Speaker Profile

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, increasing investment from blue-chip brands, and the signing of the largest-ever media rights deal in 2022 for a women’s sports league at the time. She also spearheaded the signing of a historical collective bargaining agreement that makes the NWSL the first U.S. professional sports league to eliminate its draft and give players full control over where they play.
Under Commissioner Berman’s leadership, the NWSL set a new single-game attendance record (40,091) in 2025, which also stands as the largest-ever attended game for a women’s professional sporting event in U.S. history. The NWSL has representation from the best players in the world. By way of example, in 2025, 39 NWSL players represented 19 countries and 13 active NWSL clubs in global international competition. Off the pitch, the league continues to gain commercial and business momentum, having signed notable new sponsors in 2025 (AT&T, Unwell Hydration, Tide and Canon), as brands continue to recognize the NWSL's rising cultural relevance and dynamic fan base.
During the 2024 season – the first under the league’s record-breaking media rights agreement with CBS Sports, ESPN, Prime Video and Scripps/ION – 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 broadcast 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% 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%.
Domestically, Commissioner Berman led the league's expansion to 16 clubs, established record valuations, reset the enterprise value of franchises by more than
20x, and spearheaded initiatives focused on the development of purpose-built infrastructure. She began her tenure at the league by navigating the NWSL through a comprehensive internal investigation into abuse allegations, resulting in substantial culture reforms.
In January 2025, Commissioner Berman was named Sports Illustrated’s Innovator of the Year – the first leader to ever receive the honor. The NWSL was also named to Fortune’s 2025 Change the World list, which highlights 50 companies who are doing well by doing good, baking social problem-solving into their business models. In 2024, Commissioner 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. 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 - notably the first female deputy commissioner of a men’s professional sports league - and prior to that 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. Commissioner Berman lives in Westchester, New York, with her family and dogs.