Interview with Chris Schlosser on how MLS has become fastest growing US sport on social + much more

Chris has been at the MLS since 2008, having approached the then president of the MLS about how there was a business around MLS digital products whilst studying for his MBA at Columbia Business School.

Since then he has written and executed the digital strategy, becoming one of the foremost leaders on digital media within sports. In this interview Chris had some great soundbites and took us back to how digital at the MLS looked almost 10 years ago.

– What MLS Digital does and how the 100 staff are split between roles
– How he ended up at the MLS after initially going after a career in finance and having a private equity role lined up
– How he advises people to ‘always bring an idea to the table’
– What the MLS digital looked like in 2008, with MLB running that side of the business when he arrived
– In 2009 he carried out a full review of the digital business and ended up bringing a lot of the roles in house and relaunched the products in 2010
– Having all the teams using the MLS platforms gives them economy of scale that European leagues can’t replicate
– Launching Kick TV back in 2012 with funding from Google, then having it acquired by the guys at Copa90 in 2015 after a successful 3 years
– What they learned from the experience of Kick TV and have taken on board for use in their digital (and video) strategy
– The MLS has youngest fan base in US pro sports… they are tech savvy and type who buy the latest iPhone. So they need to be great on digital platforms to really engage with them.
– What his proudest moment has been over the 8 years at MLS
– What hasn’t worked as well and the lessons learned from them
– Awesome stat – since 2013 MLS social accounts have been the fastest growing in US sports, up almost 700% in 3 years

About author

Daniel McLaren
Daniel McLaren 820 posts

Dan is the Founder & CEO of Digital Sport. Can be found at sports industry events and heard every week on the Digital Sport Insider podcast. @DanielMcLaren

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