Borislow ExhibitF

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Exhibit F


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[ P R INT ]espnW.com: More Sports

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

New WPS boss Jennifer O'Sullivan ready for kickoffB y B eau D ure

Jennifer Pogorelec O'Sullivan didn't grow up playing soccer, nor has she held a leadership role with asoccer team or organization.

Yet the new CEO of Women's Professional Soccer has relevant experience to draw upon. She worked forthe Arena Football League when it faced difficult times, with a tiny staff and owners pulling in differentdirections.

A few months after O'Sullivan started at the AFL, the indoor football league called off the 2009 seasonand declared bankruptcy. The employees were dismissed and top bosses quit.

"I became one of the last two remaining employees," said O'Sullivan, who was the league's vice presidentof legal and labor affairs.

She worked out of a New York office while another employee worked out of Chicago, sticking with theleague until the assets were sold and the league was relaunched out of an office in Tulsa, Okla.

Compared to the AFL's year of inaction and bankruptcy, the WPS picture entering its fourth seasonseems downright rosy. And yet a little familiar. The front office is mostly virtual, and owners are stillseeking the best way forward.

O'Sullivan sought the WPS position for the challenge of working through complex issues and having ahand in all aspects of league business.

"What I loved about my job at the Arena Football League was being involved in all aspects of the ArenaFootball League business," O'Sullivan said. "... The NFL has their labor lawyers and IP [intellectualproperty] lawyers -- everyone is very siloed in the bigger leagues in what they focus on. At the ArenaFootball League, we didn't have that luxury, so you get thrown into everything. We worked in everyaspect of the league's business."

"

There's tremendous opportunity to be a part of something greater and larger -- to promotesoccer in this country, to promote women's soccer, to provide a place for these very talentedwomen to play is important.

" -- Jennifer O'Sullivan

And she's willing to go through it again?

"I'm willing to go through it again," O'Sullivan said with a laugh. "There's tremendous opportunity to be a

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part of something.greater and larger -- to promote soccer in this country, to promote women's.soccer, toprovide a place for these very talented women to play is important.

"It's extremely important to provide that inspirational and aspirational boost for young women in thiscountry."

But O'Sullivan didn't come to WPS to impose the AFLIMLS business model. She has not yet spoken to

MLS commissioner Don Garber, who as former head of NFL Europe shares O'Sullivan's background innontraditional football, though she hopes to share ideas soon.

For now, O'Sullivan is tackling her new challenge out of a home office, occasionally checking in at theNew Jersey offices of WPS team Sky Blue. WPS, born in the Bay Area, went without a physical officelast year, and O'Sullivan expects to travel a good bit to check in with teams and fans.

"Within the next year or so, I'd like to establish some physical space for us, particularly here on the EastCoast, which I think makes more sense for us being that we are primarily an East Coast league,"O'Sullivan said. "I think we'll retain some presence on the West Coast, as well."

West Coast fans, though, will likely need to wait at least another year to have a team. The bulk ofexpansion talk has shifted from 2012 to 2013, though O'Sullivan and the owners are holding the dooropen a little longer for next season.

"There's an outside chance that maybe one group may be able to come in," O'Sullivan said. "But thereare a lot of moving parts when you're talking about bringing an expansion team in. We're operating undera compressed time frame in order to be prepared for 2012."

That expansion would most likely be in Connecticut. Terry Foley, former general manager of thePhiladelphia Independence, announced Monday. on his Twitter feed that he has accepted a technicaldirector position with a new Connecticut franchise, "assuming they join WPS in 2012."

Independence owner David Halstead, reached by text message, raved about Foley but couldn't yetconfirm that Connecticut expansion was a done deal.

"They are a strong candidate, but we are working with the group to confirm entry," Halstead said.

Even without expansion, O'Sullivan expects the league to continue with the six teams it had in 2011.That includes magicJack and owner Dan Borislow, who feuded with the league and went to court over aproposal to begin termination proceedings.

"Dan very much wants to be a partner in this league," O'Sullivan said. "We're working with him on aninternal resolution of issues that took place this past season and working toward a better understandingof how our six owners can work together for the betterment of the league going forward."

