KC NWSL soccer club hires experienced southwest Missouri native for key executive role
Growing up in Monett, a small town of about 6,000 in southwest Missouri, was a quiet existence for Amber Cox.
She helped run a wholesale greenhouse with her mother, assisting with day-to-day operations while her mom took the lead on business operations.
“Watching her work ethic, watching her leadership, I didn’t know it at the time, but I think all of that has translated,” said Cox, who was introduced this week as the new chief operations officer for Kansas City’s National Women’s Soccer League team.
“If you put in the hard work, you’re really passionate about it, usually good things happen. Good lessons learned in Monett, MO, for sure.”
Cox left her comfortable surroundings in Monett in her late teens to attend William Woods University in Fulton — another small town, located just outside Columbia, with a population barely eclipsing five figures.
She spent about a decade in the Fulton-Colombia area before finally leaving her home state to work in the marketing department for minor-league hockey’s Phoenix Roadrunners.
After 20 years away from the Midwest, Cox has come home.
“I’m just thrilled to be home, to be a part of this ownership group,” she said Thursday. “You can’t talk to (owners) Chris and Angie (Long) and Brittany (Matthews) and not be completely fired up about what’s on the horizon for this club.”
Cox’s appointment is a continued effort by Kansas City’s ownership group, alongside head coach Huw Williams, to build a culture of individuals proud to represent Kansas City.
“They’re bringing awesome people,” Williams said of the organization’s ownership group. “I think they’re surrounding themselves with people that can create a club that our city can be proud of. We’ve said this all along: have quality people, talented people, coming together to create something special.”
But it’s not just Cox’s local connection that has led to her appointment in Kansas City’s front office. She brings a plethora of experience in both the NWSL and WNBA, as well as in the Big East Conference, where she serves as the associate commissioner for women’s basketball.
Cox most recently worked in the Mohegan Sun Casino office in Connecticut, where she was vice president of sports. She oversaw all revenue-generating activities for the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun and National Lacrosse League’s New England Black Wolves.
She has also worked as the chief marketing officer for the NWSL’s Houston Dash and the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer.
“Amber’s history of success in both the soccer side of things, college side of things and most recently in women’s basketball, says it all,” Williams said. “(T)he reaction from that league (WNBA) was one of sadness that they are losing one of their best. We’re very excited to have her on board.”
Having worked in the NWSL, Cox sees parallels between this league and the WNBA and will use that knowledge to bring an immediate impact to Kansas City.
She’s sought to elevate the platforms of players in both leagues and help them reach out to larger audiences, thus making their voices heard.
“The women of the NWSL, the women of the WNBA, are so smart, we need to hear from them on a megaphone,” Cox said. “We need to give them all a megaphone to be able to talk about what’s important outside of soccer, as well.”
During her time with the Mohegan Sun, the Connecticut Sun franchise was constantly among the league’s top teams in terms of ticket sales and growth in merchandising, broadcast distribution and outside partnerships.
One of her main goals here will be figuring out how to make the fan experience unique and special in KC.
“Everybody knows what a great tailgate town Kansas City is,” Cox said. “Whether it’s music or food or our great partnership with the Monarchs and Legends Stadium, working alongside them, to make it unique to us but also very true to Kansas City, I think, is the goal.”