Early in her career, Jessica Berman often found herself as the only woman in the room, first at the NHL and later as the deputy commissioner of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). But everything shifted two years ago when she became commissioner for the National Womens Soccer League (NWSL).
During her inaugural Zoom call with the league office staff, Berman was struck by the rooms diversitya beautiful mosaic of men, women and people of color, she told Sportico during the 2022 SXSW panel in which she participated.
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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 womens sports, where passion and profitability converged.
She was right.
Berman, 47, is the current commissioner of the NWSL. She is the third woman to hold the position since the inception of the league in 2012.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Berman earned her bachelors 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 associate labor and employment lawyer. Following her passion for sports, she moved on to work for the NHL, serving in numerous roles, including vice president and deputy general counsel, between 2006 and 2019. She helped negotiate the 2012 Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHLPA.
In 2019, Berman became the deputy commissioner of the NLL, making her the first woman to hold the title of commissioner in a mens professional sports league. Less than three years later, she was tapped to run the NWSL and tasked with turning around an organization in crisis.
Berman fell in love with sports as a teenager, but she did not play any team sports, in part because of a lack of access, according to an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Even though she was born in 1977, five years after Title IXs enactment, equal access to sports for boys and girls was not widely available in cities such as New York, where Berman grew up. Instead, she took dance classes.
After 13 years as an executive for the NHL and two years as deputy commissioner of the NLL, Berman was ready for a change.
When the opportunity with the NWSL presented itself, Berman said at SXSW in 2022 that she was hesitant about accepting the role due to its demands, and said she was unsure how it would fit in with her family life (Berman has two sons). But she recalled her son saying: Are you kidding, Mom? You must take this job so boys and girls can look up to you.
Berman assumed leadership of the NWSL on April 20, 2022, at a critical moment following a league-wide scandal involving allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse across multiple teams. This underscored the necessity for comprehensive cultural and structural reforms.
My background being in labor relations and working with player associations, and my approach to labor relations, which is really about building partnership and leveraging the players trust and credibility to grow the league, is seemingly one of the big areas of focus that I believe will unlock the potential of this league, Berman told Sportico at SXSW, a few weeks before she started her job at the NWSL.
In just two years with Berman on the job, the NWSL has seen an unprecedented economic expansion. During her first year as the commissioner, Berman focused on helping improve players contracts in coordination with the leagues first collective bargaining agreement, which was signed a few months before she took the job.
During her first year, the NWSL expanded with two franchises, Bay FC and Boston, both of which committed to a league-record $53 million franchise fee. Bay FC started play this season, bringing the number of NWSL teams to 14. The Boston franchise and a club expected to be named at the end of this year will expand the league to 16 teams by the 2026 season.
A few years ago, NWSL teams were valued at about $2 million on average; today, the average team is worth $66 million, according to Sporticos latest valuations.
Under Bermans leadership, big-name investors including Carolyn Tisch Blodgett and Laura Ricketts joined the ownership groups of NWSL teams. Tisch Blodgett, of the Tisch family who owns the New York Giants, bought into Gotham FCs ownership group last year ahead of the teams first NWSL championship. Ricketts, of the Ricketts family who owns the Chicago Cubs, purchased Chicago Red Stars for $35.5 million last August.
Earlier this year, the San Diego Wave sold for $113 million to Lauren Leichtman and her husband, Arthur Levine, founding partners of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, showcasing significant growth in team valuations. Meanwhile, Willow Bay, the dean of USCs journalism school and wife of Disney CEO Bob Iger, is nearing a deal to purchase Angel City FC, the most valuable NWSL franchise, at a reported value of $250 millionby far the highest price ever paid for a womens sports franchise in the U.S. Previously, former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasrys Avenue Sports Opportunities Fund expressed interest in buying a controlling stake in the franchise.
Under Bermans leadership, the league signed a record-breaking media rights deal worth $60 million annually for the next four seasons to air matches on ESPN networks, CBS Sports, Amazon Prime Video and Scripps Sports. The new deal, worth 40 times more than the leagues previous contract with CBS, significantly increases NWSLs reach to new audiences.
We transformed the league into offering a value proposition to investors, consumers and, most importantly, our players, that everybody is so proud to build and scale, Berman said during Sporticos Invest in Sports event last October, 18 months into her role.
Unlike the NWSL players, Bermans salary is not publicly reported. Her four-year contract with the league is up for renewal in 2026.
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