Women in Sports summit bring in women leaders across sports

CINCINNATI — The national spotlight is on up-and-coming young professionals in Ohio.

The Forbes Under 30 event has taken over Cincinnati this week celebrating young professionals who are change-makers in their field. This year, they’re showcasing a new event to highlight women in sports.

Whether it’s the Caitlin Clark effect or the popularity of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team, it’s no secret women’s sports is having a moment. With the possibility of having a NWSL team in Cincinnati, the excitement for women’s sports is only growing. For professionals in the business, they’re hoping to keep the momentum going.

“I think a lot of people saw investment in women’s sports and women’s soccer specifically, in the past as a charity,” said Cindy Parlow Cone the president of U.S. Soccer. “‘Oh, it’s just a good thing to do,’ but now people are really seeing that as a good business idea as well. And they’re seeing great ROI on their investment in women’s sports.”

Forbes Under 30 has found a home in Ohio the last few years.

“We’ve had a great partnership with Jobs Ohio. We’ve been taking this event across the state last year was Cleveland, next year’s Columbus,” said Moira Forbes, the executive vice president of Forbes. “It’s a chance for us to really go deep in these really fascinating cities where there’s so much economic dynamism and really interesting things going on.”

The event hosted speakers from all facets of women’s sports, from players, to executives.

“We wanted to align our inaugural Forbes Women in Sports Summit with under 30, because it’s really an opportunity to look at who are the change-makers of today and how are they empowering the next generation of leaders and female athletes?” Forbes said.

Including women in the soccer world who are pushing the envelope.

Tori Huster helped create a historic collective bargaining agreement for the NWSL players (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)

“We’ve pushed for higher standards, higher compensation,” said Tori Huster, the president of the NWSL Players Association. “All of that has been a tremendous amount of work. A lot a lot of things have gone into that. A lot of conversations have been had about the best way to go about that. But I think it really boils down to just wanting to see the sport of soccer grow and grow for women to.”

For the President of U.S. Soccer, it’s a perfect time to see the sport grow, and she’s eager to see if Cincinnati becomes home to the next professional women’s soccer team.

Women’s soccer is one sport that has seen a lot of growth in the U.S. (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)

“I think the U.S. Soccer Federation and our women’s national team and even our men’s national team playing in Cincinnati, helps the men’s professional team and hopefully soon to be women’s professional team, joining the NWSL, I think,” Parlow Cone said. “It’s symbiotic, and then their fans and viewership help us when we come to their city.”

Cincinnati is one of the final cities being considered for the next NWSL team, along with Cleveland. While no official timetable has been released on the announcement, it is expected before the end of the year to begin preparing for the 2026 season.