La Revista Binacional had the honor to sit down and chat with Xavier Gutierrez, the first and only CEO in the National Hockey League in the United States, in the US HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PHOENIX 2022 event. It is an inspiring story of how he went from majoring in a government degree at Harvard to being in Sports.
Xavier is the FIRST Latino President and CEO of a National Hockey League team: the ARIZONA COYOTES, and this is something that makes every Hispanic and Latino enormously proud.
He received his BA in Government (graduating Cum Laude from Harvard University) and after that got his Doctor of Jurisprudence from Stanford Law.
With this said, the first question we had to ask him was:
“How did you get from Law to Sports?”
“I went from Law, to Business, to Finance, to Private Equity and then Sports. It really starts with Alex Meruelo, the first Latino owner in the NHL. Alex and I are friends, business partners owning the largest Latino bank in California. I used to run his investment arm for his family when I was in this equity firm (largest Latino owned equity firm in the country), when Alex realized his dream was to buy a sports team and after a while, he contacted me and said that this is something that I should do. I was not sure about it, I did not want to move from LA or move my family, but then Alex said two things that got me thinking: He said “I want to win but I want to be a beloved organization, by doing for others” and the second thing was: “We have great opportunity here, it is a great market and we can go after the growth of the market, and you are the guy that can make that happen”.
Xavier also explained to La Revista Binacional the three pillars of what the Arizona Coyotes are doing: Impact; Leveraging the Power of Sports to make a difference for others; Inclusion where we can reach everyone in the community.
“You are my target. If I can get to you (or your family), because of the sport, the content, merchandise, or my volunteerism, whatever or wherever I will meet you where you are and welcome you in. If I do that, then I think you will be a COYOTE’S fan and a hockey fan.”
Xavier faced challenges when starting with the Coyotes. Covid-19 and the pandemic were obstacles he had to manage skillfully, as well as getting a franchise that has been unstable and dysfunctional therefore planning to build the first privately financed sports and entertainment complex in the history of Arizona. This investment will be around 2.1 billion dollars and it will not just be an arena, but an urban redevelopment project that will be open to the community with hotels, retail, and commercial spaces.
The Arizona Coyotes is currently playing and training in their MULLET ARENA, a 5,000-seat indoor multipurpose arena at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.
Phoenix is a city that is trending, since SUPERBOWL LVII will be played there, the greatest event of the NFL season.
With the Arizona Coyotes, Phoenix is also now in the eyes of the NHL fans, which brought us to the next question:
LRB: “Xavier, hockey is not a Latino Sport.”
XG: “Yet!”
LRB: “How has that changed and how does the Arizona Coyotes influence young talent to play or see you as something they might want to be someday?”
XG: “Well, we must extend our hands and open our doors and we must be present in the lives of young people. Research suggests that fandom sports happen between the ages of 8 and 13. If you look at what 8 through 13 kids look like in this area, 3 out of 5 are Latino. So, it is imperative for us to do it.”
The Arizona Coyotes is constant, consistent, present and are always looking for ways to reach out to those kids that will one day be part of the Arizona Coyotes. They do this all year, not just during Hispanic Heritage month, which makes them different than all the rest.
They also innovate, launching the first bilingual English Spanish ‘learn to skate’ program. Xavier explained to us about planning to also make everyone aware of the possibility of starting out with street hockey, roller hockey to then ice hockey.
“For me, we want young Latinos and Latinas to be engaged, but we really just want them to feel welcomed and make this to be a great experience, make this to be something to bring in the entire family and off the ice, we want you to be associated because of whatever we do that resonates with you, whether it is the logo (voted most popular logo in Arizona’s sports history), the content or the fact that we are here”.
Thank you, Xavier Gutierrez, for inspiring the Latino community, especially our youth that needs to be involved in sports and recreational activities. You truly are a role model for all the youngsters out there.
SOURCE: USHCCPHOENIX 2022
President & CEO
Arizona Coyotes
Xavier A. Gutierrez serves as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Alternate Governor of the Arizona Coyotes Hockey Club. A dedicated philanthropist and corporate leader, he serves on multiple boards and advisory councils. Mr. Gutierrez is currently a Shareholder and Board Director of Commercial Bank of California, the largest Latino-owned bank in California. He serves on the board of ARCTOS NorthStar Acquisition Corp, Janus International Group, and Trinitas Capital Management. Mr. Gutierrez is currently a Board Director and on the Investment Committee for the Arizona Community Foundation, on the Board of the National Association of Investment Companies, a Member of the Board of Regents at his alma mater, Bellarmine College Preparatory, and on the Advisory Boards of both the Aspen Institute Latinos & Society Program and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. In 2020, Mr. Gutierrez co-founded and currently serves as Board Chairman of SUMA Wealth, an innovative financial technology company focused on eliminating the Latinx wealth gap. Mr. Gutierrez received his Bachelor of Arts (BA) cum laude in Government from Harvard University, and his Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) from Stanford Law School.
