Kelly Krauskopf Stepping Down as Indiana Fever President

Kelly Krauskopf, the manager who helped construct the Indiana Fever and led them to the 2012 WNBA championship, is stepping down as group president, Pacers Sports & Entertainment introduced Friday. Krauskopf advised management of her choice earlier than the 2026 common season ended.

She joined the group in 1999, a yr earlier than the Fever performed their first sport, and served because the group’s first common supervisor. She was named president shortly after the 2012 title. Under her the Fever made 13 postseason appearances, together with a league-record 12 in a row, and reached three WNBA Finals earlier than profitable in 2012.

Her profession has been stuffed with firsts. Before the Fever, she was the WNBA’s first director of basketball operations, serving to set the foundations, scheduling and officiating requirements earlier than the league launched in 1997. In 2018 she moved to the Pacers as assistant common supervisor, which the group says made her the primary lady in NBA historical past in an govt basketball administration function.

She got here again to the Fever in 2024 as president of basketball and enterprise operations. The group reached the WNBA semifinals in 2025 and the playoffs once more this yr.

“The Fever is poised for an exciting future, and I am proud to have helped lay the foundation,” Krauskopf stated. Owner Herb Simon stated she “built it, delivered a championship and came back when we needed her.”

Her fingerprints are on what comes subsequent. She helped lead the event of a $78 million, 108,000-square-foot sports activities efficiency heart, set to open in March 2027. The announcement didn’t identify a successor.