00:00Welcome, Danita. Thank you so much for joining us at the Fortune COO Summit.
00:05Thank you for having me. Absolutely. All right, Danita, as Kristen already alluded
00:09to, you spent years at the WNBA, president COO of the WNBA Sparks. You've
00:14also worked at the NBA. You've now made this pivot to soccer, kind of an
00:20unconventional path. Talk to me about the skills and learnings you developed while
00:24in basketball and how it translates to your current role. Yeah, I think one of
00:28the things working in the WNBA and the NBA family, you're gonna get some of the
00:31best of the best business practices. How you build your teams, the sharing of
00:36practices, those things from the foundational pieces in that league have
00:41made it what it's so great and what you see and as the NBA season's about to tip
00:45off and we're in the midst of WNBA playoffs. So when I think about the MLS
00:48and part of the transition is, MLS was sitting in a very similar state of where
00:52WNBA was. When I joined the MLS, they're at year 26, similar to where the WNBA is.
00:59They're at like 28 now, going on 30. So the business itself for the MLS sat in a
01:04very similar spot of where it needs transformation, where it needed change
01:09and growth opportunities, specifically with World Cup coming in 2026. To your
01:13point, WNBA has seen this huge surge of interest right now. When I think about
01:17soccer, globally it's quite popular. Within the US, historically, it hasn't been as
01:21popular as other competing sports. When you joined DC United roughly four years
01:26ago, what were your focus areas? What were the pain points at the time? Yeah, I
01:30think part of the focus was reestablishing the business as a whole,
01:32reestablishing practices from a business that put us in the best class. We needed
01:38to, when I came in, it was right after COVID. So during that standpoint, we needed to
01:41hire, restructure from an internal standpoint. I think I put my COO hat back
01:45on and think about how do we operationalize this business quickly,
01:49knowing what we have coming ahead in 26. So it was reestablishing our
01:53partnerships, understanding structure from the inside, building a new team to
01:56go along with that, to really drive the business forward and start to engage.
02:00Yeah, let's break this up into three chunks because when I see people with
02:04roles like yours, especially when they're coming in in the early days and it's
02:08very nascent, I say, where on earth do you begin? So talk to me about the
02:12beginning, the middle and the end stage of operationalizing this process. Yeah, I
02:17think one of the biggest things in the beginning is building trust. People
02:20don't really move for you or they don't really react in different ways unless
02:23they have a sense of trust. So I really live off of three C's. It's the simple
02:27form that I've learned over the years of going in and helping to transform
02:29businesses, consistency, commitment and communication. So in the first stage of
02:34that is consistent behavior by me as a leader, how I show up each day, how I work
02:39with my team each day. That consistency really helps to drive a mimic of
02:43behavior and trust between myself and the team. The communication is learning
02:47from them, the different communication styles, building on their style versus my
02:51style. How do we match? How do we find on middle ground? Once we start to build
02:54that communication funnel, it's really then the commitment to the work, right?
02:57So we've been consistent how we work, we're communicating well, and we have a
03:01level of strong commitment to build the business and move it forward. So those
03:04are like the phases of like how we start to really go. And then from there you
03:08have that first year to two years and you're looking at like the small
03:12problems, right? And you're strategizing for the longer-term problems at
03:16the same time. And where do you get your big wins? In years three to five, I'm
03:20really, and that's kind of where I'm sitting with my club currently, is okay
03:23we've been here, we've been in this, we've been in a rotation. How do we transform
03:26and go even to the next height? And so at this time it's do you have the right
03:30people? You know, we have those quick changes in the beginning. Now that you've
03:33had your team with you, it's re-evaluation. Do we have the right
03:35people? Are we using the right strategy? And is it building towards a long term
03:38for us? And now I sit and get ready for the next five years. It's taking it to
03:43the next level. Those big ideas. Implementation. Making sure that the
03:46structure we built underneath is strong enough to support the change in which we
03:49want to create. You consider, well you first of all say that you're very
03:53people-first and I want to know what that means in practice. You also say that
03:57you're a systems thinker, as you think about efficiency. What does that look
04:01like in practice? Can you share any anecdotes? Yeah, what a people-first is, is
04:04I need people to move with me, right? We can all stand here and say and understand
04:09our practices, but my people-first is making sure I'm investing in their
04:13development, creating connection with them, and helping them grow skills to be
04:17better at their business. And so examples in that is developing courses, bringing
04:21in speakers, creating access to conferences and events so that they're
04:24developing personally. So that's my people-first aspect and how I really try
