Danita Johnson made historical past as the primary Black govt to steer a Main League Soccer (MLS) membership when she was appointed president of DC United in December 2020.
Earlier than her present function, 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 discovered what operational excellence within the enterprise of sports activities seems like.
“Working within the WNBA and NBA household, you’re going to get a few of the better of one of the best enterprise practices,” Johnson stated throughout a mainstage interview at Fortune’s COO Summit in Middleburg, Va. on Monday.
Johnson stated her most up-to-date function 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 recognition.
“The enterprise itself, nonetheless, sat in a really related spot the place it wanted transformation, the place it wanted change and progress alternatives—particularly 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 document crowds which can be typically too massive for their very own stadiums to accommodate. On Monday, the league introduced an all-time attendance document of greater than 11 million followers over the course of the common season. Fan attendance can function an vital bellwether of the league’s recognition as a result of it factors to the truth that followers are prepared to pay to interact with the MLS.
“Having surpassed our document attendance with 16 matches left to be performed within the common season is a testomony to the unbelievable momentum behind MLS and the way we proceed to push the boundaries of the place we will go as a League,” MLS govt vp and chief membership efficiency officer Chris McGowan instructed Fortune in a press release.
Success for MLS
These attendance numbers are additionally translating to hovering valuations for franchises. As of Could, DC United is valued at roughly $775 million, in accordance with Forbes, an 11% enhance from the 12 months earlier than.
For Johnson, the important thing to sustaining that progress is infusing the membership with a wholesome dose of know-how. Throughout her mainstage interview, Johnson talked about her intentions had been to make use of know-how for data-driven advertising to phase and attain totally different followers and to make use of enterprise software program like Asana and Tableau for undertaking administration.
“In our world, it’s very fascinating, as a result of we go B2B and B2C, backwards and forwards, on a regular basis, between coping with followers and coping with manufacturers,” she stated.
To develop the viewers within the U.S. and in Washington, D.C., extra particularly, Johnson is eyeing Black American customers. Whereas they could be sports activities followers typically, they aren’t as accustomed to soccer. Most younger children in America expertise soccer as one thing they performed after they had been very younger, however they could not know how you can progress past that to try to attain the professionals, Johnson stated.
How the participant improvement system works in soccer is extra difficult than different sports activities. “Proper now, it’s very clear in the case of the NFL or the NBA, the way you get [to the pros], the way you generate profits, the way it grows your profession,” Johnson stated.
Simplifying the method will help get American children enthusiastic about soccer. And when that occurs, it’ll in the end yield long-term advantages for all the MLS.
“If we now have extra children taking part in soccer at a excessive degree, we’re going to develop our personal stars within the U.S. After we develop our personal stars within the U.S., the game will proceed to develop,” Johnson stated.
