# How I Built Resilience: Lisa Baird of National Women's Soccer League

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2021-03-18
- Length: 30m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-03-18-how-i-built-resilience-lisa-baird-of-national-womens-soccer-league

## Summary

Lisa Baird, commissioner of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), explains how she navigated the league's shutdown just two days into her tenure when the pandemic hit. She details the creation of a 'bubble' in Utah for the Challenge Cup tournament, securing PPP loans to pay players, and implementing rigorous medical protocols to achieve zero COVID cases among 550+ people. Baird also discusses leveraging the tournament's success to secure major sponsors like Procter & Gamble and Verizon, aiming to close the media coverage gap for women's sports.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-03-18-how-i-built-resilience-lisa-baird-of-national-womens-soccer-league#t=0) Introduction: Lisa Baird and the NWSL Shutdown
- [1:24](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-03-18-how-i-built-resilience-lisa-baird-of-national-womens-soccer-league#t=84) The Decision to Suspend Operations
- [6:40](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-03-18-how-i-built-resilience-lisa-baird-of-national-womens-soccer-league#t=400) Securing PPP Loans to Pay Players
- [9:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-03-18-how-i-built-resilience-lisa-baird-of-national-womens-soccer-league#t=588) Designing the Utah Challenge Cup Bubble
- [13:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-03-18-how-i-built-resilience-lisa-baird-of-national-womens-soccer-league#t=780) Medical Protocols and Testing Logistics
- [17:34](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-03-18-how-i-built-resilience-lisa-baird-of-national-womens-soccer-league#t=1054) Broadcast Partnerships and Sponsorship Growth
- [24:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-03-18-how-i-built-resilience-lisa-baird-of-national-womens-soccer-league#t=1483) Media Coverage and Pay Equity Challenges
- [28:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-03-18-how-i-built-resilience-lisa-baird-of-national-womens-soccer-league#t=1735) Lessons on Resilience and Leadership

## Topics

- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Marketing & brand](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/marketing-and-brand)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Policy, trade & tariffs](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/policy-trade-and-tariffs)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- National Women's Soccer League (company)
- Challenge Cup (product)
- U.S. Bank (company)
- NBA (company)
- JP Morgan (company)
- Small Business Administration (company)
- CBS (company)
- Twitch (company)
- Procter & Gamble (company)
- Alex Morgan (other)
- Real Salt Lake (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Rooting for the Home Team with Paul Freedman and Bryan Carmel](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2026-05-27-rooting-for-the-home-team-with-paul-freedman-and-bryan-carmel) (Oxide and Friends)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-03-18-how-i-built-resilience-lisa-baird-of-national-womens-soccer-league. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to How I Built This.