The Houston Dash took a significant step forward when the team announced that Jess O’Neill would join the Club as the President for the Dash. The position, which did not exist up until this point, is a vital one for helping both grow the team and the role of women’s soccer in the city of Houston in general.
O’Neill, who comes to the Dash after serving as the Director of Marketing and Communications for Charlotte FC, started with the Dash just over a week ago, having stayed in Charlotte to help oversee their MLS-attendance record breaking opening game.
Now that she has had a chance to dive into her new role with the Dash, she sat down for an interview on the City of Soccer podcast, where she discussed topics such as the role she envisions for herself within the organization and the future of women’s sports.
Regardingthe role that she plays with the Club, Jess says that her priorities are twofold.
“As far as what I’ve been tasked to do, it’s player experience and the fan experience. Both are vital to operate successfully and they’re very different in what they need and where they are in this stage right now,” O’Neill said. “So excited to work on both of these things. They’re going well right now and my job is to improve them as much as we can and watch what happens after that.”
That mandate to focus on player experience and fan experience is not one that she takes lightly. O’Neill was brought in by Houston Dynamo FC majority owner Ted Segal because he understands the importance of women’s soccer, and this is one step that he could take towards helping the sport become as big as possible.
“(This hiring) signifies Ted and the ownership group’s vision on where they see women’s soccer going. I think it’s no secret across the country that the growth potential is absolutely massive,” O’Neill said. “So to take a position and have it dedicated on the Dash and the work that it should be essentially says ‘We want in on this and we want somebody thinking about this full time – eating, sleeping, breathing, living the Dash and what the NWSL here locally can be.’ So it’s a testament to the vision they brought in, and they’re executing on that in many facets so far – this is one of them.”
Of course, eating, sleeping, breathing and living the Dash also means that O’Neill will be intimately involved with PNC Stadium, and making sure that the Dash’s home provides the best possible experience for fans as possible. Coming from someone who just helped open up a new expansion franchise in Major League Soccer to a record crowd of 74,479, this is one area that O’Neill has proven to be successful in. For her, this starts with making PNC Stadium a destination for Houstonians.
“The biggest piece of it when you talk about filling the stadium and getting people out, is controlling what we can control on the business side is operation as close to 100 percent as it can be and is new and unique and different. So spending a Saturday night with the Dash or with Dynamo at PNC Stadium is worth the money, the time, the travel - understand all of that adds up and all of that factors into oh do we just stay home tonight? Or do we go do something different?” O’Neill said.
Being different is clearly a key concept for O’Neill as she sets out on this journey with the Dash. She wants to bring something new to the table, and hopes that in doing so, she can help grow the Dash, the NWSL, and herself.
“I was not going to leave what I was doing if it was the same thing in Charlotte but somewhere else. I needed there to be something new and let me grow professionally and personally and this is that,” O’Neill said. “I do think that when you look at the bigger leagues that are out there, there’s a little less room to experiment, ideate and create new things and sort of set your own path. And when you look at the NWSL, there’s an opportunity to do that and I couldn’t say no to that. So, that’s why I’m here.”
O’Neill will attend her first Dash game this weekend, when the Dash take on the Chicago Red Stars on Sunday, March 20th at 6 p.m. to open their 2022 Challenge Cup slate at PNC Stadium.
