Commissioner Jessica Berman speaks at NWSL media day — Must-click women’s soccer links
The IX: Soccer Monday with Annie Peterson, Jan. 27, 2025
The NWSL held its first-ever media day last week in Los Angeles. Ahead of the event, there were questions about whether it should have been canceled or moved because of the devastating Los Angeles fires. I certainly think it had an impact on attendance: Many of the local outlets weren’t represented because of staff focus on the fires. Also, the short timeline between the announcement and the actual event likely kept some outlets away.
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It’s my understanding that this will be an annual event, and not just for traditional media. It served as a way for the broadcast partners to gather content to air during games and other programming. It allowed social media teams from the league and elsewhere to gather fodder for posts. There were lots of different needs being met.
Needless to say, it was a gold mine of content for the rest of us, too. I tucked away several interviews that I’ll be using for both AP stories and The IX posts in advance of the season. So I’m excited about that.
NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman sat for an extended Q&A with the media in attendance. I’m posting the video below for “Five at The IX,” but I’ll summarize the main points for those who don’t have time to watch it. Much of what she addressed was about expansion and infrastructure.
She did say that the formal announcement of the league’s 16th team will happen next week. The news has already leaked, of course, that Denver was the big winner.
And, as she’s said before, the NWSL is looking to add more teams. Interestingly, she acknowledged that the demand exceeds the supply, and the league has heard from some 80 groups and/or individuals looking to invest in a team. She said the efforts in expansion include “matchmaking.”
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“We have so many interested bidders who were not given a team in this round,” Berman said. “Part of the effort in the next three to six months is really developing our next expansion strategy to make sure that we both capitalize on the incredible demand for an expansion team, as well as balance some of the other up-leveling of our system that needs to happen in order for us to achieve our objectives. So we want to be aggressive with expansion, but we also want to be strategic and smart about how we do that, and make sure that we make those decisions through the lens and our vision to be the best league in the world.
“Other things that relate to that are the pipeline for talent, the pipeline for technical staff, our media deal, looking at our commercial growth strategy and making sure we’re building this league in a way that’s long-term sustainable.”
Berman didn’t give specific numbers for the growth strategy. But she correctly pointed out that some of the issues with the player paths into the league (with free agency and the lack of the draft), and commercial viability for more teams, need to shake out. Boston and Denver will bring the NWSL to 16 teams.
She outlined the league criteria for expansion, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. The league does need to be strategic about growing too quickly.
“The first is ownership,” she said. “Knowing that we have the right owner with the right both financial wherewithal as well as vision to invest. The second being infrastructure, making sure that we have paired with a professional and appropriate stadium and training facilities that meets the standards not just of today but of where we think the league is heading. So future-proofing where we think we’re going to be.
“Then the third being the market. The reason the market is third is really only because we’re in this vast country where we know there’s opportunity for growth in so many different cities. So it doesn’t have to be the driver for our decisions. Whereas when I was at the NHL and other leagues, when you’re a 30-team league, there’s probably only a handful of cities that you would consider because the market needs to be large enough to be able to support a major-league team.”
The NWSL is also excited by the growth in infrastructure surrounding the league. Last week, Angel City opened the Angel Performance Center.
Berman indicated that the next frontier for infrastructure is going to be women’s soccer-specific stadiums.
“It’s probably one of the more challenging and important initiatives for us as a league,” she said, “to put our clubs in a position to be able to, one, control their own destiny in terms of making a strategic schedule that satisfies our local and national growth objectives. And secondly, being able to control the revenue streams that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to control as a tenant. It’s the reason that so many of our expansion decisions have really centered around that as a core tenet, as we think about the way we’re going to be able to get ourselves from where we are to where we know we need to be.”
One more important question, posed by the Shea Butter Football Club podcast, had to do with the Donald Trump administration and what the league can do to protect players and fans who are from marginalized communities. Berman responded:
“What I can say from the NWSL perspective is that the work we’ve done over the last almost three years is to really define and lean into who we are and our values. So from our perspective, nothing will change about how we show up to support our entire ecosystem: players, staff and fans. We stand for excellence. We stand for unity. We stand for joy. And we’ll continue to ensure that we’re a place where, no matter what stakeholder group you represent, you have a place to celebrate and be welcomed into our world.”
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This week in women’s soccer
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The Naomi Girma trade is official.
The Equalizer’s Jeff Kassouf wrote about possible championship game venues.
All for XI’s 2025 NWSL power rankings.
Pardeep Cattry from CBS was in LA and I met her. Her story on the league’s first media day.
Sports Illustrated looked at the top 10 college athletes who have signed in the NWSL.
Interesting story from Sportico about the Houston Dash that leaves more questions than it answers. Are they for sale. Are they not?
Alanna Kennedy is headed to Angel City.
A look at the Nigerian players set to join the NWSL this season.
Five at The IX: Commissioner Jessica Berman at NWSL media day
Here is the video if you would like to watch it. Also note I got bumped in the middle of it and almost dropped my phone. Hazards of the profession!
I also snapped a few photos of the players that were there. Some of the photos were taken at a station dedicated to photographers, so you’ll see the light stands, etc. Also, I posted some other videos on my YouTube channel, so feel free to head there.
| Mondays: Soccer |
| By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer |
| Tuesdays: Tennis |
| By: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer |
| Wednesdays: Basketball |
| By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The Next |
| Thursdays: Golf |
| By: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX |
| Fridays: Hockey |
| By: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden |
| Saturdays: Gymnastics |
| By: Lela Moore, @runlelarun, Freelance Writer |
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