The National Women's Soccer League

With an eye on getting back on the field, Baird created different workstreams involving staff, owners, medical experts and the NWSLPA. As she explained, it was a way to create a holistic solution: "You're tackling all these problems at the same time and you're managing the process so that you're not having to go back and iterate or start over again. That's how we got to be the first league back. We tackled it all at the same time".

First and foremost, there was a medical protocol workstream made up largely of medical professionals. They developed the Return to Play Phased Protocol that dictated when players could get back on the field. (See Exhibit 7 for Return to Play Press Release). Players had to be COVID-19 free, as well as in compliance with league, local, and state requirements to move on to the next phase.

Exhibit 7 May 25, 2020 NWSL League Update on Return to Play

The finance workstream figured out how the league would pay its players' salaries – a problem largely solved by the PPP government loan – for whatever kind of season the NWSL pulled together. In applying for the PPP loan, Baird spent six hours filling out the online paperwork. She uploaded 1,000 pages of supporting documentation, including players' physical therapy bills. She submitted the application the first day the paperwork was accepted and received funds from JP Morgan within 10 days. The league used every penny to pay non-allocated players. The finance workstream also proved instrumental in picking up three new NWSL sponsors: Google, Verizon, and P&G/Secret. The league made money through sponsorships, broadcasting/media deals, expansion, and licensing (Exhibit 8). Sponsorships represented the bulk of revenues at 40%, followed by broadcasting. In early 2020 when Baird became commissioner, the NWSL had two sponsors: Nike, which had been the league's exclusive sponsor of athletic wear and equipment since 2013, and Budweiser, which became the league's first official beer sponsor in 2019.

Exhibit 8 League and Teams Revenue Breakdown

There was a workstream dedicated to competition format. Since COVID-19 disrupted the 2020 schedule and shifted league priorities, the NWSL needed innovative format ideas. As Liz Dalton, managing director of competition and player operations said, "We would select one, build it out, vet it. And then we'd see we needed to pivot a bit and we might start over". One early option: go ahead with a regular, but delayed, season. Based on the work done by the medical protocols team, however, league leaders quickly rejected this idea.

The host city workstream shouldered the responsibility for finding options for where the league could play. The location needed to be safe and home to adequate training and living facilities for players and coaches. The players workstream kept the NWSL Players Association (NWSLPA) and its members in the loop and addressed their questions and concerns about returning to the field. There was also a childcare workstream. As Baird noted, "I wanted a solution for moms to bring their kids. There's no mom in the world that's going to leave her kid home for a month during a pandemic".

The social justice workstream discussed how the league wanted to support the Black Lives Matter movement and involved the players, the front office, and global sponsor Nike in the process. The NWSL would be the first league to return to play after the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer who pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.ii The league's Board of Governors and Baird spoke weekly, sometimes daily, by phone. Together, based on options or potential solutions presented by the workstreams, they made the critical decisions on what eventually became the Challenge Cup. "The biggest mechanism that was used was the Board of Governor's meetings to make decisions," said Baird. "We iterated with them and we got feedback". As part of that process, the Board of Governors unanimously agreed to pay all players and extend their health insurance for the entire year, even if they didn't play in the Challenge Cup. "That's an act of boldness and courage by our owners, and they don't get enough credit for that," said Baird. "Then, you have the boldness and courage of the players".