04:29to dive into that. For the other areas, it's really about that next step of, I
04:35think you asked me about the, what was the next one you asked me? Systems. Systems
04:39minded. So the systems come in because as I develop the people, they need systems
04:43to work within. So what are our processes that really help them actually be able
04:47to execute what I'm asking for? So I really try to look at different systems,
04:51whether it's the implementation of project management tools like Asana,
04:55Tableau that's giving them data visualization so they can keep track of
04:59what's flowing for them. I think in our world, it's very interesting because we
05:03go B2B and B2C back and forth all the time between dealing with fans to
05:08dealing with brands. And so it's a combination of building a system around
05:11that of communication, what the platforms are, and kind of creating a streamline
05:15for them there. Yeah, you kind of touched on this. I want to zero in a bit more
05:18just in terms of how you are leveraging tech platforms, CRMs, to enhance front
05:23office productivity and some of the results you've seen thus far. Yeah, I
05:27think for us it becomes, we actually start to learn our consumer, right? That's
05:32the key. So for our staff. And your consumer, how would you decide
05:36determine your consumer for DC United? Yeah, we have a couple of different, we
05:39have like two to three different types of consumers that we really look at. We
05:42look at somebody that is family oriented. We look at family that's going to be
05:46like our primary. They take up a big bulk of our base. The next we have the
05:51entertainment seeker. So somebody that's just looking for fun activities, things
05:55to do, hang out with their friends, whatever it may be. They're always
05:57looking for experiential aspects. And then we have our soccer enthusiasts, our
06:02purists. Our purists are the ones that really love the sport beginning to end,
06:07whether it's MLS. There's typically a differentiation in between those that
06:10watch like the European Soccer Leagues versus MLS. It's two different types, but
06:15those soccer enthusiasts really do help drive us. And so you're able to leverage
06:19technology to be able to? Yes, so then we can create actual dynamic experiences
06:25for them and how we communicate direct to their needs through automation, through
06:30different platforms or email platforms and communication that really make sure
06:33that everything that we do is tailored to have that voice and tone of that
06:38consumer and the work that we do. Yeah, perfect segue. Under your leadership, DC
06:43United has seen, or I should say has hit new attendance records. So congrats on
06:49that. As you think about how you mint new fans, are you focused locally,
06:53internationally? What's the thinking there? And it's also quite interesting
06:57because I'm a DMV native. So I know DC is quite diverse, you know, a thriving
07:03black population, one that's quite affluent as well. So just how are you
07:06thinking about minting new fans? Yeah, I think for us, it's meeting them where
07:09they are. And I think for us in the US as well, it's many when we talk about
07:13like, I'll talk specific to the African American audience, right? A lot of our
07:16African American audience doesn't necessarily experience soccer in the
07:19same way beyond maybe a three to five age year when their kids are playing
07:22when they're very young. A lot of that has to do with the systems and the
07:25processes of how you elevate to a professional level, and what that looks
07:28like. So one of the things that we work on is a pathway to pro. So people from
07:33diverse communities have a better understanding of actually how does the
07:36system work to play at the highest level? Because right now, it's very clear when
07:41it comes to the NFL or the NBA, how you get there, how you make that money, how
07:45it grows your career. And NIL has added a whole new layer to that for so many
07:49folks. And MLS and soccer, there's multiple layers, the opportunity to go
07:53play overseas, the opportunity to stay in the States. And really educating on
07:56that, I think can actually help more play. And if we have more kids playing
08:00soccer at a high level, we're going to develop our own stars in the US. When we
08:04develop our own stars in the US, the sport will continue to grow and have a
08:08higher propensity to succeed in the US, similar to what you're seeing overseas.
08:13Let's look to the future. DC United ranks among the most valued MLS
08:16franchises, an estimated value of $775 million. Where does future growth lie?
08:22Where do you see opportunities to really optimize and streamline business
08:27processes as you move forward?
08:28Yeah, I think for us, it's going to be through technology. I know there's been
08:32a lot of conversation around that. I think creating operational efficiencies
08:36through technology. You know, our seasons are long, things go back to back, it's
08:39really fast moving. The more that we can integrate that to know the consumer, to
08:43have touch points with the consumer that are very personalized, the more you will
08:47walk in here and be like, I feel like Danita and Johnson and DC United are
08:50talking directly to me, then we're doing our job.
08:54Well, as I said already, I'm a Maryland native. We don't have our own sports
08:57team. DC is our sister city. So I have a new sports team to support. Thank you so
09:02much, Danita, for this insightful conversation.
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