50 women who have made a positive difference to me - Sue Rodin

2022 - On the 50th anniversary of Title IX, I have been and will continue to shine a light on 50 women who have been amazing teachers, thereby affecting my sports career as well as the careers of other women and men in sport.

Sue Rodin: The power of promoting women

When we think of women promoting women, we might think of Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, or even Eleanor Roosevelt.  Sue Rodin is the sports business’ equivalent to the best of these.  Thanks to her, in 2022 there are more women in professional sports in team president positions than at any time in history. 

Women in the sports business, particularly those who have broken the C-level glass ceiling, and those striving to be there, can look to Sue Rodin, the founder of Women In Sports & Events.  She, the WISE board, and its 11-year President, Kathy Francis, along with WISE’s multiple chapters, have been the biggest promoters of women in the sports business.   For 26 years, WISE has hosted its annual awards banquet akin to an Academy Awards.  This annual event highlights a handful of sports businesswomen and their accomplishments.  I’ve been honored to be one of them. 

Sue and I met in Chicago at an American Marketing Association meeting.  In 1993 she cornered me at a sports conference to ask how I had started my own business.  She was also bothered by compensation issues in her current company and thought maybe she could start her own; I gave her some pointers.  Her curiosity as to whether she alone was going through salary inequality led her to call a meeting in a New York City restaurant where women could discuss their employment grievances.   She was astonished to see over 60 women show up, which became the start of WISE.  The individuals decided they needed to promote each other in order to land better appreciation for their work and thus better compensation.  And of course, Sue did start her own agency, Stars and Strategies, representing women soccer players such as 1999 World Cup Soccer captain, Julie Foudy. 

While Sue is still involved in WISE’s National Board and supports occasional work projects, her legacy of promoting sports businesswomen has had a lasting effect on me, owners of teams, industry leaders, and the many women in sports leadership positions today and those to follow.    

Betty Friedan said: “I find it astonishing that I have been part of a movement that in less than forty years has transformed American society -- so much so that young women today seem to find it impossible to believe that women were once not seen as equal to men.”  Sue is one reason that this has come to pass.  

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