NHL to co-sponsor Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Leadership Conference

The NHL is co-sponsoring the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Leadership Conference for the first time in the event’s 46-year history.

League representatives will also be active at the Sept. 19-21 gathering of Latino national leaders, corporate executives, elected officials, policy-makers and influencers in Washington.

Arizona Coyotes president and CEO Xavier Gutierrez will be part of a panel discussion on how Latino fans have become a driving force in today’s sports market, how Latino athletes are leading the way for teams and how Latinos remain underrepresented in sports ownership and media.

Gutierrez, the NHL’s first and only Hispanic president and CEO, will be joined on the panel by Major League Baseball human resources vice president Frances Isabel; Stacie M. de Armas, senior vice president, DEI, diverse insights, intelligence & initiatives for Nielsen; Erika Ruiz, an agent for Klutch Sports Group; and moderator Claudia Pagan, a host and sideline reporter for D.C. United of Major League Soccer.

“This is the first time that they’ve had a formal panel and formal discussion about Latinos in sports,” Gutierrez said. “I’m very excited that the NHL is there. … I’m very excited that cohort that attends the conference, which is the Congressional Hispanic Caucus members elected to the Senate and House of Representatives, to have them see the NHL there is very important.

“It shows them that we’re a league that values this community, sees its importance and that wants to do more to embrace the leadership of that community, that wants to do more to engage with Latinos that, quite frankly, are driving a lot of fandom, a lot of viewership and a lot of consumer activity across the country.”

Kim Davis, NHL senior executive vice president, social impact, growth & legislative affairs, agreed and noted that several NHL markets have more than 1 million Latino fans.

“It’s not only important for us in our local markets where these fans and fans-in-waiting sit to continue to market effectively,” she said, “it’s important for us to establish our relationships at the national level that tells the Hispanic market, the Latino market, that we see them, that their fandom is important to us and that we are leaning into the culture and making our sport more culturally available. That is why our activity, partnership with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Leadership Conference is a critical part of our overarching strategy to grow our sport in this important market.”