The National Women’s Soccer League has been on a recent tear—locking in significant revenue increases via its new media deals, signed last fall, and enjoying the bounce provided by Willow Bay and Bob Iger’s purchase of a controlling stake in Angel City FC, which values the franchise at $250 million. Of course, the Olympic women’s team gold medal victory in Paris, watched by 9 million people—the most viewers since the Athens Games in 2004—further enhanced the sport’s profile.

A lot of this growth has taken place under NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman, who announced last week that the league had signed a new labor deal a full two years before the current one expires—and one that offers some unusual quirks, like ending the draft. Berman, a former employment attorney at Proskauer, cut her teeth in the sports business by working on labor deals before moving in house at the NHL for 13 years. I sat down with her last week to discuss the unusual and historic negotiations.