NEW YORK — National Women’s Soccer League commissioner Jessica Berman said she plans to continue in her role, but she did not offer a tangible update on the potential renewal of her contract, which ends in the coming months.
“What I can say is that I intend to be here,” Berman told reporters from the league’s headquarters on Thursday. “I joined this league because I believe in the future of women’s sports and professional women’s soccer, and that’s all I can say.”
Berman signed a four-year contract to become commissioner of the league in early 2022.
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She addressed reporters on Thursday following two days of in-person meetings in New York among the league’s board of governors. Among the board’s most important topics in recent months has been Berman’s future and the potential renewal of her contract.
The NWSL board meetings in New York happened in the weeks after the league lost one of its most high-profile players, 20-year-old United States forward Alyssa Thompson, to Chelsea in a transfer on England’s deadline day. The move sparked further debate across the league about the NWSL’s ability to compete in a global market while maintaining a salary cap, which is currently set at $3.5 million per team.
“While I could understand the focus on the salary cap, the way that players make decisions about where to play is a complex set of considerations, and we will always look at that not in a myopic way, but holistically,” Berman said.
“We are quite confident that the value proposition that we offer to players is compelling and we’ll continue to attract and retain the best players.”
Jessica Berman has served as NWSL commissioner since 2022. Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Player safety was a major topic of concern once again in Berman’s press briefing following several high-profile incidents at games this season.
The NWSL had its second major medical emergency of the season occur on Sunday when Racing Louisville FC midfielder Savannah DeMelo collapsed on the field at the halftime whistle in a game against Seattle Reign FC.
The match was suspended and completed two days later — in stark contrast to May, when Angel City FC defender Savy King was treated on the field for over 10 minutes for what turned out to be a heart abnormality. That game resumed after King was taken to the hospital in an ambulance and players were visibly upset.
Berman said on Thursday that the decision to suspend Sunday’s game was ultimately hers, and any similar situation is ultimately her call, but there are others in a “decision tree” empowered to make the call in her absence.
“Just to state the obvious, the decision to not continue the game was a no-brainer and did not require contemplation,” Berman said. “We at least now know how to manage those situations and are confident that hopefully we will never have to do them again.”
On Thursday, Berman also announced that the process to expand beyond 16 teams is now open, but she defined it as a “rolling process” rather than a bid with deadlines, as was the case in recent years.
“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 who’s interested. There’s more than a dozen of them.
“Those conversations are ongoing. Each of them has a different perspective on how much time they need to launch, the investments they need to make to be successful, including potentially around infrastructure, and we want to not force a square peg into a round hole.”
The NWSL will expand to 16 teams next year with the introduction of Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC. Berman has said several times that there is “no reason” the NWSL cannot be as big as the 32-team NFL, although on Thursday she appeared to walk back the number of teams as more of an idea than a target or hard cap.
Berman also confirmed that the second division that the NWSL plans to operate will not launch next year, which the league initially indicated as a timeline. The league is now focused on launching a second division in 2027, she said.
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