The new NWSL commissioner is Lisa Baird, a respected sports business leader who has had tenures as the chief marketing officer of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and as a senior VP of marketing and licensing for the NFL, SI has learned.
The league’s commissioner job had been vacant for three years since Jeff Plush stepped down in 2017.
“I’m excited,” Baird, who’s leaving her job as CMO of New York’s WNYC radio, told SI in an interview. “I’ve met most of the owners or reps at this point through what was a pretty rigorous interview and selection process.