The other offseason question mark has been Boston, which has been searching for a new majorityinvestor. While the team has not announced a resolution, it has proceeded with normal offseasonbusiness, selling season tickets and re-signing players.

Last year, the six WPS teams took several different approaches to their business. Borislow andmagicJack were the most extreme example, devoting very little to marketing and signing as much talentas possible. Like Borislow, the expansion Western New York Flash loaded up on talented players andprominently advertised the owner's primary business: Sahlen's, a meat company known mostly for hot

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dogs. The Atlanta Beat went with an inexperienced roster that managed just one win and seven goals allseason.

O'Sullivan recognizes the owners' diversity.

"I think every market is different," she said. "Every market is going to have different issues and differentfmancial concerns. I don't think what works for David in Philly would necessarily work for Joe Sahlen in

Western New York. I don't think being exactly the same in each market is going to help them or be goodfor them. But there's a certain amount of being on the same page with respect to what the overallfmancial or business model should look like. They're working on refming that."

The resurrected AFL brought its remaining owners together by borrowing a page from Major LeagueSoccer's business model, going to a single-entity structure in which the league has more control overplayer personnel and other team matters.

"The Arena Football League had a difficult time with their ownership group trying to get on the samepage with respect to the path that the league should follow," O'Sullivan said. "It was a difficult job to tryto get all of that ownership group on the same page with respect to a single-entity model. There was a

group that believed strongly in it. They were eventually the group that bought the league's assets out ofthe bankruptcy."

Could a previously fractious league like WPS move to a single-entity structure?

"There's defmitely an openness and a willingness to talk about it and consider it as a possibility,"O'Sullivan said. "Single entity is a pretty complex structure, and there's a lot of implications from afmancial perspective. It's a very lengthy process. I don't think that our ownership group is willing to closethe door on anything that might help with their model, but I don't know I can say for sure we'll go downthat path. I can say we're considering all options."

Halstead agreed: "We're still in the infancy of the league, we're still growing it, refming and improving it,and we're looking for ways to ensure a long-term and prominent presence. Anything that helps us dothat, we'll do."

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Equalizer Soccer - New WPS CEO talks 2012 vision Page 1 of 5

WPS TRANSACTIONS ABOUT PARTNERS WOMEN'S WORLD CUP GUIDE

T H E nt S O U R C E f U RW OM E N 'S iP R u m s ID N A L S O C C E R :N E W s

, WPS USWNT NCAA Women's World Cup Internationa

New WPS CEO talks 2012 visionJEFF KASSOUF OCTOBER 24, 2011 o

Jennifer Pogorelec O'Sullivan was recently appointed as WPS CEO, taking over for former CEO Anne-

Marie Eileraas on September 26. O'Sullivan recently took the time to talk about how it has been settling into

her new job and touched on a few things to expect from WPS in 2012. Most notably, all six 2011 teams are

expected to return next season. A Connecticut team could join, but nothing has been finalized. WPS will

look to go west in 2013. Also the No.1 sponsorship goal is securing a league-wide apparel, equipment and

footwear sponsor to replace Puma. Here iswhat she had to say:

Jeff Kassouf: How has it been adjusting to your new role with a virtual office?

Jennifer Pogorelec O'Sullivan: It's been great. The owners, certainly having them in the same time zone

as me has been great. I think I've been able to connect with them just about daily on a lot of things and to

know what is going on in their individual markets. I plan to visit each of them, to visit their facilities and meet

their coaches and staff, so that is great to know that they are right in my backyard. Being able to operate

virtually as far as a league level goes with the staff in San Francisco, the time zone makes it a lit tle bit

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Equalizer Soccer - New WPS CEO talks 2012 vision Page 2 of5

difficult but certainly not too much because everybody is working hard and kind of working around the clock.

The staff has been wonderful and I have plans to visit them in San Francisco as well. I've met just about

everybody so far. It's worked out pretty well so far. I can't say there have been too many bumps in the road.

JK: What was it that appealed to you about the position and WPS in general?

JPO: There are a number of things that were appealing when I got the opportunity. I am a lawyer by trade.

