🏆 From the Ballpark to the Boardroom: Todd Blyleven’s Journey of Grit and Purpose

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Todd Blyleven is the Chief Marketing Officer at USA Softball. He grew up inside Major League Baseball as the son of Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, played professionally for seven years, and later signed players as an MLB scout. He led partnerships and marketing at SKLZ and United Sports Brands, built youth baseball programs, and now balances Olympic-sport growth with speaking and writing on resilience. His why is simple: “My why is because I love what I do. I want to build programs that keep athletes smiling. If I’m a happy person, then my kids have a happy dad and a happy person in my community.”

Ballpark Kid to Pro and Scout

Todd grew up surrounded by the game. “I grew up in a household with my dad playing professional baseball,” he says. “He was a present father to me. He took me around the country with him until I was in high school.” From a young age, he was learning the business from every corner of the ballpark. "Of course, I got to play and hit on the field with the best, which was amazing, but my dad also made sure I was helping the team where I could, whether it was assisting the clubhouse staff with hanging jerseys, running papers up to the press box, or being the bat boy during games, I was always doing something at the ball park. I learned everything about the business aspect of sports and got to be around my dad every day."

After seven years playing professionally, Todd faced a crossroads. “I didn’t know what I was supposed to do in my life,” he recalls. “I started working construction, waiting tables, stocking boots at Boot Barn, trying to figure out what the heck am I supposed to do?” That uncertainty ended when he became a Major League Baseball scout. “You’re responsible for the 300 or 400 players in your area that you need to know about,” he says. “The constant grind, 24 hours of the work ethic.” He embraced analytics before it was common. “I became a nerd with the analytics and the data and projecting players at that time. This was before it all really became popular.” The approach paid off. “I signed 26 guys to professional contracts, players like Troy Tulowitzki, Kevin Jepsen, Ian Stewart, but Tulo is a big one.”

Learning the Business of Sport

While scouting was rewarding, the schedule took its toll. “Scouting was tough on the family though,” Todd says. That pushed him toward a new challenge. He launched a youth baseball training facility and built travel programs before travel baseball became a billion-dollar industry. “I loved building the business models of running successful travel clubs and organizations,” he says.

That work opened the door to SKLZ, a global sports training company. “One of my first projects at SKLZ was to evaluate their entire baseball product line, more than 100 products, and present my findings to the executive team,” he recalls. “I had never created a PowerPoint before, so a friend helped me put together what was probably the worst deck ever,” he says with a laugh. “But the presentation went well. We were granted a $1 million budget to create new content, packaging designs, and product descriptions.” The experience reinforced a lesson that has guided him ever since: relationships, humility, and persistence open doors.

He later joined United Sports Brands, home to Shock Doctor, Cutters, McDavid, and Nathan. “I was their marketing manager, then became their business development director,” he says. The role tested his adaptability and expanded his understanding of brand building and partnerships. His mantra through it all was simple: “There’s no stopping here.”

The Night That Changed Everything

In 2017, Todd and his family attended the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas when a gunman opened fire on the crowd. Amid the chaos, Todd’s instincts took over. “I got my family out really quick after the second round of automatic fire,” he says. Once they were safe, he went back in to help others. “I was in that venue for eight hours, bringing as many people as I could out to safety. I carried over 30 people out in my arms or over my shoulder that night under gunfire.”

That night changed everything. “Everything I did had a new purpose of trying to be happy and give back to others,” Todd says. When he returned home, Todd began sharing his story. “I was teaching people how to stand back up to self-empowerment, to put love first, and how to walk with your trauma, not just bury it in the back of our minds.” He authored Walking With Your Trauma and Scout Like a Pro, delivered a TED Talk, and began speaking to teams, companies, and first responders. “It’s about how to embrace the empathy of a workplace and understand that we all struggle and go through things.”

Leading with Integrity

Todd believes the best leaders lead from the heart. “Integrity, somebody who has honor,” he says. “Somebody that has empathy and that’s not afraid to be vulnerable because without vulnerability you don’t have strength.”

The leaders he admires most are not necessarily the loudest. "The leaders I admire most don’t need to prove their strength or lead through intimidation. They’re the ones quietly sitting in the corner, listening, observing, and creating opportunities for others to rise.”

Finding the Right Fit

When USA Softball called, Todd knew it was the right fit. “Working in diamond sports again, let’s go. I’m in my comfort zone,” he says. “We're building some innovative programs to help sustain our growth leading up to and after the Olympics in 2028," which I’m really excited about.”

He is now a world-renowned inspirational speaker, continues to consult with various sports technology companies, and is developing a modern baseball analytics course for scouts, coaches, and fans. “It’s going to be delivered in an educational platform and digestible for the common person that just wants to learn more about it,” he says.

After decades in sports, Todd’s purpose is rooted in joy, gratitude, and service. “I live every moment to just try to enjoy what I’m doing,” he says. “And if I enjoy what I’m doing through my hard work and perseverance, then hopefully others will enjoy it too.”

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