Following an intensive world search, Blank Family of Businesses Owner and Chairman Arthur M. Blank has named Mauricio Culebro President of Soccer, AMB Sports and Entertainment (AMBSE). Culebro will oversee all facets of Atlanta United and NWSL Atlanta 2028 and will report on to AMBSE CEO Rich McKay.
With greater than 22 years of management expertise throughout elite membership and federation environments, Culebro is a seasoned sports activities business government, rising from an intern to changing into president of two main skilled soccer golf equipment and Chief Operating Officer of the Mexican Football Federation.
Most not too long ago, Culebro served as president of Tigres UANL overseeing sporting and enterprise operations throughout the membership’s males’s and girls’s applications for the previous 5 years. During his tenure, Tigres UANL gained LIGA MX, Campeón de Campeones and Campeones Cup titles and 4 LIGA MX Femenil titles and three Campeón de Campeones Femenil titles, persistently completed within the high 5 of each leagues, doubled industrial income and strengthened their membership’s place as one of Mexico’s high historic golf equipment.
“This is an exciting day as we welcome Mauricio to Atlanta and our family of businesses,” mentioned Blank. “As we progressed through the search process, Mauricio’s impressive experience and clear vision to elevate our clubs made him an outstanding fit to lead Atlanta United and NWSL Atlanta 2028. While he may be new to MLS and the NWSL, Mauricio is not new to building and operating successful global soccer clubs, and I am fully confident in his ability to help return Atlanta United to the level our fans deserve, while leading the launch of our NWSL club. I would also like to thank our search committee and Sportsology Group who dedicated their time, effort and expertise throughout this extensive process.”
Prior to his tenure with Tigres UANL, Culebro spent two years as Chief Operating Officer of the Mexican Football Federation, main Mexico’s operational planning for a number of host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He additionally spent greater than 15 years at Club América, the place he served as president, operations vice chairman, operations director and normal coordinator. Between his time at Tigres UANL and Club América, Culebro is the one president in Mexico to seize males’s and girls’s league championships with two completely different golf equipment.
“It is an honor to join AMBSE’s highly successful leadership team and become part of an organization with such a strong culture and foundation already in place,” mentioned Culebro. “I am excited to put my experience, passion and commitment at the service of Atlanta United and NWSL Atlanta 2028, working alongside a great team to build long term projects our fans can feel proud of — teams that truly represent the passion, energy and ambition of this city.”
As president of soccer, Culebro will probably be charged with elevating Atlanta United, main each side of the launch of NWSL Atlanta 2028 and will function the group’s main liaison for its ongoing partnership with the U.S. Soccer Federation.
Atlanta United Chief Soccer Officer and Sporting Director Chris Henderson, Senior Vice President of Strategy Dimitrios Efstathiou and Senior Vice President, Chief Business Officer Sarah Kate Noftsinger have greater than 4 a long time of MLS expertise mixed and have led the day-to-day operations of the membership for the previous 4 months. Henderson, Efstathiou and Noftsinger will stay of their roles and will report on to Culebro.
Culebro will collaborate with McKay, leaders throughout AMBSE and AMBSE’s shared companies staff as they start constructing every side of NWSL Atlanta 2028, together with soccer and enterprise management and workers; the development of a world-class coaching floor; and NWSL-specific modifications for matches at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
AMBSE not too long ago introduced an settlement with the City of Marietta to buy land for a website to assemble a world-class coaching floor for NWSL Atlanta 2028. The almost 33-acre property permits for AMBSE to assemble a coaching floor the place the membership will construct an approximate 38,000 square-foot facility and 4 full fields and two half-pitches for the membership to coach, representing an funding of greater than $100 million. Construction will start within the close to future because the membership prepares to compete for championships starting in 2028.
