RALEIGH, N.C. — Whether it's the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), the NCAA women's basketball tournament, or the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), there's a growing support for women's sports and female athletes, sweeping the country at an incredibly fast rate.

Both female athletic stars and younger girls looking to compete at the highest levels are achieving things few could have imagined just 10 years ago. One of the people ushering in this change, and creating meaningful support and opportunities for women everywhere, is NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman.

Although she's just two years into her tenure as leader of one of the fastest growing sports leagues in North America, it has been nothing short of spectacular. Attendance is up 26% at games across the country from 2022. USWNT legend and former OL Reign player Megan Rapinoe drew 34,000 fans for her final NWSL game last season.

The number of matches with an in-person attendance of over 10,000 has doubled from 2022 to 2023, and just last year, the NWSL announced a new media rights deal with CBS Sports, ESPN, Amazon Prime Video and Scripps Sports, spanning four years and worth $240 million. The deal is 40 times larger than the previous NWSL media rights agreement, signaling nothing but positive growth. In 2023, NWSL games on CBS, as part of its prior media rights agreement with the league, reported a one-year increase in viewers of 41%, with a streaming audience on Paramount+ growing by an unbelievable 83%.

"We are now in 14 markets across the United States, and I believe we're the biggest professional women's soccer league in the world," Berman said in a one-on-one conversation with Spectrum News 1.

"I think it's a combination of hard work and being in the right place at the right time. I think in 2024, for this country, and for the world, [we're] really primed to embrace the future, including women," Berman said regarding how the growth of the NWSL has been made possible. "It's from the boardroom and executive leadership to sports, which really tends to be the microcosm of how we think about society issues and challenges. It's not just for young girls. I have two young boys who have become massive NWSL fans, and they think of it as their top fandom, along with the NBA and NFL and the NHL and the Premiere League."

However, there are still hurdles Berman is trying to get over that she is consistently working toward as the league continues to grow. A larger salary cap for teams in the league, further expansion into additional cities, higher pay and a higher league minimum salary for players are still priorities.

In the MLS, the senior roster budget for 20 players is $5.47 million. In 2023, the minimum salary for a player in the MLS was about $67,000. In the NWSL, the minimum salary in 2023 was $36,400. The salary cap for 2024, which has grown substantially compared to previous years, is now $2.75 million. A more equitable pay for female athletes is wanted and needed as the game and league only grows more and more. 

"When it becomes embedded in the social consciousness and the cultural relevance of how people think about sports and society for both boys and girls, it really begins to reshape what the opportunities can be for this as a business, which is what we're seeing drive the growth of this league," Berman said.

The league made history this season by opening CPKC Stadium, as the Kansas City Current opened their 2024 season in their own new home stadium. The $120 million complex is the first stadium purposely built for a women's professional team in the entire world.

This season, the league welcomed in two new teams, the Utah Royals and Bay FC (located in the San Jose area of California). By 2026, Berman is expected to welcome in a Boston-based team, just four years after bringing in Angel City FC and the San Diego Wave FC. That doesn't even include a 16th team Berman has yet to decide on, since pitches by different investor groups are still being made.

"We have to grow our revenues, and we've been really clear about our strategy to build a business and to build a model that is sustainable for the future," Berman said. "We don't want to be thought of as a charity or philanthropy, which means as we level up compensation for our athletes, we have to at the same time, level up our sources of revenue and build our business. And that's why our media deals are so important. That's why our sponsors are so important. And it does allow us to cultivate the next generation of talent here and to have players, like I'll add to your list, some of those who are local and in North Carolina, like Ashley Sanchez, who just cames from the Washington Spirit, who is one of our stars here in the country."

Berman's points are valid. Stars like Sanchez are making more, especially with a higher salary cap and new media rights deals. However, when a $240 million deal is made for TV rights for the league, and the salary cap for each team is under $3 million, issues arise.

NWSL star Maria Sánchez, 27, plays for the Houston Dash, and in 2023, was the highest paid player with a deal worth $1.5 million. Her three-year contract has a mutual option to extend to 2027. In the MLS in 2023, three of Charlotte FC's top players, forwards Karol Świderski, Kamil Józwiak and Enzo Copetti, combined to make $4.3 million in base salary and $4.6 million in guaranteed compensation.

Since the Women's World Cup in 2019, a study by Forza Football found that 77% of 1,000 respondents said their interest in women's soccer has increased. However, growth in just the NWSL is not enough for Berman. She also announced the formalization of a Women's League Forum, a group of 16 international professional women's leagues that will work together to share information and policies that can develop teams and leagues, based on how the NWSL has found success in recent years.

The 2024 NWSL regular season concludes in November with the championship game taking place on Nov. 23.