F
or much of her childhood, Marisabel Muñoz found herself on the sidelines of a soccer match. Growing up in Florida in a family with a deep love for the sport and a brother who was able to play in MLS, she began to write about the sport too, leading her to a career in sports journalism, with The Miami Herald and ESPN The Magazine.
In 2002, she had the opportunity to join MLS when she was offered a job in its communications department, helping to bolster its Spanish-language outreach.
Marisabel Muñoz
MLS and Soccer United Marketing // Vice president, communications
At the time, MLS found itself at a critical point — while questions swirled around the league’s financial health and its future, it folded two clubs. It also launched Soccer United Marketing, an ambitious bet on the sport’s long-term commercial prospects.
For some job seekers, that may have been enough cause to look elsewhere. But Muñoz reflected on her upbringing. “I come from a family whose one and only sport is soccer, where it feels like the sport is an organic piece of who you are,” she said. “There are millions around the globe who are the same, and I believed in the plan for what this could become.”
As the vice president of communications overseeing all U.S. Hispanic and international media relations, Muñoz has played a part in the massive growth of the league and SUM over the past 15 years. And she remains bullish for the future.
“It’s exciting to see where we are now,” she said. “But for me personally, I get the most excited to imagine where we may be in another 15 years.”
— Ian Thomas
