Xavier Gutierrez entered history as the first Latin president of a National Hockey League team (NHL), leading coyotes in Arizona before the franchise moves to Utah.
In this episode of “Horizonte”, we spoke with Gutierrez, which is the co-founder of Latinos In Sports and also Chairman and CEO of Impactx Sports Group, about its latest initiatives and vision for the future.
By reflecting on his trip, Gutierrez described his experience as both everything he expected and completely unexpected. He underlined the transformer power of sports, stressing his role in community leadership, the media, live events and consumer engagement.
Gutierrez’s first major initiative, Latinos in sport, is a multi-surtegie platform designed to meet the need for a Latin representation in leadership roles in the global sport industry. He noted a surprising statistic: out of 153 teams in the five main male professional leagues in the United States, he was the only Latin CEO. Determined to change this, Gutierrez has teamed up with Pedro Guerrero by Guerrero Media, publishers of the Hispanic Executive Magazine, to build a complete platform which:
- Underlines the impact of Latinos in the sports industry through involvement and events.
- Produces content with Latin frames in sport.
- Research and analyzing data to present Latin contributions beyond the Spanish football and language media.
- Supports career development to ensure that more Latinos reach executive roles.
Gutierrez has stressed that sports should not only be considered entertainment, but as a multi-vertical commercial platform encompassing media, technology, health, well-being and live events. He advises aspirants professional and investors to think beyond the game itself and to explore growth opportunities in stadium operations, brand image and commercial transactions in all industries. He challenged industry leaders with stimulating questions like: “If I gave you the brands and logos of Arizona Cardinals, which company should they be in ten years?”
Gutierrez said that he was determined to shape a future where Latinos occupy decision -making roles in major sports organizations. By promoting leadership, research and investment, it aims to guarantee that sport remains a powerful vehicle both with community impact and commercial innovation.
For more information and updates on Latino leadership in sport, visit Latinosinsports.com.
In this segment: