Danita Johnson says a decade’s worth of experience working in the WNBA instilled grit and a “day-to-day scrappiness” in her. Today, as the first Black president of a Major League Soccer club, she’s operationalizing her wealth of knowledge to guide D.C. United’s front office to greater heights. Hear Johnson speak about how not taking no for an answer enabled her to boldly take on leadership challenges—setting attendance records in the process.
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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.