CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 21, 2026) – Fastbreak AI, the leading AI-powered sports operations company, today announced the appointment of Maria Abernathy as General Manager and Senior Vice President of Payments. In this role, Abernathy will build and lead Fastbreak's embedded payments strategy, with a focus on eliminating the friction of sports costs for families while giving tournament directors, club administrators and league operators a full suite of embedded finance capabilities that lighten administration burdens. From registration payments to ticket sales and hotel bookings, Abernathy will oversee the financial infrastructure that connects every transaction across Fastbreak AI.
Abernathy brings more than 25 years of experience in fintech, sales and client operations leadership, scaling organizations from startup through IPO. Before joining Fastbreak, she served as Senior Vice President, Payments at Waystar, an AI-powered technology platform dedicated to simplifying healthcare payments. Her expertise spans payment facilitation, anti-money laundering, compliance and fintech strategy, with a track record of building and scaling client success and support functions inside high-growth SaaS businesses.
"I joined Fastbreak because I’ve spent my career studying how clear communication and clear financial impact builds trust among people in communities,” Abernathy said. “There is no community more vital than youth and amateur sports. By focusing on fintech, we aren’t just processing payments, we are removing the financial friction that keeps kids on the sidelines. We are building an economic engine that makes sports organizations accessible to every family.”
Prior to Waystar, Abernathy held leadership roles at Patientco, an Atlanta-based patient engagement and payments company, where she joined at Series A and helped guide the business through its acquisition by Waystar in 2021 and its subsequent IPO in 2024. She also served at AchieveIt, an Atlanta-based strategic planning and execution platform, from Series A through Series F, and co-founded StratiMed, a healthcare patient portal built from seed funding.
"Sports and fintech are converging, and the opportunity for efficiency is enormous," Co-Founder and CEO of Fastbreak AI John Stewart said. "Registration fees, travel deposits, ticket sales, hotel bookings – every transaction in youth sports runs through a payment system that was not built for this industry. That means families overpay, organizers have little control and the cost of participation keeps climbing. We’re building the financial infrastructure that amateur sports has never had. Maria has spent her career at the center of complex payment ecosystems and she knows exactly what it takes to build something that works at scale."
She holds an M.B.A. and B.S. from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a B.S. in Statistics from Rutgers University and a Quantum Computing certificate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Abernathy is based in Atlanta, Georgia, and will report to Stewart.
About Fastbreak AI
Fastbreak AI is the leading AI-powered sports operations company, trusted by over 65 professional leagues worldwide, including the NBA, NHL, and MLS, to build their season schedules. The same technology that drives the world's biggest leagues is now available to every tournament director, club administrator, and amateur sports organizer, giving sports organizations at every level access to pro-grade technology. Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Fastbreak builds software that helps sports organizations run smarter, earn more, and deliver better experiences for athletes, families, and fans. Learn more at fastbreak.ai.
