Major League Soccer’s 29th Team Continues Its Journey to Become a Global Soccer Brand
Following the successful launch of Major League Soccer’s 29th team, the club is adding an established soccer industry executive, City Football Group’s Diego Gigliani, to St. Louis CITY SC’s executive leadership team as the club’s new President and General Manager. Carolyn Kindle, having spent the last 4+ years leading the ownership group’s efforts to secure an MLS expansion team, launch the CITY SC brand and build a 32+ acre campus and state-of-the art soccer stadium, will continue as the club’s Chief Executive Officer and, moving forward, will dedicate more time to long-term strategic priorities, including expanding the club’s international reach, regional community programming and league-wide growth initiatives.
Originally from Argentina, Gigliani was raised across the United States and Europe and spent the last 10 years with City Football Group, the largest global football organization in the world and the parent company of English Premier League powerhouse Manchester City FC. In his most recent role, Gigliani oversaw eight of City Football Group’s international football clubs, including all those in the European Union and Latin America covering markets such as Spain, Italy, France and Uruguay, to name a few. He sat on the Board of Directors of most of these clubs and worked directly with each club CEO and Sporting Director to set targets, provide direction, drive strategic projects, pursue synergies, and deliver results. Prior to the City Football Group, Gigliani spent 13 years in management consulting and completed his MBA at the Wharton School in the US.
Reporting to Kindle, Gigliani’s responsibilities as CITY SC’s new President and GM will include managing all day-to-day operations of the club across the sporting, revenue, marketing, experience, operations, administration, and community departments. In addition, with Gigliani’s extensive international experience, he will work closely with Kindle to expand CITY SC’s global reach and partner with her on league initiatives.
“Diego brings an incredible amount of international soccer expertise that will help us take the next step in our ambitious journey to become a global soccer brand,” said Kindle, CEO of St. Louis CITY SC. “After a long and extensive search, we look forward to welcoming him to one of the best sports cities in America as we continue to grow our reach and leverage soccer’s popularity -- as well as the amazing start to our inaugural season -- to increase interest in everything St. Louis has to offer.”Â
A seasoned soccer executive, Gigliani will build on CITY SC’s strong foundation, St. Louis’ rich soccer history and the sport’s expanding fan base to take the club to the next level. His resume and experience in working with soccer clubs and leagues across the globe will help further the ownership group’s vision of shining an international light on St. Louis.
“After spending time with Carolyn and other members of CITY SC’s leadership team, including Lee (Broughton, CITY SC’s Chief Brand Architect) and Jason (Thein, CITY SC’s Chief Operating Officer), it was evident the club is deeply committed to leveraging the power of sport to positively impact the entire region” said Gigliani.
“I’ve been strongly attracted to this team’s commitment to the community, and really impressed by the results achieved in such a short period of time – the brand launch, stadium build, season ticket base, merchandise sales, and much more. I’m looking forward building on the club’s record-breaking launch and impressive start to the season to help grow CITY SC’s reputation. And when you look at soccer’s continued growth in the US, MLS’ new partnership with Apple and the World Cup coming to North America in 2026, this is undoubtedly a unique and special time to come back to the United States,” Gigliani continued.
With this new hire, and her increased focus on expanding the club’s reach, Kindle is working with the ownership group to position CITY SC for long-term success as the club enters the next phase of its journey to further St. Louis’ growth and raise the city’s international profile.
Gigliani intends to join the club in the summer of 2023, upon successful completion of the US employment visa process.
