Save 50% on a 3-month Digiday+ membership. Ends Dec 5.
The position of CMO has evolved quite a bit in the last 20 years, in large part due to the introduction of digital media. Major League Soccer CMO Howard Handler began his marketing career in the 1990s with the National Football League before moving on to Virgin Mobile. Now heading up marketing for a sport whose fans are young and digitally savvy, Handler is finding that the game is always in motion.
“Digital and social innovation and the availability of better and more accurate data have affected everything: the way we market and sell, the experience of the MLS supporter, how we create content, and a greater immediacy and overall sense of urgency.
Live sports are such a powerful medium these days, and it is great to be a content creator. Everything we do now, we think, ‘how will this be used and experienced on multiple screens?’ Our supporters are young, fit, tech-savvy and really committed to the club that they follow.
They want to consume everything Portland Timbers or Sporting Kansas City or LA Galaxy on multiple screens when and where they decide to watch it. We are all about super-serving our supporters. My focus is to expand our fan base, and I’m having a lot of fun doing it.”
Watch the following two-minute video to find out how [x+1] CEO John Nardonne thinks the role has changed since he began his career in the 1980s marketing for Pepsi.
https://vimeo.com/62516229
More in Media
Digiday+ Research Subscription Index 2025: Subscription strategies from Bloomberg, The New York Times, Vox and others
Digiday’s third annual Subscription Index examines and measures publishers’ subscription strategies to identify common approaches and key tactics among Bloomberg, The New York Times, Vox and others.
From lawsuits to lobbying: How publishers are fighting AI
We may be closing out 2025, but publishers aren’t retreating from the battle of AI search — some are escalating it, and they expect the fight to stretch deep into 2026.
Media Briefing: Publishers turn to vertical video to compete with creators and grow ad revenue in 2026
Publishers add vertical video feeds to their sites to boost engagement, attract video ad spend and compete with news creators.
Ad position: web_bfu