A platform promoting Hispanics in sports has been launched by the NHL's Coyotes CEO and other Latino executives.

• Xavier Gutierrez, CEO of the Arizona Coyotes, is joining forces with three other Latino executives to establish Latinos in Sports, a platform aimed at boosting Hispanic progress in sports.
• The new venture launched its first event in Miami last week.
• The goal of Latinos in Sports is to promote commerce in Hispanic businesses and expose Hispanic talent to Latino and non-Latino sports leaders.

The Arizona Coyotes' sale to Utah last month not only resulted in the loss of an Arizona-based team but also marked the departure of the league's only active Latino CEO.

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

According to Gutierrez, the hiring of a Latino CEO was necessary because Hispanics are underrepresented in leadership positions in professional sports.

In the U.S. and Canada, there are 153 major professional sports franchises, spread across the NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB, and MLS.

Gutierrez, who is still technically CEO of the Arizona Coyotes despite the franchise being inactive, claims to be the only non-owner Latino CEO. Mas, co-owner of MLS' Inter Miami CF and CEO, makes for two Latino CEOs, according to Gutierrez.

Gutierrez aims to alter that. He is a member of the founding team behind Latinos in Sports, a platform that connects Latinos and non-Latinos in professional sports, media, and marketing to highlight Latino talent in leadership roles. CNBC is the official media partner of Latinos in Sports.

"Gutierrez stated that the results clearly show that there is a lack of leadership today. He pointed out that the commissioners and their offices heavily rely on Latino consumers for viewership, ticket buying, and jersey sales. Gutierrez believes that having Latino talent in those seats is necessary. He emphasized that this is not because the individuals are bad people, but rather because they may not have been exposed to the necessary cohorts."

Last week, at an event in Miami, Guerrero Media's CEO, Pedro Antonio Guerrero, along with Gutierrez, presented Latinos in Sports.

Both Vianni Lubus and Mike Valdes-Fauli, who are the head of audience and engagement at Guerrero Media and chief operating officer at Chemistry Cultura, respectively, are also involved with the platform.

The four executives aim to boost the representation of U.S. Hispanics in leadership positions in sports. José Feliciano, co-founder of Clearlake Capital and co-owner of Chelsea Football Club, spoke at a recent Miami event to encourage more Latino ownership in sports.

""I hope that decision-makers in influential positions begin to recognize that Latinos should be owners in every sense of the word," Feliciano stated."

Gutierrez stated that the objective of Latinos in Sports is to establish a platform that promotes a culture of Hispanic advancement in the sports industry. The executives aim to transform the platform into a business that invests in Hispanic-founded startups, conducts research on U.S. Hispanic trends, and facilitates networking between Latino and non-Latino sports leaders.

"Gutierrez stated that the place will be focused on commerce, talent acquisition, conversation, data, and insights, and will involve dealing with people one knows."

The organization aims to encourage Latino sports executives to be more mindful of their audience appeal.

During the 2020 MLB playoffs, Warner Bros. Discovery debuted an alternative broadcast called "Peloteros," which featured former and current Latino baseball players speaking to a Hispanic audience. However, the broadcast had to be in English because the company does not have the Spanish-language broadcast rights.

The presence of more Latino executives in content decision-making can attract audiences that have been overlooked, according to Luis Silberwasser, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports.

"Silberwasser stated that the example served as a demonstration of our goal to diversify content. "To generate such content, we need a diverse range of voices in our production team," he emphasized."

Gutierrez emphasized the importance of Latinos in Sports connecting with non-Latinos, as non-Latinos currently dominate leadership positions.

The U.S. Open tennis tournament in September at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, will host the organization's next event, chosen by Gutierrez and Guerrero for its appeal to white Americans.

Gutierrez emphasized the significance of having non-Latino decision-makers present.

"To build partnerships like this one, Latinos must connect with each other, as Guerrero stated. The priority of many Latinos in positions of power, such as Xavier Gutierrez, is to grow our population size."