Ian Anderson serves as Chief Strategy Officer for the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer, where he is part of the club’s executive leadership team working across both commercial and sporting operations.
Under Ian’s leadership, the Earthquakes’ commercial team has doubled sponsorship revenue, signed $50M+ of stadium naming rights and jersey rights partnerships, and unlocked relationships with Silicon Valley’s biggest brands. Ian and his team secured the club’s long-term stadium naming rights deal and technology partnership with PayPal, as well as jersey-front sponsorships with Intermedia, a fast-growing cloud communications brand, and El Camino Health, Silicon Valley’s oldest healthcare system.
On the sporting side, Ian founded the club’s soccer analytics group, building the team and products from the ground up. He has led the club to make substantial investments in analytics infrastructure, with a focus on how machine-learning capabilities can help guide decision making in player acquisition. Today, the club has one of the largest dedicated analytics staffs in MLS and has been recognized as a top five most advanced club in the league by American Soccer Analysis.
Ian is currently in his second stint with the Quakes. He was previously at the club from 2012-16, where he worked in business development and as Special Assistant to the President, supporting the development of the Earthquakes’ new soccer-specific stadium in 2015.
Prior to rejoining the Quakes in late 2018, Ian attended Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he earned his MBA. During his time at Stanford, he worked at Goldman Sachs in the Global Sports Investment Banking group and served as a consultant to the Football Federation of Australia on A-League expansion.
Ian graduated from Claremont McKenna College with a BA in Economics & Government and was a four-year starter for the school’s NCAA soccer team.
