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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. This is the business

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Speaker 1: of soccer. The appa diverse falla in this country is here.

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Speaker 2: Just stay.

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Speaker 3: The Global World Cup of twenty six will bring just

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Speaker 3: that the globe to the United States. Every four years,

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Speaker 3: you know, there's this moment where the world wakes up

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Speaker 3: to the incredible athletes that.

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Speaker 1: We have on the US women's national teams.

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Speaker 2: There are more soccer games available to watch on television

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Speaker 2: in the US than any other country in the world.

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Speaker 1: Soccer, or as I recall it, living in the UK,

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Speaker 1: football is the biggest sport in the world.

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Speaker 3: There's a gap in the market around women's soccer, and

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Speaker 3: we're here to fill that gap.

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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business of Soccer from Bloomberg Radio.

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Speaker 3: Commissioner Berman. Thanks so much for joining us here on

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Speaker 3: the Bloomberg Business of Soccer.

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Speaker 1: It's so great to have you. Thanks for having me.

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Speaker 1: So the new season is about to kick off.

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Speaker 3: Tell us about what fans can expect for twenty twenty

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Speaker 3: six regular season.

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Speaker 2: Incredible compition, two new teams, so expanding our geographic footprint

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Speaker 2: from fourteen to sixteen teams, and our games across five

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Speaker 2: media partners. So no matter where you watch or get

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Speaker 2: your content, you can probably find the NWSL, which is nice.

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Speaker 3: This is like a new thing for the I mean

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Speaker 3: not new now, but I mean really amazing to have

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Speaker 3: that for women's sports, women's soccer at this time.

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Speaker 2: It was a big change we made in twenty twenty

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Speaker 2: four with the idea that we have to be in

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Speaker 2: the places and spaces where people consume content. And of

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Speaker 2: course we know there's complete fragmentation in how people consume

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Speaker 2: their content. There's digital and streaming, there's linear, there's cable,

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Speaker 2: and given that this transition is underway, we want to

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Speaker 2: just make sure that we can be represented everywhere that

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Speaker 2: the next generation of fans find their stuff.

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Speaker 3: It is going into the third year of that deal.

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Speaker 3: How have the partners been saying? It's been going for

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Speaker 3: the league and for them, it's incredible.

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Speaker 2: Our viewership is up twenty percent year over year from

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty four to twenty twenty five, and our digital

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Speaker 2: is up thirty percent. We also index really heavy on

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Speaker 2: female ages eighteen to thirty four, so it's a really

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Speaker 2: strong demo for media partners and the exact cohort that

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Speaker 2: audience are attracting. And so when we think about how

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Speaker 2: we're performing. We're really proud of that with our partners.

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Speaker 3: Tell us about the two new teams coming on, Denver

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Speaker 3: and Boston, about the different ways they came into the league,

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Speaker 3: and there are different approaches to coming in.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we're really excited about it. So Boston was admitted

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Speaker 2: all the way back in twenty twenty three at the

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Speaker 2: same time as BAFC, and so they had a little

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Speaker 2: bit of a longer runway because they're building purpose built infrastructure.

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Speaker 2: So they are going to have a purpose built training facility,

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Speaker 2: a purpose built stadium, and that construction is underway. They're

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Speaker 2: actually going to open their season at Gillette Stadium, where

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Speaker 2: of course the Patriots play, and super excited for that.

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Speaker 2: I think they just announced that New Kids on the

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Speaker 2: Block are going to be opening the show and performing

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Speaker 2: at halftime. They are so they are from Boston and

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Speaker 2: so that'll be really fun, especially for people who are

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Speaker 2: my demographic. New Kids on the Block was like my

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Speaker 2: thing back in high school, so that's super exciting. And

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Speaker 2: then Denver, you know, they were just admitted about a

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Speaker 2: year ago, so in just twelve months they've gone from

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Speaker 2: an idea to actually being able to launch a team.

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Speaker 2: They started with no players, and now they have a

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Speaker 2: full roster, they have a full technical staff, they have

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Speaker 2: a purpose built training facility, and they too are going

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Speaker 2: to be opening their season at Empower Field, where of

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Speaker 2: course the Denver Broncos play, and they have sold fifty.

