CHICAGO (July 9, 2024) - U.S. Soccer today announced Catherine Newman has been hired as the Federation’s Chief Marketing Officer. Newman will help the Federation achieve its strategic vision, bringing two decades of marketing experience for some of the biggest sports and entertainment brands in the world.
“Catherine joins U.S. Soccer at an exciting time and immediately bolsters our efforts to be an industry-leading organization,” said JT Batson, U.S. Soccer CEO.“As we continue to elevate the U.S. Soccer brand, Catherine will push us to innovate and grow.”
“As part of the Federation’s broader commercial transformation, we are laser focused on growing the sport. Catherine brings a proven track record of results-driven marketing and a deep understanding of the fan and the fan journey,” said Chief Commercial Officer, David Wright.“Catherine's hiring is another example of our continued evolution and a massive step toward becoming a fan-centric organization.”
Newman will lead the Federation’s efforts around brand development, including meaningful storytelling and content, digital and social engagement, overarching insight-driven marketing, and a diversified direct-to-consumer strategy. Newman will sit in the Commercial Department and report to Wright.
Most recently, Newman was the Executive Vice President of Marketing for the WWE and before that was the first-ever CMO for Manchester United. At WWE, her global focus was growing fan engagement, managing media partners to increase viewership, accelerating revenue growth, and evolving the WWE brand. Recognized in the Forbes 2023 Entrepreneurial CMO list, she developed a new meta psychology for fan segmentation that led to more efficient and effective fan targeting, expanding reach and revenues across the business.
At Manchester United, she had ownership of all global direct-to-consumer marketing campaigns with a focus on fan development and engagement, personalization and ROI. There she successfully overhauled the marketing strategy and delivered record growth in app sign-ups and registrations, making the new Manchester United app the most downloaded and engaged sports club app globally. Newman built a new cross-club performance marketing function driving record revenue growth across direct-to-consumer revenue lines.
“It is a privilege of a lifetime to join the United States Soccer Federation at a time of such innovation and growth,” said Newman.“At every level of the Federation, both on and off the pitch, there is a heightened focus on our teams, upcoming events, and brand which creates a unique opportunity in our history. Co-creating the U.S. Soccer story with our fans and partners around the world will help inspire the next generation.”
Prior to this Newman held C-suite roles at Times Newspapers, News Corp and the Financial Times, London.In addition, she is also a Marketing Academy Fellow and mentor. She will be based in Atlanta, home of the Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center, set to open in 2026.
About the U.S. Soccer Federation
Founded in 1913, U.S. Soccer has been the official governing body of the sport in the United States for more than 100 years. As U.S. Soccer looks toward the future amid an unprecedented moment of opportunity, it has aligned its efforts around five strategic pillars: Grow the game by increasing youth and adult participation and accessibility to the sport; Foster best playing environments through quality of referees and coaches, and commitment to participant safety; Develop winning teams through solidified pathways and success of professional leagues; Grow the soccer economy to fuel reinvestment by increasing membership, fandom and commercial success; and Create a world-class organization through revitalized structure and culture, best-in-class talent, progress in DEIB, and more. For more information, visit ussoccer.com/ourvision.
