the Padres have consistently ranked in the top three among all Major League Baseball clubs in attendance, including ranking second in 2023 while setting Padres all-time franchise records in attendance and season ticket sales. Connolly helped lead the successful Nike City Connect uniform marketing launch in 2022 as well as the marketing for numerous sold-out Petco Park concerts.

Prior to joining the Padres, Connolly spent 12 years working for The Walt Disney Company in a variety of senior leadership roles throughout his tenure. He led marketing for the Disneyland Resort where he was instrumental in the successful launches of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge in 2019 and the Pixar Fest celebration in 2018. Other notable Disneyland accomplishments included driving merchandise and food revenue to record levels via dedicated social media campaigns.

Additionally, Connolly held the title of Senior Vice President of Consumer Marketing for Disney Consumer Products where he spearheaded the retail, product development and marketing initiatives behind the highly successful Frozen franchise and the popular Disney Princess brand. Upon first joining Disney in 2009, Connolly served as the Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing for Walt Disney Studios, which saw him lead the Home Entertainment consumer marketing and creative services teams responsible for Disney, Pixar, ABC, and Disney Channel DVD releases.

A native of Southern California, Connolly has also held the titles of President of the Big Idea Marketing Group, LLC. and VP of Marketing for Hasbro Toys over his career. The UCLA alum also serves as a guest lecturer at local universities and enjoys mentoring students. Connolly and his wife Denise, a San Diego native, have two daughters, Olivia and Caroline.