That is my background. The opportunities to use my legal background and my law degree in an alternative

way where I can be more involved in the business side of sports was more appealing to me. When I was

with the Arena Football League, part of what I loved about my job there was as the legal counsel in a small

league, you necessarily get involved in just about every aspect of the league. And so again, I have the

opportunity to do that here and that is what I really love. Being in a position where I can deal with people

and talk with current partners, potential sponsors and our ownership and really have that day-to-day contact

with people is something that I really enjoy.

Then there is also the fact that I have worked in male-dominated industries and male sports most of my

career, so to be able to be part of a women's game and promote the game of women's soccer in this

country is something is really appealing to me. There is a tremendous opportunity for growth in the country

for the sport and the women's game in particular, that to be a part of building that and helping it succeed is

something that was really appealing to me.

JK: What is the update on Boston and magicJack, two teams that are in fluid situations?

JPO: As we stand right now, we are all six teams that are moving forward and looking forward to the 2012

season. Boston is very close to finalizing their ownership - securing the 100 percent of funding that they

need. They have every intention of going forward in 2012, so that is great. As far as magicJack goes, the

owners have internally been working with Mr. (Dan) Borislow, on solving some of the issues that took place

last year. So we are just excited to move forward with everybody and as of today it is working out that way.

We are excited about it and we are just looking forward to next season.

JK: With the talk of a potential Connecticut team, is there concern about that affecting the Boston

Breakers?

JPO: I don't think so. I think it isjust another great soccer market and there is an opportunity for a built-in

potential, if that were to occur. I think we look at it as a positive market for us, certainly not the other way

around.

JK: What is new on the CBA and Players Union front?

JPO: We are continuing to talk and negotiate with the union on potential issues and a potential CBA going

forward. I am sure you can appreciate that we can't talk about many details with that, but part of my goals

coming in were to kind of cultivate my own relationship personally with the union folks and work to establish

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that so we can continue with the talks that we have already started and we are continuing to do that with

them.

JK: Puma has been a big supporter of the league. I know you cannot talk specifics of conversations

being had, but is a league-wide gear supplier the only option or could it come to putting that task on

individual teams?

JPO: The goal obviously is for the league to secure thai sponsorship. Ifwe got to a point where we weren't

able to, we would certainly look at other options, but obviously that is our No.1 priority and our No.1 goal

when it comes to sponsorship, is for the league to secure that apparel and equipment and footwear

sponsor.

JK: There is one year left on the Fox Soccer deal. Is the league looking to do anything differently

with its broadcasts to enhance them and make them more visible, especially with MLS no longer on

Fox Soccer beginning in 2012?

JPO: Obviously it is something we have been hearing a lot from our fans and we take that very seriously.

So we are always looking for ways to get more of our games out there and to provide opportunity for fans to

view the games. So that is certainly something that we are constantly talking with Fox Soccer about and

trying to figure out other opportunities for fans to watch. We listen to what our fans are telling us and so that

is one of our priorities as well.

JK: How about regional broadcasts? Can those engage more fans locally?

JPO: Yeah, I think we will definitely look to try to build that out if we can.

JK: Taking an Olympic break poses a similar challenge to this summer's World Cup, but the

Olympics fall even later in the season. Is there any worry about how that will affect fan interest?

JP: I think we are looking at it in terms of it being very similar to World Cup. We are strongly considering

taking that brief break to allow the players to compete with the national teams without missing club games

and also allow the WPS teams to field the best possible teams without having to compromise their line-ups.

We are certainly not looking at it from a negative standpoint. We are looking at it from a positive standpoint,

tobe ableto allow our players to do that and then transition back in with their WPS clubs.

TAGS Featured POSTED IN Analysis,WPS

About the author: Jeff Kassouf View all posts by Jeff Kassouf



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Add Anita Asante and Carolyn Blank to Sky Blue

FC's list #VVps

and more. Thanks for bearing with us as we transitionthe site into its new and improved state.

WNY Flash with 10 currently known on the roster,

Boston with nine, Sky Blue FC with three. Many

more announcements coming soon I'd bet.

@pipey21 Ah, thought I had them in there. Good

catch.

@madisonroad Thanks.

Follow me on Twitter

Copyright 2011 - The Equalizer. All rights reserved.

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Borislow ExhibitF

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Transcript of Borislow ExhibitF