Nicolò Zini, Chief Revenue Officer, Houston Dynamo

Invest: spoke with Nicolò Zini, chief revenue officer of the Houston Dynamo, about how the club is using the momentum of the 2026 FIFA World Cup to reposition both the Houston Dynamo and the Houston Dash in a diverse and fast-growing market. “The focus is on building a platform that resonates with our fan base and with brands and corporate partners by improving the way we do business,” Zini said.

What are the most important changes and trends you are seeing in the sports sector, and how are they impacting Houston Dynamo?

I joined at the end of October 2025 with the intent and objective of building something extraordinary around the unprecedented soccer momentum coming to Houston. The 2026 FIFA World Cup gave this city a unique opportunity, and our focus has been on ensuring that the energy created around the tournament translates into lasting growth for soccer in Houston. We are building a platform that resonates with our fan base and with brands and corporate partners by improving the way we do business. Coming from Inter Miami CF and before that FC Barcelona for five years, I have seen what it takes to build successful football organizations. On the business side, that means sponsorship, ticketing, fan experiences, and all of those components. On the sporting side, we have incredible talent, and both teams have demonstrated the ability to compete. The objective is to continue building organizations that can consistently perform at a high level on the field while we strengthen the business around them. The broader objective is how we position both organizations in this market at this moment so that the impact extends well beyond the World Cup. The 1994 World Cup helped lay the foundation for what MLS has become today. The 2026 World Cup has given us another generational opportunity: to convert the extraordinary diversity of this market and its passion for the game into sustained engagement with the Dynamo and Dash for years to come.

How is the club positioning itself commercially within a growing city and a more globally visible MLS?

The beauty of this market, from what I have learned in the last six months, is that I do not really see us competing so much with the Texans, Astros, or Rockets. The market is so large that there is an audience that fits our sport, our intentions, and our strategy.

Some of our greatest opportunities are within Houston’s Mexican American, Central American and broader Latin American communities, alongside families, Gen Z, millennials, and other audiences that have a strong affinity for the global game. But before we can fully realize that opportunity, we have to earn relevance within those communities. That is why I describe this as a repositioning of the Houston Dynamo and Houston Dash. We have our history and our identity, but we are using this moment to reconnect with the communities we represent. That means going back to the grassroots, engaging our fans, many of whom are Latino and Hispanic, but also families, Gen Z, and millennials. It shapes how we communicate, how we approach social media, how we activate the stadium, what kinds of events we bring in, and what we do in the community. Once that is in place, it gives us the leverage to go to brands and show them how our platform connects them to audiences in a meaningful way.

We have spent significant time building that infrastructure and strategy so we can go to market with a real plan. Brands react positively when you present them with a platform that is thoughtful, differentiated, and ready to activate. The priority has been to reset and reposition the organization for sustained growth.

What are sponsors asking for today, and how are their expectations evolving?

Brands have evolved significantly in sports partnerships because they have much more ability now to understand value. They can measure ROI, media exposure, and where their money is best spent. That means sports organizations have to be much more thoughtful in how they position packages and build partnerships.

If we are a platform that creates significant campaigns and events and connects strongly with a passionate fan base, then partner conversations become easier. We already have strong local partners supporting both the Dash and the Dynamo, but there is still much more to go after, because the Dynamo and the Dash are not yet at the level we want them to be to reflect the strength of this market.

Houston is one of the fastest-growing markets in North America, with a huge corporate presence and around 8 million people in the greater area. What we are building should help unlock that opportunity.

Brands today want meaningful platforms, and they also want easy-to-activate platforms. They want turnkey solutions and the ability to have a partner in the sports organization that can go to market with co-branded strategies. There is so much competition for their attention that what we put in front of them has to be powerful, meaningful, and easy to activate.

What changes are you seeing in how fans are engaging with the club, both in the stadium and digitally?

The early signs have been positive. We had a record-breaking home opener, a fantastic showing with LAFC, and stronger attendance over the first four games compared to last year. The appetite for soccer in Houston has never been greater. The World Cup accelerated that momentum, but our responsibility is to make sure that energy does not disappear now that the tournament is over. That means building stronger connections with our communities, communicating in the languages our fans speak, creating accessible products and experiences, and giving people compelling reasons to engage with the Dynamo and Dash year-round.

We have increased Spanish-language communications into our communities. We created affordable and inclusive pricing that offers real value. For the Dash, it was one of the largest home openers in many years. What we are doing is clearly working, and now it is about continuing to build on that.

The dream for everybody, from ownership to the president and myself, is to have 20,000 people in the building every game day for the Dynamo or the Dash. In an 8 million-person market, that might sound easy, but it is not, because families have many options. The connection we build has to be strong enough to make the stadium a consistent choice.

Digitally, the way we engage has changed completely. We brought in a new chief marketing officer, and we are engaging more directly with fans. We respond, we play, and we bring humor to social media. People want a club that is transparent, open, and vocal. Sports is about winning and losing, but communication has to stay open either way.

What are your top priorities, and what would success look like over the next few years?

Our immediate priority is to convert the momentum created by the World Cup into sustained growth for soccer in Houston. The tournament was an extraordinary moment for the city, but the real measure of success is what happens afterward. We have an opportunity to turn heightened awareness and passion for the sport into deeper engagement with the Dynamo and Dash, and we intend to capitalize on it. The opportunity now is to turn a historic summer for soccer into a lasting legacy for the sport in Houston.

Over the next three to five years, we want the Houston Dynamo and Houston Dash to be respected, seen, and embraced as Houston’s football clubs on both the men’s and women’s sides. We want communities to feel part of these organizations and to have a genuine emotional connection to them.

Success depends on the diversity of this market and our ability to bring those communities into the building and make them feel something special. If we can establish that connection, there is no doubt this organization can be successful for many years. That requires a clear strategy, an understanding of who we are and who our audiences are, and a compelling value proposition for fans and partners alike.