Soccer Monday: Jessica Berman addresses the state of the NWSL

This is very comprehensive, and strays a bit from our usual format for Soccer Monday, but it gives a good overview of where the league is at in terms of several salient topics. Many of the news stories written about her media availability tended to focus on a few hot-button topics rather than an overall picture of what Berman said. We think there’s value in providing readers with additional context.

So dig in. We’ll start with her opening remarks.

Good morning, and thank you all for being here. It’s been an exciting week, and we’ve shared a number of key announcements with you all that are crucial to our long-term growth story. These announcements show, I think, not only how far we’ve come, but also show everyone where we’re heading. On Tuesday, we announced our mid-cycle media package, which not only brings in a new partner but also marks a new deal with ESPN and CBS. We also announced a marquee brand partnership with Canon, and our new combined event, which will be hosted in December, will be a new model for us in identifying up-and-coming talent as part of our broader path to pro strategy.

I thought I’d talk a little bit about Victory+ for a minute, because it may be new to many of you. Victory+ is an established media company and streaming platform. They have done, most recently, some deals in the sports space, mostly at a local level, but they actually have a really long history of building a business around streaming and in particular building an audience in over 160 countries. It may not be a surprise to you if you recall some of my remarks in November of 2023, that each of our partners, as part of our media deal, is very intentionally helping us to build a new audience. They each represent a demographic that we feel is unique, and while there may be some overlap, what we’ve learned actually in the last year and a half is that most of the audiences that we’re building on, each of these platforms are distinct. And as we think about setting up our growth story and the future of the league, that’s really important. And we think Victory+ is going to be a really key part of that story. I think importantly, they are free to access, free to air. And, we think it’s really important, particularly as we have one of the youngest demographics in sports, that it’s accessible from anywhere. So I’m very excited about that. And for them to have a space in our fixtures on Sunday nights that people will know when, where and how to watch. In addition to all of our other partners.

So we’re really working hard to expand the visibility of our athletes. We know that our future growth story is making these players household names. And we’ve also learned in the last year and a half that when we put our games in the places and spaces where people consume content, that our audience grows, and we’re really excited about that. Of course, from a business perspective, under our recently negotiated new collective bargaining agreement, our players are partners. So when we grow, the business grows and the players benefit from that. And so growth is good for all of us. And we’re we’re really proud of that.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention, although Canon was announced this week, I think since the last time I was with all of you, we’ve actually announced several really important brand deals in Tylenol, a renewal with Delta, AT&T, the Skim, elf, and others. These are all really important examples of strategic high impact partnerships that we’re focused on, not only from a monetization perspective, which is of course, important, but from an exposure and visibility standpoint.

A couple of other quick notes before we open it up for questions. Some of the other things we’ve been working on behind the scenes include improving the player experience in our league. I think most of you know this because I sometimes run into you when I’m on the road. Some of the ways in which we keep tabs on how we’re doing, at least as it relates to the players, is that we really keep our ear to the ground. I spend time in every market meeting with players. We get feedback through surveys and work very closely with our players association to make sure that we’re understanding the lived experience of our players and making sure that they’re in a position to be successful and feel supported.

One of the things we’ve done and been working on for the last several months is a concerted effort to support the working mothers in our league. It’s probably not surprising to many of you who follow the NWSL team, not only do we have the most mothers actually playing in our league compared to any other women’s professional league in the world, but we also now have a significant number of players who are pregnant. I think we have about 13 moms and more than ten pregnant players. We hope if they choose, there’s a choice to be a working mom and it’s not easy for those of us who do it, we hope that if they choose to come back, that they’ll make that decision knowing that the NWSL is a place where we will support them. We’ve made changes, to our system to provide even more support, to continue to really set the standard for working mothers in professional sports, and particularly for athletes, increasing the amount of resources available to them for childcare, expanding eligibility for compensation for childcare providers and some of the other sort of micro-friction points that that they might have been experiencing that they’ve shared with us. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that there was actually a working group of players who worked collaboratively with us on that. So we’re really proud to be able to be responsive to that and and proud of the environment that we provide for mothers and and also to have the kind of relationship with our players association that allows us to to really pivot in real time and, and be responsive to things that we think matter.

