The National Women’s Soccer League announced Lisa Baird will be its new commissioner, the league announced on Feb. 27. Per the official press release, Baird will be responsible for overseeing all operations for the league and NWSL Media with “a focus on growing revenues and audiences while elevating the profile of the league globally.”
“We are thrilled to name Lisa as the commissioner of the NWSL,” NWSL Executive Committee Chair and North Carolina Courage Owner Steve Malik, per the release. “Her impressive background at the forefront of sports and commercial business for some of the most iconic properties worldwide will be instrumental to the future success and growth of the league.”
Baird and other candidates were discovered via partnership with Nolan Partners. A committee that included a representative from each NWSL club conducted in-person interviews with each candidate and ultimately unanimously decided on Baird.
Before joining the NWSL, Baird was with New York Public Radio, serving as the chief marketing officer for over a year. She oversaw sponsorship, membership and marketing endeavors.
Baird also has a decade’s worth of experience as chief marketing officer at the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee before NYPR. She was responsible for securing broadcast, sponsorship and licensing deals. Baird is responsible for the “Team USA” brand.
“As a long-time fan of the game and the players, I am excited to be joining the league at this time,” Baird said, per the release. “The NWSL has tremendous positive momentum and a clear path towards growth.”
Baird served as the senior vice president of marketing communications at IBM from 2000 to 2005. There, she managed marketing communications in over 70 countries. Afterward, she moved on to become the senior vice president of marketing and licensing for the National Football League in 2005. In three years, she launched NFL Play 60 and expanded the league’s licenses, striking first-time deals with Nike, Under Armour and Fanatics.
In 2011, she was named the WISE Woman of the Year for “making a significant impact on the business of sports” and was named in the 2011 Sports Business Journal’s inaugural class of “Game Changers: Women in Sports Business.” Other accolades include being named to the 2016 Business Insider Top 50 Most Innovative Global CMOs and, most recently, being named an OpCon Top 50 Marketer.
Baird graduated from Penn State University with a master’s degree in management, marketing and statistics from the Smeal Business School. Her first six years post-school were spent at the Proctor & Gamble Co., focusing on brand management. From 1990 to 2000, she experienced a variety of managerial responsibilities, as she oversaw iconic Fortune 500 companies like Johnson & Johnson and Bristol Myers Squibb Company.
As the director of marketing at e-GM, she introduced digital firsts to the auto industry as part of General Motors’ first Internet business-development initiative.
“Among the extremely talented finalists we saw, Lisa had the right combination of experience and leadership, which immediately captured the board,” said Mike Golub, president of the Portland Thorns and a member of the commissioner-search committee, per the release. “Lisa’s stellar accomplishments with some of the most successful properties in our industry…[made] her the best person to steward the league’s next phase of growth.”
In addition to her new post with the NWSL, Baird currently serves as an independent director on the board of GK/Elite Sportwear and Fox Racing, Inc. Her first day with the league is March 10.
For more on the NWSL, its ins and its outs, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
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