Working in Pro Football & Growing LALIGA in North America | Santiago Lucio

Every global soccer club, league, and brand wants a piece of the American market - but how can they actually grow in a competitive sports landscape? And importantly, how can that league convince American brands to partner with a "foreign sports property" most CMOs can barely explain? In Episode 102 of the Because Football Podcast, Santiago Lucio shares how he has spent the last several years figuring that out at LALIGA North America. We talk with the league’s Head of Partnerships Sales in North America about the league’s cultural influence, growing audience, and the surprising challenge of selling a league that plays 5,000 miles away to massive American brands.Santiago's path started near the bottom with a ticket sales internship at Richmond Kickers of USL Championship (it was the only paid internship gig he could find). A hundred cold calls a day led him to realize that commercial partnerships combined his love of soccer with curiosity and creativity. That discovery carried him through North Carolina FC, North Carolina Courage, and now to LALIGA North America, where he's targeting the continent’s biggest brands.In this conversation, Santiago breaks down how he approaches brand relationships: know your value proposition before you prospect, ask questions instead of pitching, and talk only 20% of the time in meetings. He explains why LALIGA is essentially a "challenger brand" in the US, how they activate nationally without being tied to one city, and why they refuse to activate in the pay-to-play youth soccer space — choosing free clinics with legends like Diego Forlán instead.Whether you're selling partnerships at a local club, building a brand strategy, or trying to understand how global soccer properties think about the American market — this episode gives you the blueprint.Connect with Santiago here:https://www.linkedin.com/in/santiago-lucio-69278348/Connect with Because Football here:⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BecauseFootball_⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/becausefootball_/⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/baggaleyandrew/⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/because-football-media/⁠Need help with your content strategy and production? We can help.To get in contact with us, email becausefootballmedia [at] ⁠gmail.com⁠