MLS leads the way among sports league in targeting Hispanic fans – and it does so by understanding the culture, and not just the language

Gabriel Gabor remembers a time in 1998 when he was promoting MLS to the midwest market with the help of one of the league’s most celebrated Latino players, Carlos Valderrama. “We would walk down Main Street in Kansas City, and nobody would bother us,” says Gabor, who now focuses on developing and cultivating the Hispanic and Latino market for the league. “Nowadays, if I walked down the street with the same player, we would get stopped every second – and the reason is because the Hispanic population in the midwest has exploded. These regions are very different to how they were 20 years ago.”

This is no exaggeration. The US Hispanic community is the largest ethnic or racial minority group in the country, making up more than 17% of the population: by 2060 it is estimated that proportion will have grown to 28.6%. Gabor, who is of Argentinian descent, knows that in order for MLS to succeed it needs the Hispanic and Latino community. “We view the Hispanic market as part of our DNA. It’s part of how we function and everything we do,” he says. “It’s no coincidence that we were the first league [in the US] to have a full-time, Spanish language, cultural, bilingual staff. Why? A large percentage of our fans are Hispanic, a lot of our players are Hispanic, and so the teams have changed because of that and franchises have adapted and evolved because of this very fact.”

When it comes to identifying the importance of the Hispanic community, MLS leads the way among US sports leagues. And there have been specific plans of action that have helped this growth. “To us it’s about the difference in how we communicate to Hispanics today as opposed to 15 or 20 years ago,” says Gabor. “There’s a recent survey that showed that the majority of Hispanics in the US are no longer foreign-born, so even though they have the Hispanic culture in their blood, they consume everything in English. So regardless of language, we think about being bicultural and that’s what sets us apart. We’re not just translating news.”

MLS’s strategy to specifically target the community by understanding the culture, and not just the language, has been a success. In fact, MLS is the most diverse professional sports league in North America, with players from 59 countries around the world. The league’s social media presence is also impressive. Its bicultural strategy – both from English and Spanish accounts – is confident, without being overbearing, and is aimed at appealing to fans from all cultures, not just Hispanics.

There are 101 Hispanic and Latino players born outside the US playing in the league. From El Salvador and Honduras to Colombia and Argentina, these athletes make up a multicultural melting pot that mirrors the different cultures watching from the stands. On film and television, diversity can help movies and shows connect with a wider audience, and that same logic can be applied to sport. And that can be good for business as well as building social bonds.

“When DC United first came to the area, we had a very good connection with the Latino community,” says Victor Melara, the team’s director of community relations. “We had prominent players who the community could identify with. Players like Jaime Moreno and Marco Etcheverry from Bolivia, and Raúl Díaz Arce from El Salvador, really helped build a close tie with the community as some of the biggest Hispanic demographics here in the DC area are from these countries. Once those players left, the team began losing some of that connection and we kept hearing constantly that we weren’t doing enough to attract the Hispanic fan.”

DC United listened, and through the years they have made efforts to strengthen the relationship. One includes a partnership with DC Scores, a non-profit organization that offers free after-school programs and summer camps to children from low-income areas. “They are our official charity partner where we funnel all our charity and fundraising events through them,” says Melara, who grew up in a Salvadoran family in the northwest area of DC. “DC Scores serves about 2,000 youths here in the area, and from that number I would say close to 50% are Hispanic.”

Melara understands that interaction is an important way of building trust, so much of the work involves sending out players and coaches to meet local Hispanic communities. Another success has been Partido de las Estrellas, an all-star match involving old and current Hispanic players as well local celebrities. The venue is located in Columbia Heights, a part of the city with a notably large Hispanic and Latino population, and aside from the match itself, there’s music, food and other forms of entertainment celebrating the community’s value to the city.

DC United are not the only team who have placed such a strong emphasis on Hispanics, and every team has a strategy on how it can build stronger bridges with the youngest ethnic group in the country. According to Pew Research Center’s Hispanic trend division, 60% of US-Hispanics are millennials or younger (32.5 million) meaning in order to evolve, teams have to value and prioritize the younger generation.

As Hispanic Heritage Month gets under way, Gabor wants to emphasize that cultivating and celebrating the Hispanic community is more than just a 30-day project. “We live in a Hispanic culture, so we’ve never had a specific effort for this month,” he says. “So we don’t just believe in a Hispanic Heritage Month, we believe in a Hispanic Heritage existence.”