Major League Soccer’s new CMO knows more about data than the sport. That’s a good thing

This story is the latest in our series on women leaders in sports and sports marketing. Read the rest of the profiles here.

When Major League Soccer came knocking on Radhika Duggal’s door, she thought it was a joke.

Duggal, who is now CMO and SVP of the league and its marketing arm, had never worked in sports, and had instead spent time as a consultant for Fortune 500 companies at Deloitte before moving onto marketing leadership roles at startups and major pharmaceutical and financial institutions like Pfizer and Chase. As she moved through the MLS interview process, though, it became an opportunity she couldn’t resist.

“I started to realize that, differently from some of the other roles I had had in the recent past where I was marketing credit cards, or travel, or pharmaceutical products, this job was about marketing joy, and fun, and escape,” Duggal told Marketing Brew. “How would I say no to this?”

Duggal joined the league during a watershed moment for North American soccer. Between Leo Messi’s induction to Inter Miami last year and a summer full of international soccer tournaments like Copa America and the Olympics, interest in the sport stateside is on the rise. That’s evident in ticket sales, too. So far this season, 8.3 million fans have attended MLS games, the most in league history by this date in the season, and 153 matches have reached sellout, another midseason high, according to the league.

Data driven

Coming up at Deloitte in the aughts, Duggal often focused on helping clients leverage data for brand strategy or building out their analytics organizations. The experience impressed upon her the importance of data and analytics in marketing.

Luckily, Duggal said, MLS is no stranger to data, with a strategy and business intelligence team that conducts its own market research, as well as existing fan segmentation. “They’re miles ahead of many other organizations I’ve worked at,” she said.

One of the reasons the league hired Duggal to lead its marketing was because of her data expertise, according to JoAnn Neale, president and chief administrative and strategy officer for MLS and its marketing arm.

“That’s something that we were really looking for to transform the league,” Neale said. “We were looking for a real performance marketer who’s going to rely on what our fans are saying, our business intelligence, as well as analytics and data, to really drive the marketing strategy. That’s something that she’s not only comfortable with, but she really demands it.”

Duggal said she plans to use market research to establish what the MLS brand should consist of during its current season and how it should plan to grow and evolve down the line.

People person

Though Duggal doesn’t come from a traditional sports marketing background, she has at least one thing in common with many other sports marketers: She believes in combining data science with heart and people skills.

During her time consulting, Duggal realized she loved working with smart people who were open to teaching others, she told us, something she found in spades when she joined MLS.

“Nobody here has made me feel silly when I ask what are probably very basic questions,” Duggal said. “I learn soccer things every day. Nobody makes me feel bad about it, and it’s a really nice learning experience, because I really love the act of learning in general.”

In turn, Duggal said one of her key focus areas in her new role is culture. She’s implemented quarterly marketing all-hands meetings and happy hours, and started a new tradition where her team writes thank-you notes to one coworker each week.

Brand builder

Duggal acknowledged that she had some hangups when taking the MLS job, including the fact that she was joining an entirely new industry and her fears that a job in sports might not be conducive to her other gig as mother to a toddler. But other women execs at the league helped ease her concerns, she said.

As for her newcomer status in the sports world, “marketing is marketing,” Duggal said. Plus, she added, “I have the benefit of joining a team that’s up and running and has great leaders in place.”

She’s aiming to travel to a live match at least once a month and watch MLS Season Pass at least five times a week to help get up to speed, she said.

So far, at least according to her coworkers, it seems to be working. “She’s starting to talk like a soccer person already,” Neale said.