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We’ve also made changes in relation to some of our international players, and it’s not a surprise that we’ve made a concerted effort to be a global league. And to be a place where some of the best international players choose to play. What we’ve heard from them is that there similarly were some changes that we could make that could improve their experience as it relates to the ways they travel, and additional support for their families, and those policies are effective immediately. Those changes have been made. You’ve heard this from me in the past related to other questions, where we’re always monitoring our policies and our protocols to make sure that we’re making the changes and being nimble and doing the things that will keep our league in the forefront of being able to be the best league in the world and attract and retain the best players.

Finally, this session here today follows our owners meeting. So, we spent this week, several days in, in the room with our owners and it was again a really important moment where our ownership was really invested in coming together to support our long term strategy. And I can say we’ve never been more focused than we are right now on the things that we think matter most, when the world is watching, and in particular, the world’s eyes are on this country and the sport of soccer. Our four key focus areas are making sure we have the most exciting games, that we are driving the soccer narrative, that we are trusted as a league and that we are building the talent pipeline. And everything that we’re going to be working on in the coming years is going to be focused on on those four areas. We are future proofing our league. We are positioning our league for sustained success. We’re in it for the long game. Our owners are investing in the things that demonstrate that they’re here to ensure that our league achieves our mission of being the best league in the world. Really proud of the progress we’ve made. But probably, more importantly, excited about what’s to come and the enthusiasm to continue to invest and to finish out the season with another record-breaking season.

Question: What are some of those changes you’re going to make to make the international players more comfortable?

Berman: Tying it back to what we’ve heard, their ability to travel comfortably to and from their home countries, to be able to support and give them what they need to make sure that they have connectivity with their families at home. We’ve also heard that they’re very much wanting to make sure that it’s a priority for us from a business perspective, to have our games be able to be watched in their home countries. So we now have media deals in every country, pretty much, where any of our players come from. And that’s really important to them, not only because they want their friends and family to be able to watch them and know what they’re doing over here, but also so that they can remain connected to their national teams and that people can easily see how they’re doing in their club environments. And so that’s been a concerted effort for us, really focused almost exclusively on distribution and our international media strategy, in particular, tracks to where our players are from. And the efforts we make there really in service of making sure that our players, friends, families and constituents can stay connected to the work they’re doing here in the U.S.

Question: (About how the league is helping with the visa process in the current political climate.)

Berman: I think this is a place where our league is at the forefront in American sports in particular, because unlike so many other leagues, our players are the league’s employees. So we actually have a centralized mechanism to support our players as it relates to travel in and out of the country and visas and any of the support that they need actually comes from the league office, because they’re our employees. And so, we have the best advisors that exist in our country to make sure that that remains as frictionless as possible. And where there are challenges, we ensure that we’re getting advice to make sure that our players feel comfortable before they’re traveling.

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Question: Obviously this come a few days after the, the medical event in Seattle, unfortunately, it’s not the first time the league has had to deal with a medical event with a player during a game. What sort of lessons did you take from the incident earlier in the Angel City game early in the season that you applied to happened?

Berman: First, let me just say, that we’re so thankful that both of those players are OK, and that although it presented some challenges for us in the operations and from a business perspective, that those situations happened at a time when medical staff were there to respond and make sure that they were safe. So that’s most important. As it relates to the summer, no one wants to have had to have experience practicing these policies, but having had the opportunity to play it out earlier this year, at that then learn the things that we could do better, and then actually have the chance to do it better the second time around was a moment that allowed us to show what we’re capable of. The decision making tree was streamlined. We knew exactly what was happening. And we knew exactly who needed to make decisions. And we facilitated them immediately. And in particular, just to state the obvious, the decision to not continue the game was a no brainer and did not require contemplation. So we at least now know exactly how to manage those situations and are confident that hopefully we’ll never have to do them again. But because we’ve had two now a couple of times in the same season that we’re at that position to be prepared.

