EXECS: LATINO FANS, ATHLETES FUTURE OF U.S. SPORTS

Group drives sales, viewership, affecting marketing, hiring

Some of the highestranking executives in professional sports convened in San Diego on Saturday to discuss the outsized significance of Latino fans and athletes, who they say are essential to the future prosperity of the industry.

The message, presented alongside supporting data from Boston Consulting Group and Ampere Analysis, was delivered during a morning panel on the economics of sports at the L’attitude conference at the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego. The event, in its fifth year, spotlights Latino business, innovation and consumers, and is expected to draw 6,000 attendees from around the country.

“When you take the stats against the metrics, you see that Latinos top the charts from every single dimension,” said Daniel Acosta, a senior partner with business-strategy firm Boston Consulting Group, who cited research showing that Latino sports fans spend 20 percent more, on an absolute basis, than non-latinos. “They are the ideal sports fan.”

Acosta, who also sought to dispel the notion that Latinos are primarily soccer fans, helped tee up a broader conversation on how the cohort’s ability to drive sales, as well as TV and online viewership, is forcing executives to rethink everything from who they hire to how they market their teams.

Xavier Gutierrez, who is the CEO of the Arizona Coyotes Hockey Club, moderated the panel with ESPN’S President of Programming Burke Magnus, NBA Agent Erika Ruiz and Phoenix Suns Chief Revenue Officer Dan Costello.

“The reality is that Latinos, just like in every other industry in our economy, drive sports,” Gutierrez told the crowd.

The former private investment firm executive said he was handpicked in 2020 to run the professional hockey team by billionaire owner Alex Meruelo, despite not knowing how to ice skate. During his first Board of Governors meeting with team owners and league officials, Gutierrez said he used a hockey metaphor to explain his business plan to National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman.

“Wayne Gretzky was the greatest hockey player in the history of hockey, and they asked his dad what made him so great. And he said, ‘Wayne, he goes to where the puck is going — not where it’s been,’” Gutierrez said. “So in the U.S., where is the puck going? Latino.”

Magnus, the ESPN programming executive, echoed the sentiment.

“Our research ... aligns with what (Acosta) just showed. In terms of fandom, the demographics are undeniable,” Magnus said. “For us to see a future of growth at ESPN, (we’re) going to have to lean into the Latino cohort.”

ESPN, he added, needs to do a better job putting more Latinos in front of the camera.

“In our business, for attracting an audience, people need to see people show up on screen that they identify with,” Magnus said, pointing to the network’s bilingual baseball reporter Marly Rivera as a prime example. “When I think about her, I say, ‘I want 10 more of her.’”

The comments drew an immediate, “Right here!,” response from conference attendee Marysol Castro, who is a journalist and the public address announcer for the New York Mets.

“I wanted to get his attention, not for me specifically, but so that he either learns for the first time, or is reminded, that there are a lot of Latinos who are in the talent pool,” Castro told the Union-tribune after the panel. “So the goal was a little bit of shaming him, and a little bit of, I’m glad you’re here and I hope you’re absorbing this.”

The talent pool extends to would-be female sports agents, Ruiz, the first Latina agent in the NBA, said during the panel.

“There is not a pipeline issue,” Ruiz said. “I think there needs to be a shift in mindset and leadership. There also needs to be intention behind hiring Latinas in positions of power.”

L’attitude continues today, headlined by a conversation with former President Barack Obama.