The Builders Behind the Boom

When people talk about the rise of women’s sports, the spotlight tends to shine on the athletes: Caitlin Clark draining logo threes, Alyssa Thomas dishing no-look assists, or Sophia Smith celebrating a game-winner. But off the field, a quieter revolution is gaining momentum. That movement is led by women turning leagues into businesses and attention into value.

The real engine behind women’s sports becoming a billion-dollar industry is the group of architects behind the scenes. Executives, agents, investors, and strategists, nearly all of them women, are constructing the infrastructure, visibility, and financial models that make leagues sustainable. They are not just part of the movement. They are designing the system.

This article tracks how a select group of business builders is reshaping the women’s sports economy by replacing scarcity with scale.

Jessica Berman and the NWSL’s Strategic Reinvention

In 2022, Jessica Berman took over the NWSL at a low point. The league was experiencing leadership turmoil, player abuse scandals, and eroding trust. Yet within two seasons, she helped reforge the league into one of the fastest-growing properties in U.S. sports. A former NHL and National Lacrosse League executive with a legal background, Berman quickly set a course for accountability and stability. Once those priorities were in place, she turned toward growth.

Her leadership resulted in the league’s first collective bargaining agreement, the addition of new franchises (including Bay FC with a record expansion fee), and a four-year, $60 million media rights deal with Amazon, CBS, and ESPN. Attendance rose to an all-time high average of 10,100 fans per match, and sponsorship revenue more than doubled in a single season.

What sets Berman apart is not just her turnaround strategy. It is her insistence on building long-term value through labor equity, market expansion, and investor alignment. Compared to the more centralized, top-down structure of MLS, Berman’s NWSL model prioritizes club empowerment and local market customization. That shift is reshaping women’s soccer and also serving as a case study in adaptive sports governance.

Rebranding the WNBA: From Parity to Power

For years, the WNBA was framed as a side-by-side counterpart to the NBA. That comparison failed to capture the league’s distinct identity. A new generation of women marketers is changing that narrative. They are not asking for parity. They are amplifying what makes the WNBA powerful in its own right.

Colie Edison, the league’s Chief Growth Officer, has led a series of brand overhauls. These include campaigns like “More Than Basketball” and “Count It,” which center the league’s social leadership, fashion influence, and entrepreneurial spirit. Google, Nike, and ESPN have become cornerstone sponsors, underwriting visibility campaigns that boosted national TV broadcasts by more than 20% in 2023.

The WNBA’s digital strategy has been retooled to appeal to Gen Z and women-first sports communities. As a result, the league’s following grew to 4.5 million across platforms. Edison’s team also restructured the merchandise offerings. Generic gear was replaced with limited-edition drops, fan-customizable kits, and athlete-driven apparel partnerships. These moves generated a 36% increase in merchandise sales over the prior year.

Unlike the NBA’s global mass appeal, the WNBA is crafting an identity grounded in intentionality. It is community-first, socially aware, and unapologetically modern. This branding pivot, executed by women in leadership, has moved the league from undervalued to in demand.

The Power Brokers: Agents as Story Architects

Beneath every major women’s sports headline is a deal. Behind many of those deals is Lindsay Kagawa Colas. As Executive Vice President at Wasserman, Colas represents Brittney Griner, Sue Bird, A’ja Wilson, and others. She is securing contracts, building brands, and crafting public narratives.

When Griner returned from detainment in Russia, Colas curated her media presence. She connected Griner with sponsors like Puma and helped frame her story around athlete diplomacy and activism. With Sue Bird, Colas facilitated a transition from Hall of Fame basketball career to media and entrepreneurial powerhouse. She co-founded TOGETHXR and negotiated brand partnerships that expanded Bird’s post-playing identity.

What distinguishes Colas and her peers is their approach to value creation. They do not just maximize earnings. They build equity. Many of their clients are now co-owners, investors, or brand founders. In contrast to the agent-athlete model common in men’s sports, this model is collaborative, long-term, and culturally aware.

Agents like Colas are not simply representing athletes. They are transforming the economics of representation itself.

Capital Catalysts: Women Investing in the System

While star power fuels headlines, capital builds infrastructure. Increasingly, women are controlling both. Monarch Collective, co-founded by Kara Nortman and Jasmine Robinson, invests exclusively in women’s sports. Their approach is structural. They fund clubs, support sports tech, back media entities, and build scalable models for audience engagement.

Their flagship investment, Angel City FC, attracted over 19,000 fans per match in its inaugural season. The club secured more than $11 million in sponsorship revenue. By 2024, it was valued at $180 million. This was not just about ticket sales. It was about storytelling, community design, and consistent brand experience.

The Players’ Impact, founded by Angela Ruggiero, connects female athletes with ownership and entrepreneurship opportunities. In 2023, the group helped WNBA players acquire stakes in NWSL franchises. It also invested in Just Women’s Sports, a fast-growing digital media platform that has more than tripled its audience in two years.

These groups differ from legacy venture capital in both structure and intention. Instead of chasing fast exits, they are investing in system change. Their goal is to reallocate power and ownership toward the women who are shaping the next era of sport.

Measuring Growth: From Undervalued to Unignorable

Just ten years ago, women’s leagues were treated as charity cases or developmental feeders. Today, they are recognized as investable assets. According to Deloitte, global revenue for women’s elite sports is projected to surpass $1.3 billion by 2024 and $2.35 billion by 2025.

In the U.S., growth is even more dramatic. NCAA women’s basketball drew 12.3 million viewers for the 2024 championship game. That total surpassed the men’s championship for the first time. The WNBA broke records in both viewership and merchandise sales. The NWSL added 27 corporate sponsors and dramatically expanded its digital media footprint.

Compared to male leagues of similar age such as MLS or early-era UFC, women’s leagues are showing faster sponsorship growth, higher digital engagement, and quicker international traction. That pace reflects both cultural relevance and strategic execution.

Brands have responded accordingly. Nike is committing more than $30 million to women’s performance and lifestyle activations. Ally Financial has pledged equal media spend across men’s and women’s properties by 2027. These are not public relations plays. They are deliberate business decisions.

Final Takeaway: A Blueprint in the Making

Women’s sports are no longer an afterthought. They are an economic frontier. The leaders shaping this new landscape like Berman, Edison, Colas, Nortman, and others, are not adjusting old models. They are building a better one.

These women are challenging outdated assumptions about who runs sports. Their leadership style is cooperative. Their business model is inclusive. Their goals are expansive but grounded in data and performance.

For readers interested in getting involved, several entry points exist. Just Women’s Sports, The Players’ Impact, and Monarch Collective all offer ways to support, invest in, or amplify women-led sports ventures.

As Colie Edison said in Front Office Sports, “We’re not asking for handouts. We’re proving, with every metric, that investing in women is just smart business.” The metrics back her up. The infrastructure is in place. And the future is being built with purpose and precision.