Danita Johnson made historical past as the primary Black govt to guide a Main League Soccer (MLS) membership when she was appointed president of D.C. United in December 2020.
Earlier than her present position, Johnson had labored for years in basketball with the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks and the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers. Throughout her time with each organizations, she realized what operational excellence within the enterprise of sports activities appears to be like like.
“Working in the WNBA and NBA family, you’re going to get some of the best of the best business practices,” Johnson stated throughout a mainstage interview on the Fortune COO Summit in Middleburg, Va., on Monday.
Johnson stated her most up-to-date position because the president and chief working officer of the Los Angeles Sparks was extremely related to MLS as a result of each leagues are amid a serious rise in reputation.
“The business itself, nonetheless, sat in a very similar spot where it needed transformation, where it needed change and growth opportunities—specifically with the World Cup coming in 2026,” Johnson stated, evaluating the WNBA to MLS.
Each leagues had been based virtually 30 years in the past, however have lived within the shadow of extra well-liked sports activities. For the WNBA, it was males’s basketball and the NBA. In the meantime, the MLS struggled as a result of soccer will not be among the many most adopted sports activities within the U.S.—though that’s beginning to change.
MLS groups are drawing in file crowds which can be typically too giant for their very own stadiums to accommodate. On Monday, the league introduced an all-time attendance file of greater than 11 million followers over the course of the common season. Fan attendance can function an vital bellwether of the league’s reputation as a result of it factors to the truth that followers are prepared to pay to interact with the MLS.
“Having surpassed our record attendance with 16 matches left to be played in the regular season is a testament to the incredible momentum behind MLS and how we continue to push the boundaries of where we can go as a league,” MLS govt vice chairman and chief membership efficiency officer Chris McGowan informed Fortune in a press release.
Success for MLS
These attendance numbers are additionally translating to hovering valuations for franchises. As of Might, D.C. United is valued at roughly $775 million, in keeping with Forbes, an 11% improve from the 12 months earlier than.
For Johnson, the important thing to sustaining that development is infusing the membership with a wholesome dose of know-how. Throughout her main-stage interview, Johnson talked about her intentions had been to make use of know-how for data-driven advertising and marketing to section and attain totally different followers and to make use of enterprise software program like Asana and Tableau for challenge administration.
“In our world, it’s very interesting, because we go B2B and B2C, back and forth, all the time, between dealing with fans and dealing with brands,” she stated.
To develop the viewers within the U.S. and in Washington, D.C., extra particularly, Johnson is eyeing Black American shoppers. Whereas they could be sports activities followers on the whole, they aren’t as accustomed to soccer. Most younger youngsters in America expertise soccer as one thing they performed once they had been very younger, however they could not know the way to progress past that to attempt to attain the professionals, Johnson stated.
How the participant improvement system works in soccer is extra sophisticated than different sports activities. “Right now, it’s very clear when it comes to the NFL or the NBA, how you get [to the pros], how you make money, how it grows your career,” Johnson stated.
Simplifying the method might help get American youngsters enthusiastic about soccer. And when that occurs, it’ll in the end yield long-term advantages for the entire MLS.
“If we have more kids playing soccer at a high level, we’re going to develop our own stars in the U.S. When we develop our own stars in the U.S., the sport will continue to grow,” Johnson stated.