Question: Do you mind outlining what the chain of command is in a situation like that?

Berman: In any game, our operations and medical team are overseeing and on standby for any and all communications that are required. Sometimes that relates to a medical situation. And, it is really me, I am, the one who makes that decision. And in that particular situation, I got the phone call that Savannah had a medical emergency and needed treatment and that everyone who was there was pretty rattled and immediately directed the team to abandon the game.

Question: So you make the final call. But in the case that you’re unavailable, is there somebody who was empowered to make that call?

Berman: Yes. We have a decision tree here where if for some reason I wasn’t reachable that there are others internally at the league office who would be tapped to make that decision.

Question: The salary cap set for the next five years, but it’s also in a world where those numbers are escalating quickly with the world record being broken every couple weeks, has the board discussed further increases to that cap or mechanisms that need to be worked out to spend outside of it?

Berman: What I can say about that is, first, that we’re very proud that we have a collective bargaining agreement where we and the union and the players aligned on the vision for what investments would make sense for us and to set the standard for our players to be able to, receive the compensation and benefits that are appropriate to the size of our business. I said earlier, and I’ll say it again, we always, not only these policies, but we always are analyzing the entire ecosystem, monitoring the inflows and outflows of of players, assessing the quality of the talent in the league. And while I could understand the focus on the salary cap, the ways that players make decisions about where to play is a complex set of considerations. We will always look at that not in a myopic way, but holistically.

We are quite confident that the value proposition that we offer to players is compelling and will continue to attract and retain the best players, particularly as we look at the focal point in this country over the coming years on the sport of soccer and the Olympics and the World Cup and the level of investment in infrastructure, and from media partners and brands, that only this country could offer. And so we will continue to analyze all of the opportunities that exist for players and where we feel like it’s appropriate to pivot, as I alluded to in other circumstances, we do. We’re very confident with how we’re situated right now to be able to attract and retain the best players.

Question: You have owners that are invested in NWSL and teams in Europe. You see players moving from those teams to their teams in Europe, with some coaches move from their U.S. teams to their teams in Europe. Has there been any discussion about changing cross-ownership rules? Is it a topic that’s come up?

Berman: First of all, as you all know, I don’t come from soccer, so I think we have to start with the recognition and acknowledgment that the sport is different in the complexity of its systems and in the global nature of the game, and it’s the reason that it is the world’s game, and it’s the reason that it’s the universal language and it’s the reason it has the business potential that it has. So you can’t you can’t isolate those things. With that in mind, I think it’s a complexity that on a net basis we think provides us with some benefit. … There are examples where players in our league are getting development in other places where they might not have access to that kind of development. And we see that it exists across all of soccer and, and not an issue that is unique to us. We also know that women’s soccer in general needs more places for players, coaches, technical staff to develop and we believe our owners have the right vision for that and have a long term view. And so if they want to help us to do that on a global scale, we think on a net basis that’s positive.

Question: Most of the examples of this in the men’s side, with a club like Manchester City, it’s clear what team is at the top of that ecosystem. How do you make sure that in the case of someone like Michele Kang that the priority keeps the NWSL teams at the top of those organizations.

Berman: I think the the what exists in sports, unlike any other business, is public accountability for the decisions you make and I think our owners have demonstrated that they are here for the NWSL. If want to talk about the Washington Spirit and look at the investment that Michele has made in that city to put the Washington Spirit up against every other team that plays in Washington, including the Commanders, the Nationals. I was there on the day that the Washington Spirit were playing in the semifinal against Gotham, I believe it was, and it was playing at the same time as a Nationals game and a Commanders game, and that building was sold out and the Fan Fest was overflowing. I don’t think anyone would conclude from that, that it is not a priority.

Question: Given given the Kansas City current match, how is the league approaching climate change?

