Early in her career, Jessica Berman was often the only woman in the room, first in the NHL and later as deputy commissioner of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). But everything changed two years ago when she became commissioner of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
During her first Zoom call with the league office staff, Berman was struck by the diversity in the room: “a beautiful mosaic of men, women and people of color,” she said. Sporty during the 2022 SXSW panel she attended.
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Still, there were other reasons Berman chose the job. With a career devoted to sports, she said she sensed a pivotal moment for women’s sports, where passion and profitability collided.
She was right.
Who is Jessica Berman?
Berman, 47, is the current commissioner of the NWSL, the third woman to hold the position since the league’s founding in 2012.
Berman was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She received her bachelor’s degree in sports management from the University of Michigan and her law degree from Fordham University.
She first worked for the renowned sports law firm Proskauer Rose LLP as an employment attorney. Inspired by her passion for sports, she joined the NHL, where she held various positions from 2006 to 2019, including Vice President and Deputy General Counsel. She assisted in the negotiation of the 2012 Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHLPA.
In 2019, Berman was named deputy commissioner of the NLL, making her the first woman to hold the title of commissioner in a professional men’s sports league. Less than three years later, she was tapped to lead the NWSL and tasked with turning around an organization in crisis.
Did Jessica Berman play sports when she was younger?
Berman fell in love with sports as a teenager, but she didn’t play team sports, partly due to a lack of access, according to an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Although she was born in 1977, five years after Title IX went into effect, equal access to sports for boys and girls was not widely available in cities like New York, where Berman grew up. Instead, she took dance lessons.
When did Jessica Berman become NWSL commissioner?
After 13 years as an NHL executive and two years as assistant commissioner of the NLL, Berman was ready for a change.
When the opportunity at the NWSL arose, Berman said at SXSW 2022 that she was hesitant to accept the role because of the demands, and that she wasn’t sure how it would fit into her family life (Berman has two sons). But she recalled her son saying, “Are you kidding me, Mom? You have to take this job so that boys and girls can look up to you.”
Berman assumed leadership of the NWSL on April 20, 2022, at a critical time following a league-wide scandal involving allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse across multiple teams, underscoring the need for comprehensive cultural and structural reforms.
“My background in labor relations and working with players’ associations, and my approach to labor relations, which is really about building partnerships and leveraging the trust and credibility of the players to grow the league, seems to be one of the big areas of focus that I believe will unlock the potential of this league,” Berman said. Sporty at SXSW, a few weeks before she started her job with the NWSL.
What has Jessica Berman accomplished as NWSL commissioner?
In just two years with Berman on the job, the NWSL has seen unprecedented economic expansion. During her first year as commissioner, Berman focused on helping improve player contracts in coordination with the league’s first collective bargaining agreement, which was signed just months before she took the job.
In its inaugural year, the NWSL expanded with two franchises, Bay FC and Boston, both of which committed to a record $53 million in franchise fees. Bay FC began play this season, bringing the number of NWSL teams to 14. The Boston franchise and a club expected to be named late this year will expand the league to 16 teams by the 2026 season.
A few years ago, NWSL teams were worth an average of about $2 million; today, the average team is worth $66 million, according to Sporty‘s latest ratings.
Under Berman’s leadership, major investors including Carolyn Tisch Blodgett and Laura Ricketts joined NWSL team ownership groups. Tisch Blodgett, of the Tisch family that owns the New York Giants, bought into Gotham FC’s ownership group last year, ahead of the team’s first NWSL championship. Ricketts, of the Ricketts family that owns the Chicago Cubs, bought the Chicago Red Stars last August for $35.5 million.
Earlier this year, the San Diego Wave sold for $113 million to Lauren Leichtman and her husband, Arthur Levine, founders of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, marking a significant increase in team valuations. Meanwhile, Willow Bay, the dean of USC’s journalism school and wife of Disney CEO Bob Iger, is nearing a deal to buy Angel City FC, the most valuable NWSL franchise, for a reported $250 million — by far the highest price ever paid for a women’s sports franchise in the U.S. Previously, former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry’s Avenue Sports Opportunities Fund expressed interest in buying a controlling stake in the franchise.
Under Berman’s leadership, the league signed a record-breaking media rights deal worth $60 million per year for the next four seasons to air games on ESPN networks, CBS Sports, Amazon Prime Video and Scripps Sports. The new deal, which is worth 40 times more than the league’s previous contract with CBS, significantly expands the NWSL’s reach to new audiences.
“We have transformed the league into a value proposition for investors, consumers and, most importantly, our players, that everyone is so proud to build and scale,” Berman said during Sporty‘s Invest in Sports event last October, when she had been in the role for 18 months.
How much does Jessica Berman earn?
Unlike NWSL players, Berman’s salary is not made public. Her four-year contract with the league is up for renewal in 2026.
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