Willow Bay and\u00a0Bob Iger\u00a0will take a controlling stake in Angel City Football Club, the world\u2019s most valuable women\u2019s professional sports team.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Angel City of the National Women\u2019s Soccer League announced the couple had agreed to an\u00a0investment\u00a0of an undisclosed amount that values the team at $250 million. The club said Bay and Iger will invest an additional $50 million in the club\u2019s future growth.<\/p>\n
According to NWSL bylaws, controlling owners must own at least 35% of the team, which puts the pair\u2019s purchase agreement at a minimum of $87.5 million. Bay will serve on and have full control of the Angel City FC board, the team said.<\/p>\n
The sale comes as\u00a0women\u2019s sports\u00a0and the NWSL have seen explosive growth in viewership and attendance and drawn growing\u00a0investment.<\/p>\n
Last year, Angel City FC generated the highest revenue of any women\u2019s team in the world. It was also No. 1 in NWSL attendance and sponsorship revenue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know they are the right partners to lead us into this new era \u2014 they are committed to further strengthening ACFC\u2019s position as a preeminent organization and brand in women\u2019s sports and to championing the team\u2019s broader mission, including the advancement of equity for athletes and women-founded businesses,\u201d the ACFC Board of Directors said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Angel City FC was founded in 2020 by actress Natalie Portman, venture capitalist Kara Nortman and entrepreneur Julie Uhrman.<\/p>\n
The ownership group also includes a long list of sports icons including Billie Jean King, Abby Wambach, Lindsey Vonn and 13 former players from the U.S. Women\u2019s National Team. The team has prioritized female ownership and equal pay for women.<\/p>\n
Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian had been the club\u2019s controlling owner.<\/p>\n
The unique ownership structure had brought tensions over finances and operations,\u00a0reportedly one of the motivations for a sale.<\/p>\n
All of the existing owners will stay on with this new team structure, the club said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Bay, a lifelong sports fan, who also serves as dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, said she\u2019s committed to advancing the club\u2019s mission of driving equity on and off the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this investment of resources and capital, we hope to accelerate the growth of the Club and the NWSL,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Willow Bay and\u00a0Bob Iger\u00a0will take a controlling stake in Angel City Football Club, the world\u2019s most valuable women\u2019s professional sports team. On Wednesday, Angel City of the National Women\u2019s Soccer League announced the couple had agreed to an\u00a0investment\u00a0of an undisclosed amount that values the team at $250 million. The club said Bay and Iger will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6295\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}