Danita Johnson, the current president of business operations for D.C. United and Audi Field, has always considered sport a “connective tissue” to every piece of her life.

Growing up, Johnson’s father was in the Army, causing her family to move around a lot. No matter where she called “home” at the time, Johnson always felt connected to a community through sports. She’s carried that love for sports throughout her career working in multiple leagues, leading her to Major League Soccer.

But, her first love was basketball. She played in middle and high school, and then her first sports job was in the NBA G League. After years working in the G League, Johnson was hired by the WNBA’s Tulsa Shock. These experiences eventually led her to being named the president and chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Sparks.

It was the perfect opportunity for Johnson to blend her love of sports and business together.

“What made it fun for me on the business side of it, it was the ability to build systems and to really help to operate a business, while at the same time, having financial impact on the growth,” Johnson said in an interview with Newsweek. “That was my fun off the court version of being a leader in sport.”

Johnson helped build up the WNBA at a time before the current wave of interest in the league as she left the Sparks in 2020. She wanted the league to get more of a spotlight, and her contributions helped attract the attention it has now.

“What the W taught me was how to build where people necessarily didn’t have that demand at first,” Johnson said. “It was an ability to tell a story, to drive connectivity, to build a league one seat at a time. Through that, it taught me about patience.”

Her biggest takeaway from working in the WNBA is acknowledging how significant loyalty amongst fans and the league is. Fans need to want to come back and support the team financially and socially.

“I learned the importance of fan experience when I was in the W because you learn that fans come back when they not only have an attachment to the team, but also the organization as a whole,” Johnson said.

“They can have a star player, but having them fall in love with your team, having them fall in love with that league, that takes time. It was a time where everybody wasn’t watching, you understood the importance of camaraderie to keep it alive and keep it going so you can see what you’re seeing today.”

When the opportunity at D.C. United opened up, it seemed like the perfect time for Johnson to explore another role, even though her heart lay with women’s sports and basketball. She even called the move “one of the hardest career decisions I’ve ever made.”

But, Johnson saw a lot of similarities between the WNBA and MLS. She wanted to expand upon her own professional abilities while being able to bring in her experiences from the WNBA. Joining the business side of the MLS appeared to be a perfect spot for her.

“I saw a league that was an emerging point of growth and opportunity,” Johnson said. “The opportunity was also not just from a national landscape, the international piece of what I’ve been able to learn from doing international deals."

Arguably one of the biggest draws for Johnson to move to Washington D.C. was the opportunity to oversee an entire stadium, Audi Field.

When Johnson joined the organization, D.C. United was pretty much the only team that utilized the 20,000-seat stadium. Johnson looked at Audi Field and saw endless possibilities.

“I live in a space of innovation in my mind constantly,” Johnson said. “When I got to Audi and D.C. United, it was really centered around the scope of our team, maybe a couple events here and there, but nothing to the scale of what we’ve grown. For me, I love to be a good visionary and create innovation. It’s like ‘How do we make this 365 in what we have?’”

And, Johnson’s done just that. The NWSL Washington Spirit have become a full-time tenant there, the UFL’s D.C. Defenders play there and the USL Super League’s D.C. Power FC also competes there. Additionally, Audi Field hosts concerts and other events.

Right now, Johnson and the United are in talks for implementing a $620 million stadium renovation at Audi Field. Johnson wants to continue building upon the experiences Audi Field has brought the D.C. community already, and the renovations would allow for that.

“The vision to implement change, create opportunities, even for a young stadium that we are, we see the possibility of what’s next,” Johnson said.

The goal is to create more niche experiences for fans, especially those groups of four-to-eight people who want to attend an event together. Johnson wants fans to feel connected to the sport in the same way she has her whole life. So far in her career, she’s done just that.

“Just gathering people together is a really important part,” Johnson said. “I think the community atmosphere within a stadium and within a sport is absolutely important because that is a driver of why we come. We come to be together with other fans to be a part of a special moment.”