It's another big moment for soccer in the U.S, with Major League Soccer's 30th anniversary season underway and the Men's World Cup arriving in North America next year. During a time of incredible opportunity for the sport of soccer in North America, it's Radhika Duggal's job to maximize that opportunity — no small responsibility for a distinguished marketing professional having previously worked in fintech marketing and consulting, and who initially figured a cold LinkedIn inquiry about making a jump to the world of sports was someone's idea of a prank. As the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs near, she talks about the beautiful game, the beauty of data, and some pretty important qualities for a marketer:

On seizing the moment:
"We want to take advantage of this rare opportunity when soccer is the talk of the town. Even casual sports fans become avid soccer fans during the World Cup, and that's our window to convert them to core MLS fans. How? It's all about the players. We need to make sure consumers know our players will be participating in the World Cup, because we know that once they realize that our players are of that caliber, their interest peaks. And then we can deliver the message that we offer the excitement of the World Cup year round throughout the MLS season in some of the most exciting stadium atmospheres in all of sports."

On singing the same song:
"Today's media market is cluttered making it more challenging to break through, but to achieve success it's essential for the entire MLS enterprise to deliver the same message to consumers. Each club has its own marketing team and so does the league, so being on the same page will allow us to pool our resources to get loud enough to get noticed."

"It's equally important that we work with our broadcast partners and sponsors to amplify our story. And the secret to that is having our marketing plan finalized early. The sooner we go to those partners— plus our clubs, our talent, and interested celebrities — and say, 'Hey, do you want to be a part of this?', the better. If longer we wait for those kinds of planning discussions, the shorter the window of opportunity gets."

On entering a new atmosphere and implementing positive change from the get go:
"I was not an avid sports fan and I did not have great knowledge of soccer, so when I was hired I knew my first order of business was to familiarize myself with the sport. Though I still have a long way to go, I realized early on that before I did anything else, I needed to sit back and listen. I joined an established team that was already functioning well, and I wanted to understand how I could provide the most value to my team as a new leader in the organization.

"That said, because the marketing group already consisted of so many talented teammates, I wanted to seek ways to build our camaraderie so we could ultimately bring the best out of one another. So, one of my first moves was to establish a weekly meeting for marketing leaders and a monthly one for the whole team to keep people apprised of priorities and goals. I also have monthly one-on-ones with every club's head of marketing and regular office hours; anyone on the team can sign up to chat about whatever. We also do a quarterly happy hour, and every Thursday we share messages of gratitude with one another in our team's Slack channel. It sounds basic, but creating those forums of connection is so important, and I can confidently say one of the best parts of my job is helping to create those relationship-building moments."

On being driven by data:
"I've worked in some very data-driven organizations, but that's not always the case for marketers. I've always viewed data as an essential component because to do the job right, you need market research to provide an understanding of your consumer's behavior. Couple that research with in-market testing, and you begin to see how people behave in particular situations, and that becomes a solid foundation on which to base an initial iteration of the consumer experience you want to promote. From there, it's essential to continue ideating based on subsequent in-market data to hone that experience.

"We're privileged to work with an incredibly talented analytics team who I view as some of our best friends at the company. We're always testing, measuring, and reporting. We continue to invest in matched market testing, to determine if the spend is worth it. It's not always ideal when your test doesn't work, but it's totally fine as that is part of the process. It's in those instances where the challenge can be to convince other stakeholders that you won't be successful every time, rather that it's better to try and fail rather than not to have tried at all.

On closing the deal:
"Having worked in various industries throughout my career, I'm so fortunate to work on a sport that is all about fun and joy. However, when it comes to those feelings, the question is how do we share our joyful product with more people. The answer? By establishing an emotional hook through engaging content, a great live experience, or resonant storytelling, we are able to guide casual fans through their journey with our sport to eventually increase their fandom. At MLS, we have all the tools — top players, stories, and a broadcast partner in Apple that help to create multiple touchpoints, but the tools themselves are not enough. Even if you make that connection, it can go away after a minute or two if you don't establish a connection. That's where our digital marketing team comes in. We have an incredible team who focus on identifying touchpoints based on research about what makes a fan, and from there they build consumer calls to action around those insights. This approach is systematic and exciting, and most importantly effective."

On leveraging AI:
"There is so much potential when it comes to AI, and there are departments at MLS who are committed to ensuring that our league is a leader in this space. When it comes to AI in my role, it already helps us with basic tasks around planning and operations including process automation and slide-making, but we are consistently looking for ways in which AI can make our practices more efficient Most recently we've asked our teams to develop three new AI-fueled pilots to run this year, but to ensure we are put in positions to be successful, we need to make sure we're asking the right questions. For example, for each pilot we're inquiring about the potential impact quantified by cost savings or the ability to make or do more. From there, when a pilot program does produce a desirable impact, we need to evaluate how we roll it out to our club partners.

On her journey to becoming MLS' next Chief Marketing Officer:
"I received a cold outreach message on LinkedIn and honestly figured it was a prank. I even sent my husband a screenshot and said, 'Is this a joke?' He responded by saying he thought it was for the Mortgage Listing Service… to which I realized it was actually for Major League Soccer. Still, given I didn't come from a traditional sports background, I still thought this could be a prank of some sort. However, I ultimately decided to take the interview as I figured why not, and as I went through the process, I realized a few things:1) Every person I talked to was sharp, humble, and passionate about the product; 2) Soccer and MLS in particular are riding some amazing tailwinds, with tremendous growth potential; 3) I'd spent about nine years in consumer fintech, and the idea of learning something totally new seemed like a fun new adventure."

On marketing's three most critical skills:
"The first skill is care. Not only for your work but for the consumer and the people around you. People are at the heart of everything any strong leader does - especially in sports where people are our product. The Second, hard work. There's no substitute for this, and what it looks like may differ for each person. That said, be sure to find a company culture that aligns with what you need in that moment. Lastly, logical thinking. Being able to structure your thoughts and make a compelling argument in writing in a deck or an email, or verbally in a conversation is invaluable.