A historical purchase in the history of women’s professional sports was completed last week, as current Disney CEO Bob Iger and his wife, journalist Willow Bay, finalized their hefty purchase of a controlling interest in Angel City Football Club (ACFC), according to an announcement last week by the National Women’s Soccer League.
The Los Angeles-based club has now become the most valuable franchise in the history of American women’s professional sports with the completion of Iger and Bay’s purchase, which valued the club at $250 million. This record valuation has become a landmark moment for women’s sports, more than doubling the previous record price for the sale of a National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team, which was when the San Diego Wave sold in March for roughly $113 million.
The charismatic CEO and television journalist are also including an additional $50 million into the club, which was only founded in 2020 by a group that included a Hollywood actor and venture capitalists looking to bring women’s soccer to the City of Angels.
Angel City has been a bit nontraditional since its founding, which is perhaps why the founders were able to quickly build the most valuable brand in women’s sports.
When tech entrepreneur Julie Uhrman, venture capitalist Kara Nortman, and actress Natalie Portman, well-known for her role in Star Wars as Queen Amidala and Jane Foster in Thor, set about securing a women’s soccer league for Los Angeles after the 2019 Women’s World Cup, the powerhouse team sought an individual investor to serve as the team’s primary backer.
“We went and talked to wealthy family offices and individuals to find that single person who shared our vision, our mission, and our goals, and we were constantly confronted with no’s,” Uhrman said.
But their luck changed when venture capitalist and Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian came on as the largest investor, with the American internet entrepreneur stating in a podcast appearance that he initially committed around $6 million—but ceded control of the team’s board.
Now, after multiple funding rounds, Angel City’s ownership group includes more than 100 investors, which include former soccer stars like Mia Hamm and celebrities such as actor Jennifer Garner.
Beginning to play in the NWSL in 2022, Angel City now plays in the BMO Stadium, adjacent to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Exposition Park. Now in its third season, the NWSL team has had more than $30 million in revenue.
Iger and Bay’s takeover was unanimously approved by the NWSL’s board of governors. The power duo will control the interests of ACFC as majority owners, but they are also joining a group that includes Eva Longoria, Abby Wambach, Billie Jean King, Candace Parker, and more.
Iger is currently working his second round as the CEO of Disney; however, according to the Los Angeles Times, Iger plans to excuse himself from all things Disney and ESPN, ready to focus more on ACFC.
While Iger is still making magic as Disney’s CEO, Bay, a former anchor on ABC News, CNN, and NBC, will be taking control of the board at ACFC and serve on the NWSL’s Board of Governors.
“We are incredibly excited to join ACFC as owners at this historic juncture for the team and for women’s sports locally and globally,” Bay said. “As fans since the club’s founding season, we have long admired ACFC’s impact as a sports franchise and a force for social good, particularly here in our Los Angeles community.”
“It’s a real positive to have fresh energy, fresh capital from these sorts of people in our home market and to have a woman governor,” Nortman said. “But it’s also a really important and special time to honor the structure that got us here—without it, we wouldn’t have gotten here.”
