With credentials capable of making any executive jealous, Kim Ng became the first woman in Major League Baseball to interview for a general manager's position when she did so with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2005. During eight years as an assistant general manager with the Yankees and Dodgers, Ng helped assemble teams that made five trips to the playoffs and won three World Series championships. But Ng lost out on the Dodgers job to Ned Colletti, an assistant GM with the San Francisco Giants, prompting mixed feelings.
"There was everything from disappointment, to gratefulness I got an opportunity, to maybe it's not my time yet, to something's going to happen at some point," said Ng. "Hopefully, something happens sooner rather than later. I understand what it takes to put together that [championship]-caliber team."
Ng, who currently serves as Dodgers vice president and assistant GM, also understands she faces unique challenges trying to reach the top of the team management ranks in men's professional sports. While the top jobs with sports teams are difficult for anyone to earn, anecdotal and statistical evidence show women confront even greater obstacles.
"You have to prove yourself every day," said Ng. "Everything you say that relates to baseball on the field or your opinion of a player, there's a shadow of a doubt, and shadow is being optimistic. It gets frustrating. You get tired of it sometimes."
In the 35 years since Title IX legislated an equal playing field for female athletes, women have competed in professional US basketball and soccer leagues, enjoyed celebrity athlete status, and filled seats in arenas across the country. With few exceptions, however, women's increasing participation and interest in sports have not translated into positions of power with major pro US teams. But as franchises grow into larger corporate entities, women may find more job opportunities, if not organizations open to more inclusiveness.
"I don't think there's any reason why young women who have analytic skills can't break in and move ahead," said Ng. "You read about all these young guys in the game today who are researchers, who are analytical like [Red Sox general manager] Theo [Epstein], [Arizona Diamondbacks GM] Josh Byrnes. That's why it's puzzling to me why we haven't progressed at a quicker rate."
Ng was speaking about the lack of women in team management with responsibility for scouting, developing, and acquiring players. While more women occupy the higher ranks of team business operations, the numbers still lag behind most of corporate America.
Breaking it down
An analysis of staff directories from the 122 franchises comprising Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, National Football League, and National Hockey League revealed 10.8 percent of vice president positions or higher were filled by females. Subtract the women in non-revenue-producing departments (media/community relations, special events, human resources, and legal), which typically do not make decisions affecting the team, and the number plummets to 6.2 percent. Women like Ng and Yankees vice president and assistant general manager Jean Afterman, and Phoenix Suns vice president Ann Meyers Drysdale fill only 2.1 percent of team management positions. By comparison, women occupy 16.4 percent of corporate officer positions - vice president or higher - in Fortune 500 companies.
While leagues and teams monitor minority hiring practices (the NFL adopted the "Rooney Rule" in December 2002 requiring organizations to interview at least one minority candidate for head coaching vacancies), the gender gap is easily overlooked. As Americans debate whether a woman is qualified to run the country, male professional sports teams may become the final frontier for women's leadership.
Amy Trask, Raiders CEO; Jeanie Buss, Lakers executive vice president of business operations; Jamie McCourt, Dodgers president and vice chairman; and Janet Marie Smith, Red Sox senior vice president of planning and development stand out as top-ranking female team executives and rare businesswomen who exercise significant influence. After all, the revenue-generating departments of a franchise unavoidably influence the product on the field.
"Many people assume I'm a business person who happens to work for a football team," said Trask. "That's not my view. I'm tremendously passionate about the game of football . . . I have oversight responsibilities for the business operations of the franchise, and our business is football. I believe everyone who works for a sports organization has an impact on the team."
But some sports team employees have more opportunities to make an impact than others. When Trask accompanied Raiders owner Al Davis to the NFL owners' meetings for the first time in 1992, she was the first woman to attend the gathering. Undoubtedly, her presence rankled other team representatives accustomed to the proverbial old boys' club. By inviting Trask, Davis opened a door to the sports team inner sanctum women have trouble entering.
Among high-ranking female team executives, Trask is far from alone in attending top-level meetings. Several female team executives interviewed for this story recalled meetings where being far outnumbered by men resulted in their recommendations being ignored or, even worse, being ignored themselves. While such experiences are not unique to the sports world, the male-dominated culture of MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL teams can exacerbate the challenges women face when attempting to advance, particularly when seeking team management positions.
"There actually is research in sports that it takes a higher standard of performance on the part of a woman to be seen as equal to a man with a lower standard of performance," said Wellesley psychology professor Linda Carli, co-author of "Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders."
"There's lingering doubt about a woman's ability to do [the job], but it's not like you have a gene for understanding who makes a good baseball player. That's ridiculous."
Buss, daughter of Lakers owner Jerry Buss, added: "I'm not a basketball person. I could take my skill set and work for any sports and entertainment company. I admire any woman that can break into that scouting, contract negotiations area because that's a very difficult area to break into, to gain respect, because there is some thought that unless you played the game at the professional level, then how can you judge talent? I don't agree with that at all, but I don't know if there will ever be an even playing field for women in that area.
"You can point to many examples where a great Hall of Fame player can't translate into the front office. You see it time and time again."
