Football across North America, Central America, and the Caribbean is entering a rare moment of opportunity with a World Cup on home soil, growing domestic leagues, emerging national teams, and increasing global attention.

Heidi Pellerano, Chief Commercial Officer at Concacaf, joins Dave to explain what it means to commercialize a confederation made up of 41 member associations operating in dramatically different markets. She shares how Concacaf thinks about creating value across media, sponsorship, ticketing, licensing, and content while ensuring that commercial success ultimately helps strengthen the football itself.

Heidi also reflects on what this World Cup moment could mean for the next generation of fans and players across the region, and what her unconventional path from engineering and defense consulting into sports has taught her about solving complex problems.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why Concacaf eliminated certain renewal and matching rights so it could take its media inventory back to the open market
• Why Netflix became the right home for Gold Cup and Nations League in Mexico 
• How Concacaf reorganized its rights into three distinct ecosystems 
• What happens when you’re trying to create commercial value in markets as different as the U.S. and Bermuda

Resources and Links:

Connect with Heidi Pellerano on LinkedIn and learn more about Concacaf on their website.

Learn more about Next League on our website and LinkedIn. We are leading sports organizations into the digital future.

Dave’s book is available now! Get your copy of The Business of Sports Technology: How To Make Smart Decisions That Drive Your Organization Forward.