NWSL Commish Berman: Growth Is Real, But Not Without Sacrifice, Leadership

By Barrry Janoff

April 5, 2025: Coming off a season that saw records in attendance, viewers, marketing and media coverage, and with expansion on the horizon, it’s small wonder that NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman is hyped about the league’s 2025 season and beyond.

“We’ve just launched our first market research where we are trying to get to know our fans. Believe it or not the word that is most often used that is unprompted is vibes,” Berman said during a Q&A session at the SheBelieves Summit presented by Deloitte in City Market Social House Los Angeles on April 4.

“That is the word that when people are asked what do feel when you watch the NWSL or you hear about the NWSL, They say we feel vibes.”

That wasn’t the case three years ago when Berman was named commissioner in April 2022 at a time when the league faced questions about its future as numerous players came forward to say that over the past few seasons they had been verbally, emotionally and physically abused by coaches and others.

A report released in December 2022 by the NWSL and NWSL Players Assn. Joint Investigative Team found that “the league systemically failed to protect (its) players.” A separate independent investigation in 2022, led by Sally Yates, a former U.S. deputy attorney general, also found that “abuse in the NWSL was systemic. Verbal and emotional abuse and sexual misconduct occurred at multiple teams, was perpetrated by several coaches, and affected many players.”

Coaches, league executives and others involved in the allegations were dismissed; and teams including the Portland Thorns and Washington Spirit changed ownership.

“It was only three years ago that this league was on the precipice of being faced with decisions about whether it was a viable business. And that all seems like a distant memory now, thankfully,” said Berman during the Q&A.

“But interviewing for the role, there were a lot of existential questions being asked by the owners, the players, our sponsors. From where I sat, the questions were mostly in the hands of the players, which was to say are you prepared to join in the future of the league if we take the steps to rebuild trust.”

How far has the NWSL come since then? With a new CBA in place, cities anxious to be part of the league’s future and more people watching more games on more platforms than ever, “We are growing fast,” said Berman.

“From an organizational excellence perspective it’s not just getting bigger but it’s getting smarter and being really strategic about our priorities. This is like a diamond field of opportunities, Staying laser-focused on the things that are going to really move the needle is going to be the key to our success.

“We have very ambitious plans for expansion. Our board believes that we could be the size of the NFL. There is nothing that stands in the way of us doing that, other than having access to top talent. There's certainly not a problem with the supply, given the size of our country and the level of talent that exists. We just need to figure out how to develop them strategically and intentionally."

The league expanded from 12 to 14 franchises in 2024 with the addition of the Utah FC and Bay FC, and will grow to 16 in 2026 with Boston Legacy FC and Denver.

“Interviewing for the role (of commissioner in 2022) there were a lot of existential questions being asked by the owners, the players, our sponsors,” said Berman. “From where I sat, the questions were mostly in the hands of the players, which was to say, Are you prepared to join in the future of the league if we take the steps to rebuild trust?

“Most people don’t know the history of the National Women’s Soccer League. Until 2022, we were actually part of U.S. Soccer. So this was really a rebirth of the league and made us the first league that was truly independent. And that really gave us a unique opportunity to invest from a first-principles perspective from our owners, which is to say you all are waking up every single day thinking about the growth of the NWSL.

“Let’s build a league that thinks in that way and hire qualified staff that will enable us to achieve our vision of being the best league in the world. And that’s what we’ve worked on literally every single day since 2022. And thankfully, with the support of our players to join us in that really hard work, we’re able to effectively transform the business.”

There have been major challenges.

In October 2024, the league concluded an investigation into a salary cap violation by Angel City Football Club and imposed disciplinary actions based on the findings. ACFC was fined $200,000, had a deduction of three (3) points from ACFC’s 2024 standings; and Julie Uhrman, president and CEO, and GM Angela Hucles Mangano were suspended for the remainder of the 2024 calendar year.

Last month, the league said an independent investigation was been opened into the coaching staff at Bay FC following publication of a report that described a “toxic” work environment at the club, That investigation is on-going.

"In a global game, for female athletes, giving them the right to choose where they play, we felt was really, really important."

“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel on the sort of basics of how to run this business,” Berman said during the SheBelieves Summit Q&A. “We do have to think differently about he way in which we lean into this as a very different value proposition to brands, to find and to tell the stories that we elevate it.

“It also relates to our relationship with our player association and collective bargaining. We were the first professional sports league in the history of the U.S. to eliminate the draft. We felt that was something that did not serve our athletes. In a global game, for female athletes, giving them the right to choose where they play, we felt was really, really important. I will say I got calls from other leagues saying ‘Are you insane?’ I get it from their perspective that doesn’t make sense. For our league it does make sense.”

The NWSL and Berman also faced criticism in another area: Building venues specifically for women’s soccer.

“In Boston, in Denver, we are going to have in those two markets purpose-built stadiums for women in the downtown metro area where fans can access the game,”said Berman. “And we’re going to be be in as position to be able to use that as a catalyst for what we know is going to be our infrastructure boom, which is going to happen over the nest ten years.

“And of course so much of the credit goes to Angie and Chris Long in Kansas City (majority owners of the Current), who built the first purpose-built stadium for women in the history of the world (11,500-seat CPKC Stadium, which opened in March 2024). Which you always have to say, literally, in the history of the world in 2024 that happened. And it’s shocking that it took until 2024 for that to happen.

