The U.S. Women’s National Team is the most successful team in international women’s soccer having won their fourth World Cup championship in 2019. Yet despite the team’s historic performance this year; and despite the international popularity of women’s soccer, much of the financial and corporate backing of soccer in the U.S. is focused on Major League Soccer and its male athletes.

This is just one example of the various challenges facing women’s sports today. There is often a perception of women’s sports not being as exciting or as marketable as that of their male counterparts; and therefore, advertisers and sponsors are less likely to support and make significant financial investments. However, the field is starting to change for Washington’s local women’s sports franchises.

This week, the Washington Business Journal published a cover story that takes in-depth look at how two of the D.C. region’s biggest women’s sports franchises – including the Washington Mystics – are making decisions and hires that signifies a larger shift to improve business operations, visibility and marketability of their teams and female athletes.

The article features MSE’s Alycen McAuley discussing her new role as senior vice president of team services for the Mystics. She is responsible for handling all elements that drives the team’s business operations, including ticket sales, corporate partnerships, marketing and social and traditional media. Alycen is a marketing veteran that joined the MSE team earlier this year. Click here to read the full cover story.