Xavier Gutierrez, CEO of the Arizona Coyotes and CEO of ImpactX Sports Group (left), and Pedro Guerrero, CEO of Guerrero Media.
Provided by: Guerrero Media
When the National Hockey League's Arizona Coyotes sold their franchise to Utah last month, the league not only lost an Arizona-based team, but also its only active Latino CEO.
Xavier Gutierrez, a native of Guadalajara, Mexico, became CEO of the Arizona team in 2019 after Cuban-American billionaire Alex Meruelo acquired the Coyotes a year earlier. Gutierrez, previously a managing director at private equity firm Clearlake Capital Group, had known Meruelo for about a decade before becoming the NHL's first Latino CEO.
Gutierrez explained in an interview that Latino owners needed to hire a Latino CEO because Hispanics are underrepresented in leadership positions in professional sports.
The United States and Canada are home to 153 major professional sports franchises, including the NHL, National Football League, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer.
Gutierrez, who is technically still CEO of the Arizona Coyotes even though the franchise is on hiatus, said he is the only Latino CEO who is not an owner. Gutierrez said Jorge Mas, co-owner and CEO of Inter Miami CF in the MLS, will become the second Latinx CEO.
Gutierrez vows to change that. He is part of the founding group of Latinos in Sports, a platform dedicated to connecting Latinos and non-Latinos in professional sports, media and marketing and showcasing Latino talent in leadership positions. CNBC is the official media partner for Latinos in sports.
“The results speak for the lack of leadership today,” Gutierrez said. “When you look at the commissioner and his office, which relies on Latino consumers as viewers, ticket buyers and jersey buyers, I think they need Latino talent in those seats. Our goal is just to say, 'Listen, it's not because you guys are bad people, it's because you don't meet the people who exist.'
Gutierrez and Pedro Antonio Guerrero, CEO of executive advancement firm Guerrero Media, introduced Latinos in sports at an event in Miami last week.
Vianni Lubus, head of audience and engagement at Guerrero Media, and Mike Valdes-Fauli, chief operating officer at Chemistry Cultura, a U.S. Latino-focused digital advertising company, are also involved in the platform. Masu.
The four executives share the goal of increasing U.S. Hispanic representation through leadership roles in sports. Jose Feliciano, co-founder of Clear Lake Capital and co-owner of the Premier League's Chelsea Football Club, also spoke at an event in Miami last week, calling for greater Latino ownership in sports.
Jose E. Feliciano speaks on stage at the 2021 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Awards Gala on December 9, 2021 in New York City.
Slaven Vlasic | Getty Images
“My fervent hope is to move forward further on the ownership front,” Feliciano said. “Decision makers in positions of influence are beginning to recognize that Latinos can and should be owners in every sense of the word.”
The goal of Latinos in Sports is to be the go-to place to foster a culture of Hispanic advancement in the sports industry, Gutierrez said. Executives have turned the platform into a business focused on investing in Hispanic-founded startups, conducting research on U.S. Hispanic trends, and bringing together Latino and non-Latino sports leaders for networking. I hope to achieve this.
“You do business with people you know,” Gutierrez said. “It’s really going to be a place for commerce, talent acquisition, conversation, data and insights.”
The organization also wants to encourage Latino sports executives to make more conscious decisions about appealing to Latino audiences.
Warner Bros. Discovery launched an alternate broadcast called “Peloteros” during last year's MLB playoffs, featuring former and current Latino baseball players speaking to a Hispanic audience. The broadcast had to be in English, as Warner Bros. Discovery did not have the rights to broadcast it in Spanish.
Luis Silberwasser, chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, said having more Latinx executives make content decisions will help reach audiences that have been largely ignored. He said it could help draw them in.
“This was a great example of our efforts in terms of diversifying our content,” Silberwasser said. “We need diverse input from the production group to come up with this.”
Gutierrez said it is essential for Latinos in sports to bring Latinos and non-Latinos together because leadership positions are overwhelmingly held by non-Latinos today. Ta.
The organization's next event will be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, in September during the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament. Mr. Gutierrez and Mr. Guerrero chose this event because it particularly traditionally appeals to white Americans.
“It's important to have non-Latino decision-makers in the room,” Gutierrez said.
“Latinos need to connect with each other and build partnerships like this one to build our table,” Guerrero said. “At the end of the day, that's a priority for many Latinos in positions of power like Xavier.” [Gutierrez]. The key for us is to increase our population size. ”