Getting foot in the door
Women in sports organizations can face difficulties at every turn when networking, acquiring new skills, or finding/creating an environment receptive to female leaders. Meanwhile, sports teams often find themselves caught in a tricky numbers game. Since not all women who played sports at a high level or who enjoy Sunday afternoon NFL games aspire to run a team, professional franchises generally start with a smaller female applicant pool. Playing catch-up is not easy for either side, though teams have further to go.
"[Sports teams] are probably 10-20 years behind the rest of the industries," said Bruins senior VP of sales and marketing Amy Latimer. "This industry is primarily dominated by former athletes that played the sport. You see them as GMs or presidents or coaches."
The longstanding, popular perception has been that men involved in college and professional sports naturally develop the skill set needed to build teams and manage franchises, though that thinking has changed slightly in recent years. At the very least, they develop connections that open doors to jobs with professional teams.
While women follow different paths to the top, many gained entry into major professional teams indirectly, working as general counsel or running arena operations. A common refrain by women who reached VP positions or higher was that, once inside, they consistently sought opportunities to broaden their skill set.
Even though Latimer attended the University of Rhode Island on a basketball scholarship, she parlayed her experience and connections in politics into a job with the FleetCenter, then moved to the Bruins.
A college softball player and coach, Ng brought valuable computer knowledge to her first baseball job as a Chicago White Sox intern, starting on a career path toward general manager that she admits might not have been open to her otherwise.
Patriots VP of marketing operations Jennifer Ferron, the highest-ranking woman with the local NFL team, started managing events and promotions for the Revolution, then assumed those same responsibilities for the Patriots and proactively expanded her role.
Lynne Meterparel also rose through the ranks of the Revolution in marketing and crowd building before the Kraft family tapped her to serve as San Jose Earthquakes GM in 1999. She left San Jose after the 2000 season, and currently teaches history and is a lacrosse and field hockey coach at Proctor Academy in Andover, N.H.
"Women can't really come up through the team side because there are no real positions there," said Meterparel, who became the youngest GM in MLS history at 30 and the first female appointed to the role outright. "The locker room positions really are not open for females. So, you need to know the business of sports.
"The opportunity is there, but the crack of opportunity you have to widen by knowing more than anybody else. You have to be so qualified that they can't turn you down. You also have to address it and say, 'I know I'm a woman, but I'm qualified for these reasons.' "
Sports as business
When it comes to placing more women in top-level executive positions with sports teams, some catalysts for greater opportunity already appear in place. Most significantly, the way sports teams do business is changing. As franchises operate more like major corporations with increasing streams of revenue, they look to hire executives with business experience. As analytics play a greater role in talent evaluation, organizations require team managers who can systematically crunch numbers. The more identifiable the skills necessary to succeed with a sports team, the easier it becomes for any potential applicant to enter a sports organization, especially women.
But former Women's Sports Foundation CEO Donna Lopiano believes lasting institutional changes take place "in response to lawsuits" and "public embarrassment." If that is the case, then the recent victory of former Knicks senior VP of marketing and business operations Anucha Browne Sanders in a sexual harassment suit against Knicks coach Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden should create a ripple effect in the sports world. Browne Sanders, however, has doubts her victory marks a first step toward closing the gender gap.
"So much of this is about leadership, what type of leadership you have in the organization, and what leaders will accept as part of the work environment," said Browne Sanders.
Shortly after the résumé of a young female architect crossed his desk in 1989, then Baltimore Orioles president Larry Lucchino pushed aside a rejection letter awaiting his signature and scheduled an interview. Lucchino was impressed with Smith's experience, though none came in sports. Curious about Smith's familiarity with baseball, Lucchino opened the interview by asking, "Which league has the designated hitter rule?"
"I'm offended by the question," said Smith.
In many ways, it was the answer Lucchino wanted; he valued the easy, jocular confidence shown by Smith. Since that interview, Smith has followed Red Sox CEO/president Lucchino to Yawkey Way and become one of the most powerful women in Boston team sports.
Without progressive owners and open-minded team leaders, like the Krafts and Lucchino, in place, it's unlikely changes in the way sports teams do business will close the gender gap significantly. Patriots president Jonathan Kraft and Lucchino both emphasize the importance of hiring the best person for the job regardless of gender, looking for talent, energy, and unique skills. Lucchino saw those qualities in Smith where others in the Orioles organization didn't. Kraft saw those qualities in Meterparel and promoted her.
"We don't think in terms of man or woman," said Kraft. "It's like our other businesses. All that weighs into the equation is whether someone can do the job proficiently."
But the statistics show far from all sports franchises follow what sounds like common business sense. Regardless of the league, some teams create a more inclusive environment than others. Each sport had its fair share of teams without any women in high-level executive positions and teams with women in multiple high-level executive positions.
"I love that there are women involved in all aspects of our operation," said McCourt, who is the highest-ranking female executive in MLB and married to Dodgers owner Frank McCourt. "But what I love the most is that they're good examples of leaders who can get the job done. That's what's going to make things change."
So far, few women have received an opportunity to get the job done at the top in major professional team sports. When more women do, perhaps the last frontier for women's leadership will be truly opened.
Shira Springer can be reached at springer@globe.com.
