NHL’s Coyotes CEO, other Latino executives launch platform to promote Hispanics in sports

When
the
National
Hockey
League’s
Arizona
Coyotes
sold
its
franchise
to
Utah
last
month,
the
league
didn’t
just
lose
an
Arizona-based
team
—
it
also
lost
its
only
active
Latino
chief
executive.

Born
in
Guadalajara,
Mexico,
Xavier
Gutierrez
became
the
Arizona
team’s
CEO
in
2019
after
Alex
Meruelo,
a
Cuban-American
billionaire,
bought
the
Coyotes
a
year
earlier.
Gutierrez
had
previously
been
a
managing
director
at
private
equity
firm
Clearlake
Capital
Group
and
knew
Meruelo
for
about
a
decade
before
becoming
the
NHL’s
first-ever
Latino
CEO.

It
took
a
Latino
owner
to
hire
a
Latino
CEO,
Gutierrez
explained
in
an
interview,
because
Hispanics
are
not
well-represented
in
leadership
positions
in
professional
sports.

There
are
153
major
professional
sports
franchises
in
the
U.S.
and
Canada
across
the
NHL,
the
National
Football
League,
the
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
inactive,
says
he
is
the
only
non-owner
Latino
CEO.
Jorge
Mas,
co-owner
of
the
MLS’
Inter
Miami
CF
who
is
also
CEO,
makes
for
two
Latino
CEOs,
according
to
Gutierrez.

That
is
something
Gutierrez
vows
to
change.
He
is
part
of
the
founding
group
behind
Latinos
in
Sports,
a
platform
dedicated
to
bringing
together
Latinos
and
non-Latinos
in
professional
sports,
media
and
marketing
to
showcase
Latino
talent
in
leadership
positions.
CNBC
is
the
official
media
partner
of
Latinos
in
Sports.

“The
results
speaks
for
themselves
that
you
don’t
have
that
leadership
today,”
Gutierrez
said. “You
look
at
the
commissioners
and
their
offices
that
are
relying
on
Latino
consumers
to
be
the
viewers,
the
ticket
buyers,
the
jersey
buyers.
I
think
you
need
to
have
Latino
talent
in
those
seats.
Our
goal
is
just
to
say, ‘Listen,
this
isn’t
because
you’re
bad
people.
That’s
not
it
at
all.
It’s
because
maybe
you
haven’t
met
the
cohorts
that
exist.'”

Gutierrez
and
Pedro
Antonio
Guerrero,
the
CEO
of
executive
advancement
company
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
digital
advertising
firm
focused
on
Latinos
in
the
U.S.,
are
also
involved
with
the
platform.

The
four
executives
share
a
goal
to
increase
U.S.
Hispanic
representation
throughout
leadership
roles
in
sports.
José
Feliciano,
the
co-founder
of
Clearlake
Capital
and
co-owner
of
the
Premier
League’s
Chelsea
Football
Club,
also
spoke
at
last
week’s
Miami
event
to
promote
more
Latino
ownership
in
sports.

“My
fervent
hope
is
that
we
make
more
progress
on
the
ownership
front,”
Feliciano
said. “Decision-makers
in
seats
of
influence
are
starting
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
industry
of
sports,
Gutierrez
said.
The
executives
hope
to
turn
the
platform
into
a
business
that
focuses
on
investment
in
Hispanic-founded
startups,
conducting
research
on
U.S.
Hispanic
trends
and
bringing
together
both
Latino
and
non-Latino
sports
leaders
for
networking.

“You
do
deals
with
people
you
know,”
Gutierrez
said. “It’s
really
going
to
be
a
place
for
commerce,
for
talent
acquisition,
for
conversation,
data
and
insights.”

The
organization
also
hopes
to
push
Latino
sports
executives
to
make
more
conscious
decisions
about
appealing
to
Latino
audiences.

Warner
Bros.
Discovery
debuted
an
alternative
broadcast
during
last
year’s
MLB
playoffs
called “Peloteros,”
which
featured
former
and
current
Latino
baseball
players
speaking
to
a
Hispanic
audience.
The
broadcast
had
to
be
in
English
because
Warner
Bros.
Discovery
does
not
have
the
Spanish-language
broadcast
rights.

Having
more
Latino
executives
making
content
decisions
can
help
draw
in
audiences
that
have
largely
been
ignored,
said
Luis
Silberwasser,
chairman
and
CEO
of
Warner
Bros.
Discovery
Sports.

“It
was
a
good
example
of
what
we’re
striving
to
do
in
terms
of
diversifying
content,”
said
Silberwasser. “You
need
diversity
of
voice
in
the
production
group
to
come
up
with
this.”

It
is
essential
for
Latinos
in
Sports
to
connect
Latinos
with
non-Latinos,
Gutierrez
said,
because
non-Latinos
are
overwhelmingly
in
positions
of
leadership
today.

The
organization’s
next
event
will
be
at
the
Barclays
Center
in
Brooklyn,
New
York,
in
September
during
the
U.S.
Open
tennis
tournament.
Gutierrez
and
Guerrero
chose
that
event
specifically
because
it
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
to
build
partnerships
like
this
one
in
an
effort
to
build
our
table,”
Guerrero
said. “At
the
end
of
the
day,
it’s
the
priority
of
a
lot
of
Latinos
in
positions
of
power
like
Xavier
[Gutierrez].
The
key
for
us
is
to
grow
our
population
size.”