Work Innovation Award Winner, 2025

D.C. United earned Asana’s Best in Class Work Innovation Award (AMER region) for transforming how work gets done across every facet of club operations. By replacing paper checklists and fragmented email threads with standardized, automated workflows, the club redefined collaboration in an analog industry. The result: hundreds of workdays saved, dramatic gains in time savings year over year, and a meaningful decrease in recurring meetings. From matchday execution to sponsorship fulfillment, every department now works from a shared system—accelerating delivery, deepening engagement, and creating a more agile, aligned organization.

Asana has transformed how we operate and collaborate across all departments at D.C. United and Audi Field. We’ve seen a new level of internal alignment, transparency, and accountability, directly improving our levels of productivity and cross-functional collaboration across the club’s business units.

Drew Bentley, Senior Vice President, Business Operations & Strategy, D.C. United

Asana for event planning

Flawless matchday execution, without last-minute chaos

Matchday operations are at the heart of D.C. United’s fan experience and brand presence. From staffing and promotions to ticketing, fan engagement initiatives, sponsorship activations, flawless execution is essential. But before Asana, these efforts relied on disjointed emails and paper checklists, increasing the risk of missed details and last-minute issues.

To elevate matchday execution and deliver on strategic goals, D.C. United implemented a unified, automated system in Asana. Every detail is now mapped out in advance using templated run-of-show projects and automated workflows that flag risks early and ensure every team is aligned.

Multi-homed templates create a complete run-of-show

• Every home match is created from a standardized project template that includes repeatable tasks like the run-of-show, ticket links, special events and activations, and creative assets.

• Within each match project, every aspect of match day—from gate openings to post-match cleanup—is mapped out, with tasks assigned across facilities, analytics, ticketing, entertainment, security, marketing, and guest services, among others.

• Each match project lives in an overarching portfolio, giving the team visibility across the entire season and ensuring nothing gets missed.

• Multi-homing makes overlapping responsibilities visible to all relevant departments, reducing blind spots and eliminating last-minute surprises.

Automations reduce risk and speed up response times

• Rules automatically flag overdue or incomplete tasks, triggering real-time notifications before issues escalate.

• Dedicated workflows for premium experiences, like halftime shows or VIP activations, ensure these high-visibility moments are tracked, owned, and executed without error, with leadership looped in at every step.

Sponsorship activations are streamlined and error-free

• Sponsorship fulfillment and activations—critical revenue drivers with complex requirements—are managed end-to-end in Asana, ensuring every deliverable is tracked and nothing falls through the cracks.

• Partners submit activation requests via forms, which automatically route tasks to the right team and trigger approval workflows.

• Custom templates guide each activation, from matchday checklists to VIP attendee tracking and logistics, ensuring every step is completed in order, with automated notifications for each handoff.

• Real-time dashboards give partnerships teams and sponsors visibility into deliverables, timelines, and blockers, enabling faster turnaround.

• This structured approach has resulted in near-zero missed activations, faster execution, and the ability to handle increased volume without adding headcount.

Rolling out Asana organization-wide has improved collaboration during major initiatives like match days, where every department now has visibility into how their work connects to the bigger picture—ensuring a best-in-class fan experience.

Hairat Babalola, Senior Director, Business Operations & Strategy, D.C. United

Asana for work requests and intake

Turning ad hoc requests into structured action

As D.C. United grew, so did the volume—and urgency—of inbound requests across teams. From graphic design and email campaigns to social media posts and event support, work was often requested separately, with little context or visibility. Without a standardized intake process, teams faced duplication, delays, and missed deliverables.

Today, Asana powers a streamlined request system across every department. Standardized forms ensure clarity from the start, while automated triage and approval workflows route work to the right teams—fast. Marketing, Partnerships, and Community Engagement teams also manage campaign and content calendars directly in Asana, making it easier to align on priorities for high-visibility events and one-off promotions.

Forms ensure clarity from the start

• Department-specific forms capture essential context upfront, reducing back-and-forth and enabling faster turnaround.

• Completed forms automatically generate tasks and notify the right teams, ensuring no request slips through the cracks.

• Campaigns tied to organization-wide initiatives—like large-scale match events—are planned in Asana with full visibility across departments.

• With dashboards, every department can see how their work ladders up to larger brand initiatives, improving coordination and accountability.

One standout example of how Asana has transformed our organization is how we've streamlined our marketing request process. Previously, tasks like graphic design, email campaigns, and social media posts were requested separately—often requiring multiple follow-ups due to unclear ownership. With Asana, we centralize these requests into a single workflow that automatically tags all relevant stakeholders, creating visibility and significantly reducing turnaround time.

Gabby Wells, Senior Director, Business Strategy & Analytics, D.C. United

Conclusion

Building a game plan for scalable success

D.C. United isn’t just running operations with Asana—they’re redefining them. As adoption deepens across all departments, they envision a future where portfolios and strategic frameworks help align individual work to company-wide goals, giving every employee clearer direction, real-time visibility, and a stronger sense of ownership. By continuing to scale their use of Asana, D.C. United is laying the groundwork for a more agile, aligned, and accountable organization—ready to win on the pitch and across the business.

Ultimately, Asana hasn’t just elevated our final work product—it’s helped us better understand what we do, why we do it, and what we can achieve together when we’re aligned.

Gabby Wells, Senior Director, Business Strategy & Analytics, D.C. United