Jessica Berman was named Commissioner of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in 2022. Under Berman’s leadership, the NWSL has seen skyrocketing franchise valuations and sales, partnership gains, the signing of the largest-ever media rights deal for a women’s sports league and the signing of a historical collective bargaining agreement that makes the NWSL the first U.S. sports league to eliminate its draft and give players full control over where they play.
During the 2024 season – the first under the league’s record-breaking media rights agreement with CBS Sports, ESPN, Prime Video and Scripps Sports – the NWSL experienced record-breaking viewership and attendance, topping 2 million fans for the first time and marking the third straight year the league surpassed 1 million in total attendance. The 2024 season also saw viewership reach 17.1 million, with 5 of the top 10 most-viewed matches in NWSL history. The 2024 NWSL Championship averaged 967,900 viewers in primetime on CBS; an 18 percent increase from the previous year’s title match. 2024 also saw an 80% rise in social impressions on league channels, while engagement across league social platforms increased 152%.
Commissioner Berman has led the league to establish a dominant presence within the international soccer space; The January 2024 transfer window led to a record 22 players joining the NWSL from the world’s best leagues and during the 2024 Olympic Games, 19 NWSL players won gold as members of the USWNT; 61 NWSL players competed across 11 of 12 national teams at the Paris Games. Domestically, Commissioner Berman led the league’s expansion to 16 clubs, established record valuations and reset the enterprise value of the franchises by more than 10 times. She also navigated the NWSL through a comprehensive internal investigation into abuse allegations, resulting in substantial culture reforms.
In 2024, Berman was named a CNBC Changemaker, and her leadership contributed to the NWSL being named number five on Fast Company’s list of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2024. In January 2025, Commissioner Berman was named as Sports Illlustrated’s Innovator of the Year. She was recognized as Sports Business Journal’s Best Hire in 2022 and was named Executive of the Year by Sports Business Journal in 2024, the first woman so honored in the history of the award.
Previously, Berman was Deputy Commissioner at the National Lacrosse League as the first female deputy commissioner of a men’s professional sports league, and she spent 13 years at the National Hockey League, where she contributed to collective bargaining
and drove community engagement and growth. Prior to that she was a labor lawyer at Proskauer Rose LLP.
A University of Michigan alum and Fordham University law graduate, she is on the alumni board of the UM Sport Management Advisory Board and the Fordham Sports Law Forum Alumni Board. She is on the Board of U.S. Soccer and is on the UJA Sports for Youth Committee. Jessica lives in Larchmont, New York, with her family and rescue dogs.