“But when they did it, they would tell you, if they were here, because I’ve heard them tell the story, that people thought they were crazy, like, how are you doing to generate a return on that investment. They were like, no one ever asked that question where we were building a stadium for men, I don’t even understand why that’s a question. So it isn’t a question anymore. The funding is there, The financing is there, And the benefit to the community is definitely there.”

Another issue the NWSL faced coming into the 2025 season was that several iconic players who had been the face not just of the league but of women’s soccer in the U.S. retired, including Alex Morgan, Megan Rapino, Kelly O’Hara and Becky Sauerbrunn.

“Last season, we have to be honest with ourselves, recognizing that the ionic generation of players that everyone knew and loved retired. They retired last season,” said Berman.

“So we have a lot of work to do to make sure that people know who today’s stars are and, as importantly, tomorrow’s stars. So we want every single person to know who Alyssa (Thompson) and Gisele (Thompson) are, We want then to know their story.

“We want everybody to be excited for Sophia’s (Smith-Wilson) return after she has her baby. It’s our job to create the environment that supports these players through their unique challenges and their ups and downs and to work synergistically with U.S. Soccer to make these players as successful as they can be.”

A major face of the league and the sport is Trinity Rodman, regarded as one of the best young women’s players in the world, who was featured in the NWSL’s season-opening multi-media marketing campaign, “Just Watch Us,” and a supporting documentary, “For the Win.”

Narrated by music artist Latasha, "Just Watch" shows players in action as she narrates.

“Watch us move. Watch us fly. Watch us break. Watch us burn. Watch us rise. Watch us rule. Just you watch.”

Major domestic and global companies are supporting the league. Entering the 2025 season, NWSL signed a multi-year sponsorship naming AT&T the league’s "official connectivity partner."

According to the league and AT&T, “This strategic collaboration underscores the continued commitment of the NWSL and AT&T to empowering women in sports, uplifting communities, and enhancing fan connectivity through innovative technology and engagement platforms.”

NWSL partners also include Adobe, Ally, Amazon, Bobbie, CarMax, Deloitte, EA Sports, e.l.f., Google Pixel, Nationwide, Nike and Unwell.

“This season, one of the biggest things we did is launch the season with our first league-level, purpose-built documentary, For the Win, which is on Amazon Prime.,” said Berman. “That has really driven so much interest in our league

“We bought out Times Square for the first time and it was all centered around all eyes on the NWSL to start our season — and by the way it was all about our players. Building-size images of our players (including) Trinity Rodman, who are the best in the world. So again, back to this synergy that needs to exist between the NWSL and U.S. Soccer. It is good for all of us for these players to be household names.

“It’s not hard to tell compelling stories about these athletes. They are incredible, They are incredible on the pitch.They are incredible off the pitch. They are incredible role models. They’re dynamic.

"These are women who have not had the luxury of being in a position to achieve the success they now are having, And so they’ve had to work for it. Which makes them dynamic and scrappy and more interesting. We are the beneficiaries of that. We just have to give them the platform to be able to share their stories,”

The league said its new media deals — valued in excess of $240 million — give the NWSL four times the exposure it previously had.

"We have a lot of work to do to make sure that people know who today’s stars are and, as importantly, tomorrow’s stars."

“Luckily, with our new media deal and our media partners — we’re going into the second year of our four-year deal, which was introduced in 2024 with CBS, ESPN, Amazon and Scripts — we have 60% four games at least that are on linear national broadcast. Last year we had 17 million people watching our games, which was incredible, That’s up from four million in the year prior. That’s the kind of growth we are seeing”

Regarding the current season, the future of the NWSL and her role as commissioner?

“Luckily in this case we are not inventing the playbook,” said Berman. “I’ve been at other professional sports leagues my entire career — it’s pretty much the only thing I’ve ever done is work at professional sports leagues — and thankfully I’ve actually been part of expansion at the NHL, the NBA, with the NLL.

“And in all of those places it is a story of growth, (which) can effectively be achieved where not surprisingly through an economic lens, The demand exceeds the supply, which really drives the value and the interest and puts the leagues in a position of power.

“As we think about the role of expansion in a growing league, we always like to say that expansion is supposed to represent the best of a league. In every profession sports league there are always teams that are sort of rising the tide and there are other teams that are catching up, And that exists in every professional sports league, including a league like the NFL.”

According to Berman, “When a league decides to embark on an expansion journey, whether it’s through a process like we’ve done or just awarding a team to a particular market or a particular owner, you really have the opportunity to create the world that you want for all of your teams to have and follow.

“We know from a business perspective that one of our biggest challenges as we continue to lean into the media space and increase reach and discoverability, we need to be in a position where we can better influence and control our own destiny that relates to the making our our schedule and that relates to having access to all of the ancillary revenue streams that exist around game day.

“It is also important for us to bring in the best players in the world who are not on the U.S. Women’s National Team. We want to be the global destination for the best players in the world. And that will actually serve the U.S. Women’s National Team well,, because they need to be training and playing with and against the best players world.

“Which means they need to be tested on a daily basis with players who have different playing styles, with different types of challenges that they’re ultimately going to face, which of course you try to mimic in the context of a friendly or another competition when these players are preparing for bigger tournaments.

“But week in and week out, having our league be the competitive league it is, is what will help the U.S. Women’s National Team to be prepared for those big moments, That’s our job. That’s our service to U.S. Soccer and to the U.S.”

Photos: U.S. Soccer

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