M
aribeth Towers in 2012 became Major League Soccer’s first senior vice president of consumer products, heading up all of the league’s licensing ventures in that capacity. And in the coming years, she’ll play a vital role in the league’s marketplace forays.
Maribeth Towers
MLS / SOCCER UNITED MARKETING
MLS remains in the midst of a big year after this summer’s FIFA World Cup. Towers is trying to keep that momentum going by overseeing projects like a review and forthcoming overhaul of the league’s e-commerce efforts. She’s also working to position the league to capitalize on next summer’s Women’s World Cup, as SUM serves not only as MLS’s commercial arm, but it also represents the U.S. national teams and other entities, including the Mexican Football Federation.
Towers’ résumé includes prior stints with other notably progressive companies such as Warner Bros., so she said she has been able to mostly avoid running into the type of “glass ceilings” that can be obstacles in others’ careers. But ever since her now-boss, Soccer United Marketing President Kathy Carter, convinced her to join the league, even Towers has been impressed by the depth of the inclusiveness she’s seen.
“I think our sport is on the forefront of that [inclusiveness] to a great extent,” Towers said. “Part of that may come from the fact that we’ve got such strong participation in the sport from girls up through our women’s national team, and I think that sort of sets the tone.”
— Adam Stern