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Speaker 1: Thousand tickets for their home opener.

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Speaker 3: They're looking to break the NWSSL single game record.

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Speaker 2: I think they already did, and I am trying to

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Speaker 2: push them to go for a cell which would be

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Speaker 2: closer to seventy thousand. But we set the record last

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Speaker 2: year in Oracle Park with BAFC at forty one thousand attendees.

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Speaker 2: So we've already broken that record assuming everybody shows up,

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Speaker 2: and they're continuing to sell tickets, of course, because that

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Speaker 2: game is not until March twenty eighth. What does it

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Speaker 2: mean to have teams come in and do things like that,

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Speaker 2: already breaking records before they even step on the field.

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Speaker 2: Just build so much confidence in the brand. And I

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Speaker 2: think across sports leagues when you look at expansion, when

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Speaker 2: new teams come in, it's an opportunity to raise the

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Speaker 2: bar and set a new standard.

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Speaker 1: And that's what Boston and Denver are doing.

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Speaker 2: And you know, I was just with the ownership group

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Speaker 2: of Kansas City with Chris and Angie Long, and they

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Speaker 2: of course were the first to ever build a purpose

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Speaker 2: built stadium for a women's professional team in the world,

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Speaker 2: and now others are following suit and they and we

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Speaker 2: love nothing more that they were the first, but not

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Speaker 2: the last. And so everyone who comes in is trying

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Speaker 2: to raise the bar and really inspire the entire NWSL

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Speaker 2: ecosystem to continue to challenge ourselves and reimagine what's possible.

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Speaker 3: We'll talk about Kansas City in a little bit because

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Speaker 3: I also hear they are a bit of a hotspot

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Speaker 3: for World Cup teams that really wanted to use their facilities.

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Speaker 1: Isn't that incredible. There was like a bidding war. There

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Speaker 1: was a bidding war.

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Speaker 2: Everybody wanted to be at the women's stadium and at

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Speaker 2: the women's training facility. And I love that when those

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Speaker 2: teams are walking around the stadium for their training, they're

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Speaker 2: going to see title nine etched on the wall, because

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Speaker 2: it is a constant reminder that this stadium was actually

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Speaker 2: built for women.

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Speaker 3: So we also need to really talk about what was

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Speaker 3: really consuming your world in the last couple of months.

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Speaker 3: Over the last end of the season. The Trinity Rodman

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Speaker 3: re signed to the league and the high Impact Player

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Speaker 3: rule was in stated. It felt like that was the

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Speaker 3: entire conversation for months. And also the season didn't end

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Speaker 3: that long ago, right, This season ends in November. So

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Speaker 3: tell me about the Hindpact player rule and its impact

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Speaker 3: on the league.

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Speaker 2: Well, first, let me just say that we are constantly

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Speaker 2: analyzing and evaluating our policies to make sure that they

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Speaker 2: put us in the best position to compete for players.

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Speaker 2: Soccer is unique, and as an American sports fan, I

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Speaker 2: have to remind people that it is the only sport

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Speaker 2: where we compete in the global labor market for talent.

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Speaker 2: That is different from the NFL or the NBA or

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Speaker 2: Major League Baseball or the NHL, where there really is

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Speaker 2: only one league to play in if you are the top.

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Speaker 1: Of your game.

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Speaker 2: And that really forces us to constantly be innovating and

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Speaker 2: thinking about the ways in which our policies drive behavior

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Speaker 2: for our clubs and put us in a position to

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Speaker 2: attract and retain the best players in the world. So

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Speaker 2: this will always be something that we're analyzing and assessing,

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Speaker 2: and we do that through a bunch of different analytical

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Speaker 2: tools to see if we're winning on the global stage

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Speaker 2: for attracting and retaining top talent. We also know that

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Speaker 2: the transfer market is something that's unique, so players will come,

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Speaker 2: players will go, and that's just part of the game

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Speaker 2: of soccer, both on the men's side and the women's side.

