In 2022, the NWSL put Jessica Berman in a position few would’ve envied. After all, some of the biggest icons, such as Megan Rapinoe, were breathing fire after allegations of systemic abuse and misconduct surfaced against the league. Rapinoe said, “Burn it all down,” about the $4.5 million league struggling to stay afloat. Yet, in just two years, she did the impossible. Thanks to her experience working with the National Hockey League, Berman brought changes that revolutionized the NWSL.

Having helped negotiate the collective-bargaining agreement in the NHL in 2012, the NWSL commissioner negotiated a new one. This included revenue sharing, expanded paid maternity leave, and significantly higher salaries. The confidence with which she handled the role was possible, at least partly because the commissioner had been practicing what she learned during her time with the NHL in her personal life. Jessica Berman spilled the beans on exactly how in her interview with The Cut.

As per the NWSL commissioner, it’s all about her ‘CEO’ parenting style. In other words, “I almost treated my kids like they were employees,” said Berman. If that sounded confusing, thankfully the mastermind behind the NWSL’s revival elaborated further. “You would never ask someone who works for you to do something without explaining why. You’d give them context and say, ‘Here’s what I need from you, and here’s why it matters.’ That’s what I have always done with my kids,” Berman told The Cut, also recalling how she told her children about the 2012 collective-bargaining agreement.

Understanding her kids were too young to understand what the team meant, the 48-year-old told them she was writing a book. “Every day, they would say, ‘How’s the book coming? What page are you on?’ And I’d tell them, ‘I’m on page 100 of 250,'” explained Jessica Berman. Giving her kids that acknowledgment kept them invested. A decade later, she would do the same for the players.

Berman’s revised NWSL collective-bargaining agreement addressed crucial aspects. From expanding paid maternal leave to significantly higher salaries, Berman’s efforts have transformed the NWSL from having a $4.5 million deal with CBS, to a $240 million one with multiple broadcasters. And the sky is the limit.

Jessica Berman has big dreams for the NWSL

While what the former deputy commissioner of the National Lacrosse League learned with the NHL has helped her come this far, Berman’s ambitions know no bounds. The NWSL commissioner is dreaming big. How big? Well, here’s what Berman SI’s 2024 Innovator of the Year had to say about her plans last year. “Who’s the best league in the world?” Berman questioned on Power Players, continuing, “Is it the Premier League? Is it the NFL?”

“That’s our aspiration—to be the best league in the world,” Jessica Berman said. Yet, it wouldn’t be wise to take those ambitions laterally. While the NWSL commissioner wants the league to grow in every aspect, rivaling the NFL will take a lot of time and effort. Berman herself explained why. “The NWSL is not the NFL, for example, in terms of how we operate,” she told The Cut.

Berman further added: “We are much more like a start-up. It requires a degree of scrappiness — it doesn’t have to be pretty if you get the job done,” she said. However, as the CEO of the entire organization, it’s up to her to not lay the framework for that success. It’s safe to say that Jessica Berman has certainly taken the soccer league to new heights.

Right now, the commissioner’s focus is on launching the new season in a “big way,” and keeping the progress alive. The New York native has pulled the league out of dire straits and plans to take it higher with every passing season.