Last month was busy for Manhattan Beach resident Kim Williams. The Denver Broncos picked up Peyton Manning and Tim Tebow was traded to the New York Jets. Then New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton was suspended for a year for bounty violations.
“It was a tremendously newsworthy week, and we’re in March,” said the Chief Operating Officer of the NFL Network, with bright, kind eyes and a contagious smile. More than 6.5 million fans tuned in to the network’s coverage of the NFL Scouting Combine.
Williams manages the network’s cable assets and oversees its west coast office of more than 300 employees.
On Friday, Williams will speak at the South Bay Conference for Women, presented by the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce and Women in Business.
“When Kim walks into a room, it just lights up. She just absolutely commands the attention of everyone in the room,” said Sarah Perahia, who helped plan the conference. “I was excited that she had such a high position in a male-dominated industry.”
Actually, last month wasn’t much different from any other month for Williams.
“It’s unbelievable to me how insatiable the appetite is of our fans, and how much there really is to talk about,” she said, while sitting in her Culver City office, filled with football paraphernalia.
Six years worth of lanyards hooked onto all-access, game-day passes hung on the back of her door, among signed footballs and helmets in glass cases.
“You know something is broadly appealing if CNBC and Bloomberg are covering football news,” she said.
The NFL Network is the only venue for 24/7, non-stop football news.
“ESPN can’t spend their entire, year-long TV schedule talking about the NFL. Thave a lot of other mouths to feed – they’re an all-sports network,” she said. “We can provide insight, provide content and provide fans something other people can’t do.”
Right now, that means covering the path to the draft.
“One of things the NFL has done very well is to ensure parity on the field. That means that every team has a chance to win the big game every year. It doesn’t matter if you finish last or first, or anywhere in between – you have an equal chance of being in the Super Bowl the next year,” she said. “Part of that is building the roster of the players.”
Stanford fans may know Andrew Luck, a potential number one draft picks Williams said, but her job is to introduce him and other potential players to all the fans. “Fans care about how their team’s going to build its roster,” Williams said. “We have experts who’ve played the game, who’ve analyzed the game; we do a lot of news, opinion and analysis during the time leading up to the draft.”
Williams previously served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for the NFL in New York, where she was responsible for the league’s financial activities.
In 2009, she was instrumental in launching NFL RedZone, a game day channel airing touchdowns and action-packed moments on the field, as they happen. “It’s very much complimentary to the full game experience,” Williams said. “I know a lot of people who will watch NFL RedZone because, in and of itself, it’s an exciting way to watch games. Maybe their team’s not playing and they’ll stumble upon a game that they wouldn’t have tuned into naturally.”
In February, Williams was named one of Women in Sports and Event’s Women of the Year.
Williams hasn’t always worked in the football industry, although she’s kept her eye on sports teams from her hometown of Philadelphia. “Growing up, you’re not from Philly if you’re not a sports fan,” she laughed.
When she was a teen, her father’s job took her to Italy, where she attended high school in Milan and Rome. She returned to the United States she studied Japanese and Asian studies at Connecticut College and spent a study year abroad in Japan.
People told her that from a business perspective, she was smart for studying Japan and Asia. But for Williams, that was just a coincidence. “My education was not rooted in career planning, whatsoever It was purely rooted in a personal interest,” she said.
She continued to hop around the world after receiving her MBA from the American Graduate School of International Management. She worked for General Electric in London and Florence, and NBC in New York and California.
Nearly a decade ago, Williams received a call from a headhunter. The NFL was looking for a Chief Financial Officer and someone to help launch the NFL Network.
“I will admit to you, I was a little, ‘Me? I don’t know anything about the sports business.’” She’s been with the league now for almost nine years.
Williams often forgets she’s a woman in a male-dominated field.
“It shouldn’t matter. In great organizations, it doesn’t matter. And women should be mindful of not making it matter. If I make it matter, it’s my issue,” she said.
“Knock the ball out of the park. Have mastery in your craft. Be good at what you do,” she said. “People want to surround themselves with people who are doing good things. It doesn’t matter, your gender, the color of your skin.”
Williams believes that there are characteristics among women in the workplace that the world could use more of. “One of the reasons I’m good at my job is because I kind of have my finger on the pulse of what’s going on. And why do you think that it happens? Because I know what’s going on, people tell me. Why do people tell me? Because they’re comfortable talking to me,” she said. “That’s a characteristic that women are good at, making people comfortable, talking about stuff that may be uncomfortable.”
The South Bay Conference for Women will be held on Friday, April 13 at the Torrance Marriott, 3635 Fashion Way, Torrance. 7:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tickets are $115 for adults, $75 for students. To register, visit mbwib.com.
