- Sunday’s Panthers-Raiders game marks the first time two female presidents will face off in professional football.
- Carolina Panthers President Kristi Coleman and Las Vegas Raiders President Sandra Douglass Morgan are the only two female presidents among the 32 NFL teams.
- The NFL has made great efforts in recent years to increase gender diversity within its ranks.
When the Carolina Panthers face the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, it will be a historic first for the National Football League.
This is the first time two women presidents have faced off in professional football. The two leaders represent a small but growing class of women in the NFL’s management ranks, and they are the only two women presidents of the league’s 32 teams.
“I’m really proud of this moment,” Carolina Panthers president Kristi Coleman told CNBC before the game. “It shows that you can be anything if you put in the work.”
Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper (center) and president Kristi Coleman listen as Dave Canales speaks to the media during the Carolina Panthers head coach introductions at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina on February 1, 2024.
Colemanwho has a background in finance, was named Panthers team president in February 2022 after serving as vice chairman and chief financial officer of Tepper Sports & Entertainment. Hedge fund founder David Tepper owns the Panthers.
Sandra Douglass Morgan was named president of the Raiders by owner Mark Davis in July 2022 after more than two decades in gaming, law and business.
Douglass Morgan said the moment was not lost on him.
“We want to celebrate the fact that these are revolutionary new moments, but at the same time, we’re doing our job, like any other league president, and making sure we’re running the day-to-day business operations,” Douglass Morgan said.
The NFL has made great efforts in recent years to increase gender diversity within its ranks.
Last year, Women made up 42.5% of NFL front office employeesa record high and “a significant improvement from a decade ago, when only 29.3 percent of women held these positions,” according to the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport.
The league says it has 243 women in leadership positions.
On the ground, the numbers are also increasing.
According to the NFL, there are currently 22 women in full-time coaching positions in the league. The league says that’s a record for a men’s professional sports league and a 187 percent increase over the past five years.
As part of the growth and development of this pool of women, the NFL organizes an annual event Women’s Forum. Since its launch in 2017, more than 400 women have gone through the program and more than 250 opportunities have arisen for women at all levels of soccer, according to the league.
Douglass Morgan said women’s interest in the NFL has been growing for years and hiring a more diverse employee base is key to connecting with those new fans.
“As our fan base becomes more diverse, I think our employee base should be as well,” she said.
As the league looks to make soccer another growth area for the sport, Coleman and Douglass Morgan say it’s another way for women to get involved in the game.
Today, the NFL flag football program has more than 700,000 participants and offers women the opportunity to play in college.
Sandra Douglass Morgan (L) and owner and general partner Mark Davis of the Las Vegas Raiders pose with a jersey after a news conference introducing Douglass Morgan as the new president of the Raiders, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on July 7, 2022.
Douglass Morgan and Coleman both say their teams’ owners have done everything they can to make them feel welcome in the league.
“Mark Davis always said, ‘Sandra, I don’t care if you’re white, black, whatever, I hired you because you’re the best person for the job. You’re the best person to lead the Raiders,'” Morgan told CNBC.
For women looking to break into male-dominated sports leagues, both executives advise having confidence in your ability to learn new things and not being afraid to bet on yourself.
“You have to do your job, the job that you have, and you have to do it well so that people can imagine you in the next job. And then I would say be kind and also believe in yourself,” Coleman said.
“Don’t let them see you sweat,” Douglass Morgan said. “When there’s only two of you out of 32, you know, maybe we’re under more scrutiny because we’re the minority here. Make sure you have a good group of people around you to support you through the challenges that come your way.”