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Speaker 2: So all of that for contexts to say that the

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Speaker 2: High Impact Player rule is where we landed. But this

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Speaker 2: work really began back in twenty twenty three, where in

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Speaker 2: preparation for our collective bargaining negotiation, we ideated about what

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Speaker 2: we felt we needed to put in place to put

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Speaker 2: us in a position to achieve our objective, which is

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Speaker 2: to be the best league in the world. And of

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Speaker 2: course we negotiated a new CBA with our players Association

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Speaker 2: and made commitments to significantly increase the salary cap, and

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Speaker 2: that is now in our collective bargaining agreement and projected

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Speaker 2: out until twenty thirty. We also negotiated for the right

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Speaker 2: to be able to create other rules that give us

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Speaker 2: the ability to do things like the High Impact Player

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Speaker 2: rule and giving the union an opportunity to consult, but

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Speaker 2: ultimately retaining the right to implement rules like that, and

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Speaker 2: that's what we did in this circumstance really with a

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Speaker 2: very specific goal in mind, which is that in the

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Speaker 2: top tier of players in the world, we wanted to

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Speaker 2: make sure that within the construct of having a salary cap,

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Speaker 2: which is very unique, that we put our clubs in

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Speaker 2: a position to have additional investment that they could put

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Speaker 2: into player compensation to attract the best players in the world.

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Speaker 3: It's interesting because the way you're talking about it and

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Speaker 3: the way that you had it written into the CBA

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Speaker 3: that you're able to do that is that specifically because

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Speaker 3: you know how the global you know game it works,

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Speaker 3: and you realize the amount that it's changing for the women's.

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Speaker 1: Game, that's exactly right.

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Speaker 2: And you know, when we negotiated the CBA and twenty three,

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Speaker 2: going into twenty four and twenty five, we did not

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Speaker 2: know what was going to be needed, and so while

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Speaker 2: we had already done a lot of work about the

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Speaker 2: potential options that we could examine and potentially implement, we

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Speaker 2: went as far as we thought was appropriate at that time,

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Speaker 2: but wanted to give ourselves the ability to make sure

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Speaker 2: that the policies were putting in place in the investments

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Speaker 2: that we're making are in service of growing the business

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Speaker 2: and are being done in a way that's paced with

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Speaker 2: our growth, and I think that's also sort of the

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Speaker 2: second point that I want to emphasize, which is that

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Speaker 2: with the global booming that is happening around women's sports,

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Speaker 2: these are businesses and we have to make sure that

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Speaker 2: we're growing these businesses sustainably and for the long term,

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Speaker 2: which means that there has to be a rational relationship

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Speaker 2: between revenue and investment, and this rule was designed specifically

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Speaker 2: with that in mind. We know the things that move

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Speaker 2: the needle in sports. It is stars, it is top talent.

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Speaker 2: You don't have to look far at other leagues to

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Speaker 2: identify those situations. And it is our thesis that by

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Speaker 2: making those investment in stars, which is what the High

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Speaker 2: Impact Player rule is designed to achieve, we will grow

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Speaker 2: the pie. And when we grow the pie, the salary

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Speaker 2: capital increase, so all of the players will get to

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Speaker 2: enjoy the benefits of us driving growth on our core business.

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Speaker 2: And that is the mechanism of a partnership that we

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Speaker 2: created in our collective orgating agreement. I think the interesting

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Speaker 2: word you use there was rationally grow business, because I

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Speaker 2: think the problem that European soccer has and the world

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Speaker 2: soccer has is that they aren't very rational about the

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Speaker 2: way they grow business, right, And that's kind of what's

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Speaker 2: happening in the Premier League now. We're seeing shifting with

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Speaker 2: American investment coming in and they're trying to bring over

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Speaker 2: more of American model. Is that hard to kind of

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Speaker 2: work against these people who are just going to be

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Speaker 2: out there throwing money even though it doesn't make business sense.

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Speaker 2: It's always the challenge when you know, as I alluded

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Speaker 2: to earlier, in traditional American sports, we are competing. We

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Speaker 2: meaning teams are competing with each other within a closed

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Speaker 2: system of a particular league like the NFL or the

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Speaker 2: NBA or Major League Baseball. In soccer, our teams are

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Speaker 2: competing against each other like they are in the other

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Speaker 2: professional leagues, but we are also competing against other teams

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Speaker 2: that compete in different leagues that have different rules. So

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Speaker 2: I sometimes describe it as like apples and cucumbers, Like

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Speaker 2: it's not even apples and oranges.

