BUILDING AN ECOSYSTEM FROM ZERO
Argentina American Football Association (AAFA)
My work in developing American Football in Argentina followed the same logic that has shaped my corporate career: entering environments without precedent, designing structure before scale, and building systems that could endure beyond their founders.
Market Creation Without Inheritance
American Football had no historical footprint, institutional backing, or established audience in the region. There was nothing to extend or optimize — only to create.
The work began by defining what a viable market could look like in a context with no reference points, much like launching a new category or product in an unfamiliar region.
Legitimacy Before Growth
Visibility alone was never the objective. The priority was legitimacy.
That meant establishing rules, competition standards, and governance structures that could be trusted by participants, partners, and institutions — even when scale was still distant.
Structure That Outlasts Momentum
The ecosystem was designed to function independently of individual actors or short-term enthusiasm.
Teams, competitions, and development pathways were structured to survive leadership changes, uneven growth cycles, and external pressure — prioritizing continuity over acceleration.
Culture as an Operating Constraint
The game itself could not simply be imported. Its values, practices, and competitive logic had to be reconciled with local culture without diluting its integrity.
Success depended on understanding where adaptation strengthened adoption — and where it would undermine the system.
What exists today around American Football in Argentina is the result of early, foundational work carried out over thirty years ago, when no viable ecosystem yet existed.
Across business and sport, the work has been the same: building structure, legitimacy, and coherence early, so growth can endure when complexity arrives.
When similar questions arise, a thoughtful conversation is often the most effective starting point.