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Over six months after Dan Flynn officially stepped down as US Soccer’s CEO, the federation has announced his successor. Will Wilson is now the new CEO and Secretary General of the United States Soccer Federation.
Launching a new era for the organization, we’re pleased to welcome Will Wilson as the new CEO and Secretary General of the U.S. Soccer Federation.
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) March 23, 2020
Wilson brings 29 years of leadership and experience in international and domestic sports at the agency, league and team levels.
Chief Stakeholder Officer Brian Remedi has been acting as Chief Administrative Officer for USSF, running the federation’s operations while the federation conducted their search.
Wilson comes to USSF from the sports agency Wasserman, where he was Executive Vice President and Co-Head of Football, and has also worked at MLS and Soccer United Marketing as their Executive Vice President of International Business and Special Events. USSF’s press release points out that Wilson is an NFL Players Association certified contract advisor, making him familiar with labor issues and collective bargaining agreements, and that he is fluent in Spanish - in fact, Wilson received his MBA from the Tecnológico de Monterrey Graduate School of Business in Monterrey, Mexico and was Managing Director of NFL Mexico from 2001 to 2005, a period during which there were two NFL games at the Estadio Azteca. Wilson has also had stints with the Arena Football League and the Champ Car World Series.
Wilson officially starts as CEO on March 30 and will move to Chicago to begin the role. “There is nothing like harnessing our nation’s support behind our Women’s and Men’s National Teams, and I see significant upside in our ability to work with our Membership to grow participation levels, increase our commercial business and drive our ability to compete on the field at the highest level,” he said via USSF press release.
Though Wilson’s hiring was heralded by new USSF president Cindy Parlow Cone, a hiring of this magnitude undoubtedly follows a long vetting process, meaning it probably began while former USSF president Carlos Cordeiro was at the helm.
How do you feel about USSF finally putting a new CEO in place? He definitely faces a challenge, coming in at a time when professional sports are on hold and future development looks uncertain, both on and off the field. Let us know in the comments!