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Speaker 1: These are different versions of.

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Speaker 2: Totally different constructs, and yet we're competing for the same talent,

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Speaker 2: and so it does create some challenges, but it also

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Speaker 2: forces us to really examine and analyze and be super

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Speaker 2: clear about our superpowers and our value proposition, and putting

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Speaker 2: us in a position to make sure that we're executing

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Speaker 2: on what we've identified as our core priorities, which is

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Speaker 2: to be the most competitive league in the world and

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Speaker 2: make sure that in any given game and in any

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Speaker 2: given season, any team can win. And so any rules

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Speaker 2: that we create have to be implemented and designed with

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Speaker 2: that core principle in mind, because that is the original

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Speaker 2: hypothesis of sports in America. It is the reason that

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Speaker 2: sports in this country has dominated the cultural zeitgeist here,

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Speaker 2: and it is our priority to, in addition to competing

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Speaker 2: for top talent from around the world, make sure that

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Speaker 2: we maintain that principle.

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Speaker 3: We're speaking with Commissioner Berman of the NWSL.

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Speaker 1: We've been talking.

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Speaker 3: About a lot a lot about the High Impact Player Rule.

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Speaker 3: Can you just give us an overview of it. We

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Speaker 3: should just step back for a second for people who

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Speaker 3: don't know what exactly it is.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the High Impact Player Rule is basically an extra

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Speaker 2: tranch of money that our teams are allowed to spend

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Speaker 2: or invest in player compensation beyond the salary cap. So

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Speaker 2: think of it like a second tier of the cap,

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Speaker 2: and any players who are eligible for that investment have

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Speaker 2: to meet specific objective criteria, and those criteria are designed

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Speaker 2: in a way that really connect the business with the investment.

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Speaker 2: So think of these as criteria that ensure that these

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Speaker 2: are players who will drive interest in the league, make

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Speaker 2: people want to buy tickets. Things like their performance on lead,

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Speaker 2: performance on the field, things like their recognition globally through

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Speaker 2: awards and other mechanisms that identify who are the quote

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Speaker 2: stars of women's soccer. And those are the proxies that

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Speaker 2: we have used to say, Okay, if you, as a

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Speaker 2: player meet these criteria or any I should say, any

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Speaker 2: of the criteria in that rule, we will give through

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Speaker 2: our system our teams the ability to pay those players.

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Speaker 2: Pursue into the High Impact Player Rule.

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Speaker 3: One of the things about the High Impact Player Rule

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Speaker 3: that was really interesting to me was kind of how

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Speaker 3: quickly it all came together.

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Speaker 1: It felt quick?

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Speaker 3: Did it feel quick for you because there was a

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Speaker 3: lot of key trying to keep Trinity in the league

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Speaker 3: and there was all this talk about you know, the

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Speaker 3: global market and things like that. Did it feel quick

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Speaker 3: and how did it all come together?

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Speaker 1: Really?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it didn't feel quick to us because we had

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Speaker 2: been working on it since twenty twenty three. I definitely

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Speaker 2: recognize how it would have felt quick externally, but you know,

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Speaker 2: from our ownership perspective, from the league perspective, these were

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Speaker 2: in the works and in development in different variations, in

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Speaker 2: different forms for many years, and so it did not

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Speaker 2: feel quick to us. We had to identify the right

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Speaker 2: moment in time to feel that it was the appropriate

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Speaker 2: mechanism to en clement given the circumstances and the response

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Speaker 2: to the global landscape is really what prompted us to

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Speaker 2: move forward with it. I should mention that Trinity obviously

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Speaker 2: being able to take advantage of this rule is incredibly important,

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Speaker 2: but it wasn't the only thing that we expected to achieve,

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Speaker 2: and there are other players, more announcements to come that

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Speaker 2: are going to be able to take advantage of this rule.