Berman: I appreciate the way you’re asking that question because we always start, this analysis, whether it’s proactive in the process of making our schedule, or reactive to a situation with the fact that in half of our country in particular, and maybe even more than half of our country, in the summer, it’s quite hot. We saw that with the Club World Cup this summer. I was at the match in Miami when it was played in the middle of the afternoon, and it was hot. It’s part of the challenges that exist geographically in the US, which is that there is a variety of climate that exists in, and depending on the time of year, that climate can be extreme. And so we have always, at least for the three years I’ve been here making the schedule, and will continue to, evaluate weather trends to inform our scheduling process within the confines of what’s possible. And within the confines to what’s possible include some of the inherent systemic challenges that we have, mostly related to stadium availability. And it is the reason that in this last expansion process, we were most focused on building infrastructure because when you have to take a step back and make a game schedule or a professional sports league, and for media folks, you should know the names of people who do that at every league and give them a little thank you very much, because it is the hardest job. Even if you control your venues, it’s the hardest job. And in our league it’s even harder. And so from that perspective, we will continue to evolve the parameters. And we have a list of probably 40 parameters that go into the schedule making process. And some of them are, parameters related to weather, and some of them are parameters related to attendance, and some of them are parameters related to viewership. And it’s our job to balance all those things and make sure that we produce a schedule that we think can set up everyone for success.

Question: Can you talk about expansion?

Berman: We actually have, some news here. Which is that we’ve made the decision actually to move to a rolling process, but that means that, for those who don’t live in this world, every day, historically, at least for the last two rounds, we had a start date of an expansion process, and then we had an end date that we predetermined. So we told interested groups this is when this process is going to start, and this is when we’re going to make our decision, and you, bidder, have to fit within that beginning and end date. We’ve made the decision to shift to a rolling process, mostly because we’ve been through this two rounds. And so we pretty much know the universe of people who are interested. There’s more than a dozen of them. Those conversations are ongoing. And each of them have a different perspective on how much time they need to launch, the investments they need to make in order to be successful, including potentially around infrastructure. And we want to not force a square peg into a round hole. We want to be more flexible so that we can get to the best possible result for the next round. And so, it’s a little bit anticlimactic to say that our expansion process is ongoing. It’s open. Officially open. What that means is that will communicate decisions when we’ve made decisions.

Question: You will have 32 teams? Is that the goal, like the NFL?

Berman: I think, one day, in the future. And I think what I meant when I said that, and it’s always interesting to me what gets picked up and what doesn’t because I feel like I said that many times before. What I meant when I said that was that, the reason that the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, Major League Baseball, are as big as they are is two reasons: One, the size of our country and the number of number of (places) that exist that could support a team. And number two, the player-talent pipeline, the product itself. Those two things, there’s nothing different about our league that would mean that we can’t be that size and that’s really what I meant, not that I was intending to say we’re going to be 32 teams by some date. It was really just to say that we don’t view the ceiling on our growth as any different than any of the men’s leagues.

Question: It’s been widely reported that you are on a four year contract. Is there anything you can share about, the status of a renewal?

Berman: What I can say is that I intend to be here. I joined this league because I believe in the future of women’s sports and professional women’s soccer and Yeah, that’s all I can say.

LINKS

This is just so sad: Matt Beard has passed away

ESPN’s latest NWSL power rankings

Kansas City Star’s coverage of the Courage claiming the Shield

Defector looks at the NWSL chaos in the standings

The NWSL introduces player combines to identify talent

The NWSL announces expanded media deals

Berman made the call to halt Louisville-Reign game

Boston Legacy obtains $100 million loan for White stadium project

Sportico says there’s growing pains in women’s sports

Wiegman: Women’s football is at a crossroads

Caroline Weir had to check if the Ballon d’Or list was legit when she saw her name

By the way, the Ballon d’Or winners will be announced today!

Mondays: Soccer

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Thursdays: Golf

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Fridays: Hockey

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