Andy Appleby

Andy Appleby, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Sports and Entertainment, LLC, and Founder of The US Professional Baseball League has more than 40 years of sports management experience. Since founding General Sports in 1998, Andy has led the effort to develop all of its operational divisions, subsidiaries and affiliated entities, as well as having created the General Sports Foundation.  Andy was awarded the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2002 and Ilitch School’s Executive of the Year Award from Wayne State University in 2018. Under Andy’s leadership, General Sports has had a very strong rise into the upper echelon of the sports and entertainment industry.

Through the Team Acquisition & Management division, Andy successfully completed the acquisition of English Premier League Derby County Football Club in January 2008. Andy served as the Club Chairman until 2015 when the franchise was sold. Andy also successfully completed the acquisition of the Fort Wayne Wizards Minor League Baseball team (Class A Affiliate of the San Diego Padres) in May 1999. Under the ownership of General Sports, the Wizards were named “Team of the Year” in the Midwest League in 2003 and 2004, and the team experienced attendance increases each year. General Sports sold the Wizards franchise in 2006. In 2015, Andy created the USPBL powered by Mortgage Matchup, a professional baseball league in Utica, MI.

The league plays its games at the $20 million privately-financed Utica ballpark, and has been very popular over the last 10 years. The league continues to grow attendance year-to-year and has a single-game attendance record of 4,499. In 2025 the league welcomed its two millionth fan through the gates at UWM Field.

The popularity of the ballpark extends to the business community. Group outings reach 1,000 every summer and over 1,100 charities and non-profit organizations were able to leverage the ballpark to raise funds for their causes. The USPBL also has over 60,000 kids annually in its Reading Program.

Prior to founding General Sports, Andy helped lead the ascent of the Detroit Pistons and Palace Sports and Entertainment organization to the top of the sports and entertainment world. As Senior Vice President of Palace Sports and Entertainment, Andy oversaw an executive sales staff responsible for promoting and operating the Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit Pistons, Detroit Vipers Hockey Club, Detroit Shock of the WNBA, Meadow Brook Music Festival, and Pine Knob Music Theatre.