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