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Speaker 2: And we believe that this will help differentiate the league

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Speaker 2: by giving our teams the ability to be competitive with

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Speaker 2: one another and maintain the parity that we think is

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Speaker 2: really important for our competition, and give us the ability

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Speaker 2: to also attract elite talent.

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Speaker 3: Is this something that you'll look again at the CBA

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Speaker 3: when the twenty thirty comes around, because that's when the

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Speaker 3: salary cap will then be renegotiated. Do you imagine this

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Speaker 3: going away then or will just become a different part

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Speaker 3: of something that will be negotiated again.

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Speaker 2: I think will always continue to analyze whether our rules

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Speaker 2: and our policies are designed to effectuate the outcomes that

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Speaker 2: are part of our core objectives and strategy. So, whether

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Speaker 2: it's through collective bargaining or through other mechanisms that we've

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Speaker 2: negotiated into our CBA will make sure that we're positioned

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Speaker 2: to achieve our goal, which is to be the best

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Speaker 2: league in the world.

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Speaker 3: A lot of NWSL teams train overseas during the off season,

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Speaker 3: and Gotham competed in the FIFA Women's Champions Cup this year.

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Speaker 3: Didn't go as great as they hopefully imagine, but still

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Speaker 3: being able to compete in those markets is huge. Can

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Speaker 3: you tell me more about the global recognition of the

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Speaker 3: NWSL in overseas?

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Speaker 2: When I was in London for the FIFA Club Champions Cup,

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Speaker 2: it was and always is when I'm overseas, a reminder

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Speaker 2: of how well we're doing perceptionally in the global landscape.

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Speaker 2: I think we're very recognized to have a very unique

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Speaker 2: approach that is trying to balance the US way as

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Speaker 2: it relates to professional sports. With the Global Game and

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Speaker 2: a lot of other leagues look to us for best

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Speaker 2: practices and vice versa. It's an opportunity for us to

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Speaker 2: come together with the other leagues and best clubs in

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Speaker 2: the world to learn what we can do better. We

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Speaker 2: also had our Women's League Forum meeting of which I'm

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Speaker 2: the co chair, where seventeen professional leagues around the world

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Speaker 2: came together to share ideas and best practices about how

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Speaker 2: to grow the game globally. And yeah, it's a reminder

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Speaker 2: that we really do have that recogniz and we really

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Speaker 2: are leading the charge in many ways.

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Speaker 3: You know.

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Speaker 2: I think part of the challenge with Gotham competing in

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Speaker 2: that tournament is in the Global Game, each of the

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Speaker 2: leagues are on different calendars, and so Gotham was in

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Speaker 2: the middle of their off season, peeing against teams that

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Speaker 2: were in the middle of their season, and so being

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Speaker 2: in mid season form versus coming in cold from your

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Speaker 2: off season does create some challenges for us in those

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Speaker 2: kinds of competitions.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that makes sense for sure.

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Speaker 3: Are there things that when you're looking at expansion and

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Speaker 3: you're looking You've talked about this before about rolling expansion.

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Speaker 3: Are you looking at other markets it overseas to expand

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Speaker 3: inli like other North American leagues playing in Canada and

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Speaker 3: having teams in Mexico potentially.

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Speaker 2: Right now, we're pretty focused domestically. We have, I think,

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Speaker 2: by comparison, the largest country in terms of not just

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Speaker 2: the number of cities but the geographic footprint, and so

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Speaker 2: being sixteen teams for the twenty twenty six season. We

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Speaker 2: look at the other leagues as comparisons, and all of

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Speaker 2: the major leagues are thirty plus teams, and so we

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Speaker 2: think we have a lot of room for growth right

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Speaker 2: here on our own soil.

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Speaker 3: So as we wrap up here, Jessica, what are things

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Speaker 3: that we're looking for again in twenty twenty six that

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Speaker 3: you're really excited for?

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Speaker 1: You want people to be excited for.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think number one excited about the global game

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Speaker 2: coming to the US with the Men's World Cup. Given

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Speaker 2: that we are the best league in the world for

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Speaker 2: the women's game, we intend to insert ourselves into that

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Speaker 2: dialogue by having our players and our teams show up

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Speaker 2: in the markets where there are World Cup games happening,

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Speaker 2: and outside of those markets we're going to be hosting

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Speaker 2: our challenge Cup in Columbus, which is not a World

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Speaker 2: Cup city, but we know that millions of people are

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Speaker 2: going to be here and it is a massive soccer town.

