NHL Coyotes CEO and other Latino executives launch platform to promote Latinos in sports

When the National Hockey League’s Arizona Coyotes sold their franchise to Utah last month, the league not only lost an Arizona team, but also its only vigorous Latino general manager.

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

Gutierrez explained in an interview that it takes a Latino owner to hire a Latino CEO because Latinos are not well represented in leadership positions in professional sports.

There are 153 major professional sports franchises in the U.S. and Canada, including the NHL, National Football League, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer.

Gutierrez, who is technically still the general manager of the Arizona Coyotes even though the franchise is inactive, claims he is the only Latino non-owner general manager. Jorge Mas, co-owner of MLS team Inter Miami CF and also its general manager, are the two Latino CEOs, according to Gutierrez.

This is something Gutierrez promises to change. He is part of the founding group of Latinos in Sports, a platform that brings 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 speak for themselves that you don’t have that kind of leadership today,” Gutierrez said. “Look at the commissioners and their offices that rely on Latino consumers as viewers, ticket buyers and T-shirt buyers. I think there should be talented Latinos in these positions. Our goal is to just say, “Look, it’s not because you’re bad people, that’s not the point at all. Maybe it’s because you haven’t met existing groups.

Gutierrez and Pedro Antonio Guerrero, CEO of executive advancement company Guerrero Media, introduced Latinos in sports at an event in Miami last week.

Also involved in the platform are Vianni Lubus, director of audience and engagement at Guerrero Media, and Mike Valdes-Fauli, chief operating officer at Chemistry Cultura, a digital advertising company focused on Latinos in the US.

The four executives share a common goal of increasing U.S. Latino representation in sports leadership positions. José Feliciano, co-founder of Clearlake Capital and co-owner of the Premier League’s Chelsea Football Club, also spoke at last week’s event in Miami to promote greater Latino participation in sports.

“I fervently hope that we make more progress on the property 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.”

Gutierrez said the goal of Latinos in Sports is to be the place to go to support a culture of Latino advancement in the sports industry. Management hopes to transform the platform into a company focused on investing in Latino-founded startups, conducting research on trends among Latinos in the U.S. and bringing together Latino and non-Latino sports leaders for networking.

“You always make deals with people you know,” Gutierrez said. “This will truly be a place for commerce, talent acquisition, conversation, data and insight.”

The organization also hopes to get Latino athletic directors to make more informed decisions about appeal to Latino audiences.

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

Increasing the number of Latino executives making content decisions could lend a hand attract audiences that have been largely ignored, said Luis Silberwasser, chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports.

“It was a good example of what we strive for in terms of content diversification,” Silberwasser said. “To come up with something like this, you need a diversity of voices in the production group.”

Gutierrez said Latinos in sports need to connect Latinos with non-Latinos because non-Latinos currently overwhelmingly hold leadership positions.

The organization’s next event will be held in September at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Recent York, during the US Open tennis tournament. Gutierrez and Guerrero chose this event precisely because it traditionally appeals to white Americans.

“It’s vital to have non-Hispanic decision-makers in the room,” Gutierrez said.

“Latinos need to come together to build partnerships like this and build our table,” Guerrero said. “At the end of the day, for many Latinos in positions of influence like Xavier [Gutierrez]. The key for us is to raise population size.”