These Women Executives In Sports Are Innovating, Advocating, And Empowering Future Leaders

As interest in and excitement around women’s sports continues to grow, women in leadership positions at sports leagues across the country are stepping up to the plate to take advantage of the momentum and create lasting sports legacies for women athletes.

With this in mind, we’ve pulled together a list of women executives in sports who are leading the way for the future of women’s sports.

Anderson has served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer for the National Football League since 2019, where she oversees the NFL’s partnership divisions and is responsible for all media sales for the NFL Network and NFL Digital Media. She’s spent 17 years working with NFL and was named to the Sports Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Hall of Fame for the impact of her work: NFL sponsorship revenue quadrupled under her leadership and closed previously-elusive deals with Procter & Gamble, Microsoft and McDonald’s.

Anderson has been an advocate for making space for women to work in sports, telling CNBC that the biggest obstacle hindering the growth of women’s sports is the “need to do a better job of weaving in the message of [women’s] greatness when highlighting the greatness in men’s sports.”

Since 2017, Davis has headed initiatives that focus on gender equality, LGBTQ+ issues and outreach to nonwhite communities for the league. According to Crain’s, she’s also tasked with fostering an inclusive approach to NHL programs “such as Future Goals and Learn to Play, designed for young players in disenfranchised communities.” She has been recognized as No. 1 on Sportsnet’s 2021 list of the “25 Most Powerful Women in Sports,” one of Sports Illustrated’s “100 Influential Black Women in Sports,” and Adweek’s “30 Most Powerful Women in Sports.”

Jessica Berman has served as the commissioner of the National Women’s Soccer League since 2022, following a career as a labor and employment lawyer where she helped to negotiate the end of the 2003-2005 National Hockey League lockout, held high-ranking positions with the NHL and became the first female deputy commissioner of a men’s professional sports league with the National Lacrosse League, according to CNBC.

Berman was named to CNBC’s inaugural Changemakerse list in 2024, after taking the helm following allegations of emotional and sexual misconduct among several NWSL teams. She has since worked to transform the culture of the league by implementing the league’s first collective bargaining agreement, issuing lifetime bans on four former coaches, and landing a $240 million media rights deal with major streaming and cable partners.

Cathy Engelbert has served as the first-ever commissioner of the Women’s National Basketball Association since 2019, where she has worked to improve visibility of women’s basketball by establishing a historic collective bargaining agreement and working to capitalize on the growing interest in women’s basketball following Iowa women’s basketball phenom Caitlin Clark’s meteoric rise to fame. Last year, Engelbert announced a potential $2.2 billion, 11-year media rights deal that could signal significant future growth for the sport.

Engelbert has been listed as one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women, is one of Fast Company’s Most Productive People and has been named to Forbes’ 50 Over 50 list.

Jayna Hefford has served as the senior vice president of operations for the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) since August 2023, following a career as one of Canada’s most decorated Olympians with five Olympic hockey medals.

The PWHL held its inaugural season this year with six teams averaging nearly 5,500 fans per game. The league secured sponsorship deals with more than 40 companies and has been honored as the sports breakthrough of the year by Sports Business Journal.

Marcoux Samaan has served as the ninth commissioner of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) since 2021, following a career in sports that led to her serving as Princeton University’s Ford Family Director of Athletics, where she developed a holistic athletic performance initiative and was named Athletics Director of the Year.

In her time with the LPGA, she has committed to using the sport as a platform to inspire and transform the lives of girls and women on and off the golf course. Marcoux Samaan described the LPGA mission’s five pillars NBC Sports designed to improve player services and building the fan base.