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Speaker 2: They certainly punch above their weight in that way. And

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Speaker 2: so on June twenty sixth, our Challenge Cup will be there,

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Speaker 2: and we hope that if you are a fan, either

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Speaker 2: in the US or from outside the US, and you

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Speaker 2: can't find your ticket to your Men's World Cup game,

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Speaker 2: that you can enjoy the best soccer in the world

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Speaker 2: with two of our best teams from last season competing

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Speaker 2: against each other. So that's sort of the first thing

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Speaker 2: super excited about. I think we're going to find, in

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Speaker 2: addition to Denver breaking the attendance record, a ton of

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Speaker 2: amazing stories with all the incredible players who are going

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Speaker 2: to be playing in this league. We have Trinity Rodman,

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Speaker 2: Sophia Smith, and Mouse Swampson back from either injury or

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Speaker 2: having had children last year. And so for those who

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Speaker 2: were paying attention in the Olympics, which millions and millions

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Speaker 2: of people were, they were the triple Espresso who captivated

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Speaker 2: the world and helped lead the US to win the

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Speaker 2: gold medal. All of them are going to be playing

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Speaker 2: in the NWSL, and we think that that's going to

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Speaker 2: generate a ton of attention to these incredible players, and

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Speaker 2: we intend to celebrate all their stories and make sure

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Speaker 2: that everybody knows that the NWSL is back.

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Speaker 1: I'm super excited for that.

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Speaker 3: I do want to touch again on the World Cup,

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Speaker 3: like you said, because I'm glad you mentioned that the

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Speaker 3: fact that this is a men's World Cup, but it

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Speaker 3: also is impactful for you guys as well. Having a

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Speaker 3: bunch of soccer fans in these markets. Tell me how

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Speaker 3: it can impact you you guys as well, even though

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Speaker 3: this is a men's World Cup, but this is really

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Speaker 3: about growing soccer in the US.

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Speaker 1: Well.

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Speaker 2: It has always been the age old question, when are

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Speaker 2: American sports fans going to fall in love with this

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Speaker 2: global game? It is the global game everywhere else in

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Speaker 2: the world, and of course there are a lot of

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Speaker 2: competing sports here that compete at a different level than

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Speaker 2: exists in other countries. But I think a lot of

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Speaker 2: people believe this is going to be the moment where

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Speaker 2: it really cements itself as part of the cultural zeitgeist

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Speaker 2: of an American sports fan. And we believe this is

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Speaker 2: going to not only lay the tracks for the NWSL,

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Speaker 2: but also twenty thirty one, when the Women's World Cup

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Speaker 2: is actually going to be here. And I always say,

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Speaker 2: imagine a world where in nineteen ninety nine and the

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Speaker 2: US won the Women's World Cup, the NWSL existed in

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Speaker 2: its current form, the whole world would be different. That's

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Speaker 2: what we're preparing for as we look ahead to twenty

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Speaker 2: thirty one, and we're so excited about being able to

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Speaker 2: start that journey with these really incredible milestones and touch points,

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Speaker 2: not only the Men's World Cup, but of course we

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Speaker 2: have the Olympics here in twenty twenty eight, and I

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Speaker 2: think those three major events happening in the US are

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Speaker 2: really going to change the way this country embraces the

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Speaker 2: sport of soccer.

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Speaker 3: It's that same cycle of a Men's World Cup and

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Speaker 3: then a Women's and an Olympics and a Women's World

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Speaker 3: Cup all being on us, so that it was ninety four,

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Speaker 3: ninety eight, ninety nine. Yeah, and the only difference was

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Speaker 3: that the professional league wasn't here to really capture those

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Speaker 3: tailwinds in the momentum. And we're going to not let

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Speaker 3: that happen again. Absolutely, Jessica, thanks so much for talking

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Speaker 3: with us.

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Speaker 1: I really appreciate it. Thank you,